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Aiden smiled. “I talked to her about the dad stuff. She didn’t tell me what to do exactly, but she told me to let myself have a chance.”

“Well then, I like this woman already.” When Aiden gave her a look, she laughed. “What? Any woman that’s going to fight for my baby brother’s happiness is a winner in my book.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. She said I’m allowed to want better for myself.”

“Wise advice.”

“I just don’t know if I want to get Dad in trouble if he’s working on fixing things,” he said, letting his thoughts unfurl. “I mean, he said he will fix it, and it’s the first time he’s done this, so I can afford to give him a break for a bit. I have a stable living situation.”

“Aiden.” The tone of her voice caught his attention. “This isn’t . . . It’s not the first time this has happened. Not at all.”

He froze at her words, fork still perched between his fingers. “What? What are you talking about?”

Rowan reached for her bag and pulled out a manila folder. “I’m talking about how Dad opened cards in my name too. Years ago, before I even knew what to look for. I had hoped it was just me and that maybe he’d learned his lesson when it came to you, but clearly not.”

Aiden swallowed hard as he looked down at the folder in her hands. When she reached out, handing it to him, his hands shook. “What is this?”

“Evidence,” she replied simply. “It’s all the evidence I compiled years ago so I could get things turned around and actually attempt to have a future that wasn’t marred by filing for bankruptcy before I even had a real job.”

He looked at the folder before slowly reaching for it. “Dad said he’s working on getting things paid off.”

“And you believe him?” Rowan asked, her voice filled with clear disbelief. It made Aiden feel foolish in a way that stabbed at him. How could he have been so naive?

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I don’t mean to sound harsh, but I don’t want you wasting more of your time like I did.”

He looked down at the folder in his hands. “He did this to you too? When? Why?”

“I found out about it a couple years after I left,” she replied. “I finally got things cleared away a few years after that. And as for why, why does Dad do anything he does? Because he can.”

Aiden frowned, his thoughts ping-ponging through his mind. “But there had to be a reason. He wouldn’t just do this for nothing. He’s our dad.”

“Aiden, you have to realize something. That man isn’t a father; not really. He uses people for his own needs.”

“But that’s not—”

“Stop,” she said, cutting off his words of defense. “Stop giving him the benefit of the doubt. I know you want to believe he’s still the guy who sat with us as we cried about missing Mom, but it was all an act. That man doesn’t exist. He isn’t real. The real him is the person who uses his kids as pawns until there’s nothing left and then he moves on without a care in the world. He did it to me and now he’s trying to do it to you too.”

Aiden didn’t know what to do. Everything in him cried out to say it wasn’t true, but he couldn’t. The lump in his throat threatened to suffocate him. Rowan closed the space between them then, reaching out to put her hand on his.

“Don’t let him drag you down too,” she said softly. “You have a good thing going here and people who really care about you. Let them be the family you lean on.”

“But why?” It was the one question that kept echoing in his mind. Why would their dad do this? “Why do you care now?”

He slowly looked up at her. Rowan sighed.

“I always cared, Aiden. I was just afraid that if I let you back in, he would come too. But I love you far more than I hate him, and I refuse to let you do this alone.” She nodded sharply. “I failed to protect you once. I refuse to fail again.”

The resolve in her gaze made Aiden ache. It was the same resolve he’d seen in Vini when they spoke about the situation. It was the same resolve he needed to understand what to do next.

“I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “Don’t be. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She glanced around before looking back at him. “Vini is a good friend, so try not to be upset with her for telling me.”

He nodded, unsure of what else to say. Rowan’s smile was small, but he took comfort in it as she looked back down at her plate. They continued eating, his mind turning over all the new information. This changed so many things, and he wondered if he would have made different choices had he known from the start. A bit of guilt fell away then, taking with it a little bit of his remaining naivety.

Back at the house, Aiden sank onto the couch, staring at the folder in his hands. He didn’t want to look inside. He knew it would be a little like Pandora’s box. Once he opened it, he could never close it again. But he also couldn’t live without knowing if what Rowan said was true. With a deep breath in, he flipped open the folder and immediately his stomach dropped. There were bank statements, pictures and even account numbers. There was everything laid out in front of him in neat well-defined sections. Each page he flipped felt like a punch to the gut, each new transaction showcasing how deep the damage went.

He’d always known their dad wasn’t perfect, but this was so far beyond anything he’d expected. This was clear and premeditated betrayal by someone who was supposed to love and care for you. This was why Rowan had left.