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He swallows. “I… ah… just borrowed your signature.”

Nausea rises up my throat. “You signed my name to the payments?” I ask. This is worse than I thought.

“I had to.” He wrinkles his nose like he borrowed fifty quid without asking, not spent hundreds of thousands of company money. “You wouldn’t have let me do it otherwise. And I’m so sick of you all thinking you know best.”

For a moment the room tilts slightly, like the floor has shifted under my feet.

“You forged my signature,” I say slowly. I can feel the panic rising in my body. “You implicated me in this whole fucking mess.”

“Only because you treat me like a child.”

My mother’s eyes catch mine. Unlike anybody else in this room, she seems to understand what this means.

If anybody finds out about the money going missing, I’ll look as guilty as my father.

“You stupid idiot,” she hisses. “You’re not content with only humiliating me. You’re making our son a criminal too.”

“Don’t be silly. It’s our money.”

I start to pace the room. This thing is fucked. God, I can’t think straight. I feel a hand press against the arm of my jacket.

“Theo,” Kate says, her voice soft. Her fingers curl around my bicep. “It’s okay.”

But it isn’t. It’s not okay at all.

“Are you still fucking her?” my mother hisses.

“None of your damn business. Stop being so over the bloody top,” my father shouts back. “Maybe if you showed any bloody interest in me we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“I gave you two children. I did my part. All you had to do was keep it in your pants. Or at least be discreet.” She glares at him. Her hands are curled into fists. “And now you’re bringing our sons down with you?”

“Hey, leave me out of it…” Alex trails off, right as our mother slaps our father’s face. Again.

He goes to slap her back. But I’m already between them, catching his wrist before he can land the blow.

“Enough.” I look at my mother. At the way she seems so lost yet fighting to find herself. “Please,” I say to her. “Please, please stop this.”

There are tears in her eyes.

“Why don’t you go and stay with Aunt Charlotte tonight?” I murmur. Her sister lives about ten miles away. She probably hasn’t even left the party, so if we’re quick she can take my mother with her.

She lifts her chin. “Why should I be the one to leave?”

“Because I need him to stay,” I say, inclining my head at my father. I have to find out the extent of the damage and if there’s any more to come out. “And you don’t want to hear all this.”

For a moment she looks at me, like she’s weighing whether to fight me on it. Then her expression softens. Turns into something more defeated than anything else.

“All right,” she concedes. “I think I might need a night away.”

“Good idea,” Alex says. “Let’s go find Aunt Charlotte shall we?” He offers his arm to her. She takes it, leaning on him a little more than she would normally allow herself. Kate follows them.

And when the door closes, the room suddenly feels too quiet.

I look at my father. He’s wide eyed, like he’s starting to understand how serious this is. “Stay here,” I tell him. “I’m going to get us both a cup of coffee, then we’re going to call Saskia and you’re going to tell her every fucking thing that’s happened since the day you were born. You’re not going to lie or dodge questions or spin this in any way that could land me in fucking prison. Do you understand?”

He nods quickly, the last of his bravado finally draining out of him. Or maybe he’s sobering up. Whatever it is, he looks older than his age. His face is gray, his hands are shaking.

And although I need more than a coffee to get me through this, I turn to leave anyway, because I need to check on Georgia. I trust Caleb to take care of her, but I need to see she’s okay.