When I mentioned the words my father had said—“If he can’t make something of himself, I won’t acknowledge him as my son”—Grandpa slammed his hand on the table with a loud bang.
“That brat!”
He shot up from his chair, chest heaving with anger.
“I see he’s grown some backbone now! How dare he treat you like that? This cannot go on…” He pulled out his old phone and dialed my father’s number.
The moment the call connected, he roared into the receiver.
“Wayne Thompson Crowe! You get your ass back here right now! I don’t care if you’re in the middle of meeting, you dropped it and drive here this instant!”
Whatever my father tried to say on the other end, Grandpa didn’t give him the chance—he hung up straight away.
A few hours later, my father’s Maybach pulled up in front of Grandpa’s house.
He stepped out, frowning, clearly impatient.
“Dad, I’ve got things to handle at the company. What’s so urgent? What’s this about?”
When his eyes landed on me sitting beside my grandparents, his expression shifted—first irritation, then realization.
“What’s this about?” Grandpa repeated; fought to keep his anger in check. “How could you treat your own son like that?
“He just graduated from college and you kicked him out with two hundred bucks? Are you out of your mind?”
A flicker of guilt crossed my father’s face, but he quickly straightened his back and spoke self-righteously.
“Dad, I did this for his own good! It’s called adversity education—the most popular teaching method abroad! He’s twenty-two, an adult. You expect him to just keep sponging off me? In other countries, kids move out at eighteen. I’m already being generous!”
He sounded like he was giving a lecture, so sure of himself.
Grandma shot him a sharp look. “Adversity education, my foot! I bet it was that snake woman, Linda, who told you to do this. She can’t stand Leo and you just went along with her to mistreat my grandson!”
Father’s face changed instantly. “Mom! What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with Linda—it was my decision! For the record, Leroy’s my son too. I’ll treat them both the same way!”
He said it firmly, as if he truly believed it.
But he seemed to forget how furious he’d been just yesterday when I mentioned Leroy.
“Same way? Oh, what a fair father you are!” Grandpa let out a cold laugh, dripping with sarcasm and disappointment.
“I see you’ve grown smart Wayne. You’ve learned new stuff—using ‘independence’ nonsense to justify treating your own son unfairly!”
Grandpa stood, his sharp eyes locked on my father.
“Since you think grown children shouldn’t depend on their parents and should stand on their own—fine. But first, let me ask you: how old are you now?”
“Fifty-three… But what does that have to do with this?” Father froze, not understanding where this was going.
“Fifty-three, huh? That’s three decades away from twenty-two!” Grandpa’s voice suddenly boomed. “You keep saying Leo shouldn’t live off of you—but what about you?
“That manor you live in, the three commercial buildings you collect rent from every month, the startup capital for your company—did you earn any of those yourself? Weren’t they all built from my hard work back in the day?”
Father’s face turned pale in an instant.
Sensing where this was headed, he stammered, “Dad, that’s… that’s different! I’m your son! Those properties will all be mine eventually—”
“Eventually?” Grandpa cut him off coldly. “There is no ‘eventually.’ The future isn’t fixed. You say a young man relying on his parents is shameful and should be independent? Very well then. I will treat you that way. Starting today, I’ll inform the tenants to transfer all rent directly to your mother’s account.”
“And I’m taking it back the manor you’re living in!”
