‘Fake boyfriend’— my brain supplied.
I took a long drink.
Isa looked at me.
I looked back.
Something passed between us.
I thought maybe she’d say something.
Maybe a joke. A correction. Anything.
Then Trent started talking again.
“So, Montgomery Capital,” he said. “All that money. You ever ask yourself where it really comes from?”
The table went quiet.
Mrs. Calloway sighed. “Trent.”
“No, I’m curious. Young man should know the family business.”
“I know enough.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“Doesn’t it bother you? All that wealth from speculation? Market manipulation dressed up in a better suit? Your father goes on television, talks about discipline and corrections, meanwhile normal people lose jobs while men like him call it opportunity.”
Isa’s hand tightened on mine.
I stared at her father.
He wasn’t entirely wrong about the world being ugly.
He was wrong about why he was saying it.
This wasn’t moral outrage.
This was insecurity.
Richard’s money made him feel small, so he made the money dirty.
I understood the impulse.
I didn’t respect it.
“My father doesn’t need me to defend him,” I said evenly.
Trent’s smile sharpened. “But you are.”
“No. I’m saying if you’re going to insult him, at least be accurate.”
Isa inhaled beside me.
Her mother’s eyes glittered.
