Henry walked into the apartnt without waiting for permission, his expensive suit looking completely out of place in the modest living room.
"Helena, I need to talk to you," he said, ignoring the obvious tension in the room.
"This is not a good ti," Helena replied through gritted teeth.
"It’s never a good ti with you."
I could feel the awkwardness in the air. The warm family atmosphere from monts before had completely evaporated.
"I’m so sorry about this, Mrs. Layla," Helena said, turning to with embarrassnt written all over her face. "I had no idea he was coming."
"It’s okay, Helena. I should probably go anyway."
"No, you don’t have to leave because of him."
"Really, it’s fine. Thank you for dinner. It was lovely."
As I gathered my purse and moved toward the door, Henry’s voice stopped . "My dry cleaning bill was five hundred and eighty-five dollars and sixty-five cents. I’ll be sending you the receipt."
"You’re unbelievable."
"I’m unbelievable? You’re the one who wasn’t watching where you were going."
"Henry, stop it," Helena snapped. "She’s my boss."
"Your boss?" He looked between us with renewed interest. "How interesting."
I shook my head and headed for the door. "Helena, I’ll see you at work tomorrow."
"Mrs. Layla, I’m really sorry about this."
"Don’t worry about it. Thank you again for dinner."
I left the apartnt still shocked by the coincidence. Helena had never ntioned having an older brother. In fact, from the way she talked about raising her siblings, I had assud she was the oldest.
The next morning, I was sitting in my office when my phone buzzed with a text from Daniel.
We’ve set the date for your mother’s funeral. Friday at 2 PM. We’ll announce her passing publicly two days before. Already have the death certificate ready.
I stared at the ssage, my stomach churning. They’d already falsified the paperwork. Everything was being orchestrated like a project tiline.
I texted back: Thank you for letting know.
His response ca quickly: I’ll make sure you have all the details. And Layla... I ant what I said yesterday.
I didn’t respond to that.
At work, Helena was acting strangely. She avoided eye contact during our morning eting and seed jumpy whenever I spoke to her directly.
By lunch, I couldn’t take it anymore.
"Helena, can you bring the Morrison files?" I called out to her.
"Which Morrison files?"
"The ones from last quarter."
"We don’t have any Morrison files from last quarter."
"Then bring whatever files you think I need to review."
She looked confused but nodded. "Yes, ma’am."
Eleven minutes later, she appeared in my office with a random stack of folders.
"Close the door," I said.
She did, then stood there looking uncomfortable.
"Sit down."
"Is everything okay, ma? Did I do sothing wrong?"
"Helena, you’ve been acting weird all morning. I think we need to talk about last night."
Her shoulders sagged. "I’m so embarrassed about what happened."
"You don’t need to be embarrassed. But I am confused. You never ntioned having an older brother."
"Because I try not to think about him."
"Why?"
She was quiet for a mont, then sighed. "Henry is five years older than I am. When our parents got sick, he was already in college on a full scholarship."
"Okay."
"Instead of coming ho to help, he decided to pursue his dreams. Said he couldn’t sacrifice his future for a family that was already falling apart."
I could hear the pain in her voice.
"So while he was off building his career, I dropped out of high school to take care of our parents and raise Jason and Ryan."
"That must have been incredibly difficult."
"It was hell. Our parents died within six months of each other. I was eighteen, working three jobs, trying to keep us all together while he was off making millions."
"Millions?"
"He’s so hotshot business owner now. Very successful, very important." Her voice dripped with bitterness.
"And now he wants back in your life?"
"He showed up about a month ago, acting like nothing happened. Like he didn’t abandon us when we needed him most."
"What does he want?"
"He says he wants to help. Wants to pay for the boys’ education and get us a better apartnt. He wants to play big brother now that it’s convenient for him."
"But you’re not interested."
"Would you be? He had ten years to help us. Ten years to be part of this family. Now that we’ve survived without him, now that the boys are almost grown, suddenly he wants to be involved?"
I understood her anger. Family was supposed to be there when you needed them, not just when it was easy.
"I’m sorry he showed up like that last night."
"It’s not your fault. He has this habit of just appearing whenever he feels like it."
"Does he do that often?"
"More often lately. I think he’s trying to wear down."
"And how do you feel about that?"
"Frustrated. Angry. And..." she paused.
"And what?"
"Sotis I wonder if I’m being too stubborn. The boys could use the help with college applications, and money is always tight."
"But?"
"But I keep thinking about all those nights I cried myself to sleep, wondering how I was going to pay rent or buy groceries. He could have helped then. He chose not to."
I nodded, understanding her dilemma.
"Mrs. Layla, I hope this doesn’t affect my job. I know having personal drama isn’t professional."
"Helena, your personal life is your business. As long as it doesn’t interfere with your work, I don’t care."
"Thank you."
"And for what it’s worth, I think you’re incredible. What you did for your brothers, the way you kept your family together... that takes real strength."
She smiled for the first ti that day. "Thank you. That ans a lot coming from you."
"Is there anything else you want to talk about?"
"No, I think I’m good."
"Alright. Go ahead and get back to work."
After she left, I sat in my office thinking about family dynamics and the choices people make. I was so lost in thought that I almost forgot about my appointnt with Axel.
I walked into his office around 4 PM to find him reviewing contracts.
"Hey," I said, settling into the chair across from his desk.
"Hey. How was your day?"
"Just there. Daniel texted about the funeral arrangents."
"When is it?"
"Friday at 2 PM. They’re going to announce her death publicly on Wednesday."
"Do you want to go?"
"I think I need to."
"Then we’ll go. Together."
I felt a wave of gratitude toward him. "Thank you."
"Of course."
I was quiet for a mont, watching how Axel barely spared a glance.
All of a sudden, I found myself starting to rant.
"You know what’s been bothering ? People are so selfish. Take this guy I ran into the other day when I was eting Dan. Complete jerk, he made this huge scene over spilled coffee, and demanded my phone number to send his dry cleaning bill. Can you believe that?"
"So people have no consideration for others."
"Exactly! And then it turns out he’s Helena’s brother, who abandoned his family when they needed him most, and now wants to waltz back in like nothing happened. The entitlent is just..."
The door to Axel’s office opened, and I looked up to see Henry walking in.
You’ve got to be kidding ... again?
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