“This isn’t funny,” she snapped. “There are two hundred guests coming today.”
“Yes,” I said. “To a wedding your family contributed exactly eight thousand dollars toward.”
Her jaw tightened.
Jason said, “Dad, please. You promised.”
“I promised support to my son and his future wife,” I replied. “Not to finance someone who tells my wife she could disappear without consequence.”
Vanessa threw her hands up. “It was one comment.”
Linda finally spoke. “No. It was the last comment.”
Jason looked at her. “Mom, I’m sorry, but canceling everything is extreme.”
Linda’s expression shifted—not anger, but disappointment.
“Jason,” she said, “you didn’t just stay silent. You smiled.”
He swallowed. “I didn’t know what to do.”
“You knew how to ask us for money,” I said. “You knew how to accept your mother’s help. You knew how to let her spend six months making Vanessa feel welcome.”
