Chapter 2

The room exploded.

"What do you mean, no?" Jessica screamed, pulling away from me as if I were toxic.

"Alex, have you lost your mind?" my father, Frank, yelled, his face turning red. "This is your son we're talking about!"

Kevin just laughed, a short, ugly sound. "See? I told you. He cares more about his money than anyone. Always has."

Brenda, my stepmother, rushed to Jessica's side, wrapping an arm around her. "Oh, you poor thing. To be married to such a monster. Don't worry, dear. We'll make him see reason."

Jessica looked at me with pure hatred. "I can't believe you. I can't even look at you."

I stood up. The room fell silent.

"My decision is final," I said, my voice cutting through the emotion. "He's not getting a dime."

I walked out, leaving a firestorm of condemnation behind me.

The next morning, it started.

My phone blew up with notifications. Jessica had started a GoFundMe page. The title was "Help My Son When His Millionaire Father Won't."

The post was a masterpiece of manipulation. A picture of Leo, pale and sick in his hospital bed. A long, tear-filled story about a loving mother fighting for her son's life, and a heartless, greedy father who would rather watch him die than part with his precious money.

It went viral in hours.

Comments poured in. "What a monster." "I hope his business fails." "Someone should take that poor woman and child away from him."

My name, Alex, was mud.

I didn't flinch. I picked up my phone and called my bank.

"Freeze all joint accounts with Jessica," I told them. "And cancel all her credit cards."

Then, I drove to the hospital.