Chapter 4: The Poverty He Invented
My throat tightened.
“Ethan said cash flow was tight.”
My grandmother’s eyes hardened.
“Did he.”
I nodded, and once the truth began moving, everything followed with it.
“He said deals were delayed. He said we had to be careful until the next closing. He said I needed to stop thinking like a single woman.”
I thought of the grocery lists I had rewritten three times to save twelve dollars. The prenatal vitamins I stretched longer than I should have. The lactation support form I declined because Ethan said hospitals used new mothers like wallets.
“I took night inventory shifts,” I admitted. “At a pharmacy chain. Twice a week at first. Then sometimes three. I stopped last week because my blood pressure got too high.”
My grandmother closed her eyes.
When she opened them, she looked older — not weaker, but like a mountain under storm clouds… Continue Reading ⬇️
