"Am I wrong, though?" Steve set down his phone and sat up straight. "Look at Mr. Wang's son-in-law. The guy started his own import-export company. Pulls in millions a year."
"Now look at ours. Eats our food, lives under our roof, coasts through a few years at the company, and suddenly thinks he's somebody?"
"You ask him to write one business plan, and after two weeks he still can't squeeze out a damn thing. What good is he?"
Valerie chimed in. "That's enough out of you. Your sister knows the score."
"I'm just saying she deserves better."
Steve slumped back into the couch and picked up his phone again, thumbing back to his game.
The living room went quiet for a few seconds.
Felicity never said a word.
I stood where I was, listening to all of it, my face blank.
On the shoe cabinet by the entryway sat an umbrella. Felicity had told me to take it this morning. The forecast called for rain.
I looked at the umbrella.
Then I turned around, pushed the door open, and walked back out.
The door closed softly behind me. Barely a sound.
I drove to the driveway outside the villa and lit a cigarette.
The night wind blew in, carrying a slight chill.
In the distance lay the neighborhood's man-made lake. A row of streetlamps lined its edge, their reflections stretching across the water in long ribbons of light.
My phone rang. Felicity.
"Joseph, where are you?"
"How's that business plan coming?"
I was quiet for a moment.
"It's not finished."
"How is it not finished?" Her voice climbed half a register. "You know how important that plan is, don't you? My father's already asked about it two or three times. You didn't present it at today's meeting either, and he was already unhappy about that."
I held the phone. Said nothing.
Part of me almost wanted to laugh.
Otis had said the business plan was critical to the company.
But at today's meeting, in front of everyone, he'd told me to step out. Didn't even give me the chance to present.
Critical? Maybe it was.
I just wasn't.
Felicity must have picked up on something in my silence, because her tone softened.
"What happened today... I know it wasn't fair to you."
"But my father is the head of this family. He's the chairman. He has his reasons. You... try not to take it too personally."
I told her I understood.
"Good." She let out a breath, a note of relief slipping into her voice. "I'm glad you see it that way. So just pull an all-nighter tonight, push through, and have the plan ready by tomorrow no matter what."
The line went dead.
I set the phone on the passenger seat and stared through the windshield.
I thought about what was in that business plan.
A three-year roadmap. Transitioning from traditional manufacturing to smart manufacturing. Two new automated production lines. Building a proprietary e-commerce platform. Expanding into overseas markets.
Every item had detailed timelines, budget projections, and risk assessments.
I'd spent two weeks on it.
Run the numbers more times than I could count. Revised the proposal through draft after draft.
Today was supposed to be the day I presented it. But before I could open my mouth, Otis had told all non-essential personnel to leave the room.
Non-essential personnel.
He was the chairman at the company. He was the head of the household at home.
If he said you were non-essential, then you were non-essential.
Seven years. I'd thought that if I delivered results, things would eventually be different.
But in the end, to the Hensons, I was nothing more than a freeloader. A live-in son-in-law who'd married up.
Steve called me a deadbeat, a slacker. Valerie said I was a lost cause.
They'd said it right in front of Felicity.
She hadn't pushed back. Not once.
I opened the car door and flicked the cigarette butt into the trash can by the curb.
I thought about how I'd spent these past seven years.
