Kieran Cash
She was gone.
I stood in the empty bedroom, staring at the bare hangers, the stripped mattress. The room felt cavernous without her.
Jeanie stormed in behind me. "Who's going to clean up this mess? And the books! Who's going to do the books? Kieran, you need to call her right now and—"
"Mom." My voice came out hoarse. "Stop."
She blinked. "What?"
"Just… stop."
I walked out of the house and drove aimlessly for hours. The city lights blurred past. I kept replaying her words. Three years. You never saw me.
She was right. I never did.
I pulled over and opened my phone. No messages from her. No calls. Nothing.
I typed out a text: "Aubrey, please. Let's talk."
Delivered.
No reply.
The next few days were chaos.
Jeanie couldn't find anything. Receipts, invoices, tax documents—Aubrey had managed it all. The family business, Cash & Sons Construction Supply, was already struggling. Without her meticulous bookkeeping, we were flying blind.
"The payroll! Kieran, the payroll needs to be processed by Friday! Where are the files?" Jeanie's voice was shrill.
"I don't know, Mom. Aubrey handled it."
"Then call her!"
"She blocked my number."
Jeanie's face went pale. "Blocked? But she can't—she needs us! Where would she even—"
"She bought a condo, Mom. Six months ago. She's a CPA. She got a job as Finance Director at Cameron Industries."
Jeanie sank into a chair, her mouth opening and closing like a fish.
"She was building her escape the whole time," I said quietly. "Right under our noses. And we never noticed. Because we never paid attention."
A week later, I went to her office.
I waited in the lobby for an hour before she finally came down. She looked… different. Taller, somehow. More confident. She wore a sleek navy suit, her hair pulled back, her eyes sharp and clear.
"Aubrey."
"Kieran." Her voice was flat. "What do you want?"
"I need your help. The business—the books are a mess. We can't find anything. Mom is losing her mind."
She looked at me for a long moment. Then she laughed—a short, bitter sound. "You came here to ask me to fix your finances. After everything."
"Aubrey, please—"
"No." Her voice was cold. "You made your choice. You and your mother chose Carolina. You chose money over me. Now you can live with it."
"Carolina is gone," I blurted out. "Her family pulled out. They found out about the audit. They don't want anything to do with us."
She didn't look surprised. "So I was your backup plan. Again."
"No! That's not—"
"Goodbye, Kieran."
She turned and walked away. I stood there, frozen, watching her disappear into the elevator.
