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\u201cStop begging like a beggar!\u201d Alistair yelled and slapped his seven-year-old son hard across the face just because the boy asked for a birthday cake.<\/p>\n
The slap knocked Nolan straight to the floor right next to the table. He just stared at the rug, holding his burning cheek with one hand and keeping a tiny plastic spoon in the other. I ran over to pick him up while Alistair stood there, looking mad as if he was the one who got hurt.<\/p>\n
My name is Nicole, and for a long time I thought that moment would be the absolute worst memory of my marriage. I was totally wrong. What happened the next day completely ruined the rich life Alistair always bragged about building by himself.<\/p>\n
Nolan had been talking about turning seven for weeks. He didn\u2019t want expensive video games or a big party with clowns. He just wanted a small chocolate cake with seven candles, exactly like the ones he saw at his school parties.<\/p>\n
Alistair kept all the cash. Even though we lived in a huge house in a rich area in Phoenix and he ran a big construction company, he only gave me a tiny bit of money for food and looked at every single receipt. He always said a good wife didn\u2019t need her own bank account.<\/p>\n
For three weeks, I secretly fixed clothes for the neighbors at night to earn some cash. I finally saved enough for a basic cake, but that morning Alistair found the hidden money inside my sewing box.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this money doing here?\u201d Alistair asked, pulling the bills out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s for Nolan\u2019s birthday cake,\u201d I said quietly.<\/p>\n
He grabbed the money right out of my hand and put it into his own wallet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not raising a soft, spoiled kid,\u201d Alistair said. \u201cHaving a birthday doesn\u2019t make him special.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the afternoon, his mom Sharon, his sister Piper, and her eleven-year-old son Mason came over for dinner. While I was serving the food, Alistair completely ignored Nolan and spent the whole time praising his nephew for getting good grades at school.<\/p>\n
My son waited until everyone was done eating before he walked over to his dad with his head down.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad, can I please have a small cake?\u201d Nolan asked in a tiny voice. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t even need to have cartoons on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alistair didn\u2019t say a word; he just slapped him right in front of everybody.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow you know that life doesn\u2019t give you free stuff,\u201d Alistair told him.<\/p>\n
Sharon nodded along with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did the right thing,\u201d she said, eating her food. \u201cYou have to teach kids lessons early before they become lazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody stood up for Nolan, and nobody asked if he was okay. That night, while holding his teddy bear in bed, my son told me something that broke my heart.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, next year I\u2019m not going to ask for anything at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The next morning, Alistair came home holding a big white bag. I thought he felt bad and bought a cake, and Nolan thought so too when his dad pulled out a shiny new box.<\/p>\n
But Alistair walked right past Nolan and gave the box to Mason instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s a brand new iPad for your good grades,\u201d Alistair said loudly. \u201cGood job, buddy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone clapped for Mason. Nolan looked down at the floor, walked out into the backyard, and sat on the steps playing with a single green candle I bought weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Later, my dad Thomas arrived after driving all the way from Columbus. Nolan ran out to hug him, but my dad stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the big purple bruise on the boy\u2019s cheek.<\/p>\n
He looked at the bruise, then looked at Alistair laughing with Mason, and then looked at the new iPad on the table.<\/p>\n
He walked into the house without saying hi to anyone and asked who hit his grandson. Alistair just laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s my kid,\u201d Alistair said. \u201cI raise him the way I want.\u201d<\/p>\n
My dad stared at him for a few long seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen to me carefully,\u201d Thomas said very quietly. \u201cStarting tomorrow, I am taking back everything that you think you own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alistair laughed out loud.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can you take from me?\u201d Alistair mocked him. \u201cThis house, my cars, and my whole company are legally in my name.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas picked up the toy box he brought for Nolan and walked toward the front door.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnjoy tonight, Alistair,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cIt\u2019s the last night you\u2019ll ever feel rich.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody in that room knew what was coming the next morning.<\/p>\n
At exactly 9:10 the next morning, Alistair called me from his office. He didn\u2019t even say hello; he just started screaming that three big investors just backed out of a contract to build a high-rise tower in Miami.<\/p>\n
Fifteen minutes later, his secretary called to say that two major clients canceled their contracts, the steel company wouldn\u2019t send materials without cash upfront, and the bank locked his 80 million dollar credit line.<\/p>\n
Alistair called me back right away, sounding super scared instead of arrogant.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid your dad call you today?\u201d he asked, panicking.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, he didn\u2019t,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell him to call me right now!\u201d he screamed and hung up.<\/p>\n
When I drove over to Apex Construction, all the workers were standing in the halls whispering. Alistair looked totally pale, his tie was messed up, and his desk was covered in legal letters demanding money.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis can\u2019t be a coincidence,\u201d Alistair muttered. \u201cSomeone is ruining me on purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
The head of finance walked in holding a thick black folder from the old company files.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to read the paperwork from our financial bailout five years ago,\u201d the guy said.<\/p>\n
I knew nothing about any bailout. Alistair always told me he built the company from scratch with his own hands, but the papers showed Apex Construction was completely broke back then, and no bank would help them.<\/p>\n
Then a private investment firm called Horizon Holdings stepped in with 28 million dollars, then another 35 million, and signed for all their bank loans to keep them afloat.<\/p>\n
Alistair turned the pages, and his hands were shaking like crazy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho owns Horizon Holdings?\u201d Alistair asked.<\/p>\n
The finance guy pointed to the signature at the bottom.<\/p>\n
It was Thomas Miller. My dad.<\/p>\n
My dad never told us he ran a massive investment fund or that he saved the business. He kept it a total secret so Alistair wouldn\u2019t feel bad and I wouldn\u2019t feel like I owed him anything.<\/p>\n
But the contract had a special rule: if Alistair committed fraud, got into serious family violence, or ruined his reputation, Horizon Holdings could pull out all their money and demand their loans back instantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cA silly rule about family issues can\u2019t break a giant company,\u201d Alistair said, trying to handle it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes it can,\u201d the finance guy said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have our own cash. Without your father-in-law\u2019s signature, the banks locked us out and the clients left.\u201d<\/p>\n
A legal letter came in right then, proving Horizon Holdings was officially taking all their money back based on the contract Alistair signed years ago.<\/p>\n
Over the next few days, work stopped at four building sites, the banks took back the trucks, and the workers worried about their paychecks. Sharon came over to the house crying, but she wasn\u2019t worried about her son.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are the neighbors going to say when the repo guys take the cars from the driveway?\u201d she whined.<\/p>\n
Piper only came by one last time to grab Mason\u2019s new iPad before the banks could take it, and then she blocked our numbers.<\/p>\n
One night, we were sitting in the dark living room to save electricity, and Alistair looked at me completely broken.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you think your dad can fix this if I say sorry?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
The next morning, he drove all the way to my dad\u2019s country home in Denver. I followed him there and found him literally on his knees on the grass in front of my dad.<\/p>\n