Chapter 5 - THE WATCH
Michael answered on the third ring.
“What now?”
“I want your grandfather’s watch returned.”
Silence.
Then he laughed.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“Mom gave it to me.”
“After you shoved her into a wall.”
“She still gave it to me.”
I looked at Ellen.
Her face tightened.
“You know why she did.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
Michael sighed.
“Dad, it’s a watch.”
“No.”
“It’s a family heirloom.”
“Exactly.”
He became quiet.
I continued.
“Your grandfather gave it to me with one request.”
“What request?”
“That it go to someone who understood what family meant.”
Michael’s voice became colder.
“So now I’m not family?”
“You are my son.”
“That question is not the same thing.”
He hung up.
The next morning, a courier arrived.
Inside was the watch.
No note.
Ellen opened the box.
She ran one finger across the worn leather strap.
Then closed it again.
“I didn’t want this back.”
“I know.”
“He’ll hate us.”
“He already thinks accountability is hatred.”
She looked at me.
“You sound so sure.”
“I’m not.”
That was the truth.
There were moments when I wanted to destroy every comfortable thing Michael believed he possessed.
Then I remembered he was still my son.
The little boy I taught to ride a bicycle.
The teenager who once stayed awake beside me all night when Ellen had surgery.
The twenty-four-year-old who called me after his first major promotion and said, “I hope you’re proud of me.”
Those memories were real.
So was the video.
Parenthood did not allow me to erase either side.
That afternoon, corporate counsel called.
The independent directors wanted me excluded from Michael’s disciplinary review.
“I agree.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“I’m his father.”
“I’m also chairman.”
“I don’t want anybody claiming I used the company as revenge.”
Counsel sounded relieved.
“That is exactly what I was going to recommend.”
I recused myself.
The board would review Michael’s conduct under the executive morality and reputational risk clauses in his employment agreement.
The company did not police private arguments.
But executives represented the business.
And physical misconduct caught on venue security footage created real risk.
Especially when several clients had attended the wedding.
Michael had also used corporate staff and vehicles during wedding preparations.
Those issues required review.
I provided the footage.
Nothing more.
Then the trust administrator called again.
He had found Michael’s email.
The one asking about collateral.
But there was another email attached.
Sent from Cassandra.
It contained the price of the house they planned to buy.
$2.4 million.
At the bottom Cassandra had written:
Once Robert and Ellen transfer the wedding money and Michael’s trust is unlocked, we can close without touching my portfolio.
I read the sentence twice.
Cassandra had already budgeted money Ellen and I had never promised her.
Then I saw Michael’s response.
Perfect.
Dad won’t say no once Mom is excited.
May you like
They had not only counted our money.
They had counted on Ellen being easy to manipulate.
