Chapter 3

The following day, we headed over to Sarah's parents' place. Her mood was even darker than before.

She scrolled endlessly through Instagram in the passenger seat, sighing heavily at every other post—at least a dozen times during the hour-long drive.

Parked in her parents' driveway was a brand-new, metallic-gray Audi, gleaming under the bright afternoon sun.

Her younger brother, Tyler, was leaning against the porch railing. The moment we got out of the car, he flashed a smug grin.

"Hey, look who made it! Hear you were due for a monstrous bonus this year, Jack!"

I forced a smile. "It was all right."

"Cleared a hundred and fifty grand this cycle myself," Tyler bragged, patting the hood of the sedan affectionately. "Just enough to drive this baby off the lot in cash."

He sauntered over, practically dripping with condescension. "What about you, big guy? Must've blown past my numbers, right?"

Sarah answered for me, her voice dripping with ice. "Twenty-eight thousand."

Tyler's grin snapped shut. A flicker of genuine shock crossed his face, followed immediately by thinly veiled pity.

"Oh. Well, hey, that's still something, right?"

His tone shifted into that overly polite cadence people use when talking to a broke relative. The sudden wave of faux pity made me sick to my stomach.

Inside, my mother-in-law was bustling around the kitchen. Spotting us, she waved warmly.

"Jack! Come on in, take a seat. Lunch is almost ready."

Tyler's wife, Chloe, was sitting on the sectional cradling their newborn. She looked up and gave a modest smile.

"Hey, Sarah. Hey, Jack. Good to see you."

At the dining table, my father-in-law poured me a glass of whiskey, chuckling. "Must've been a grueling year for you, Jack."

"Part of the gig," I replied, lifting my glass.

"Heard your firm hit some massive milestones," he probed casually.

"We did all right. The profit figure in our bonus plan came in at forty-two million."

My mother-in-law's eyes instantly lit up. "Good lord! Your bonus must've been astronomical then!"

Every pair of eyes at the table swiveled toward me. Tyler set his fork down. Chloe unconsciously tightened her hold on the baby.

Even a couple of distant cousins paused mid-chew, waiting for my number.

I placed my glass back on the wooden table. "Twenty-eight thousand."

The air was sucked right out of the room.

The bright smile on my mother-in-law's face withered away. My father-in-law's hand froze mid-air, holding his drink, completely unsure whether to swallow or set it down.

Tyler let out a sudden snort of laughter, quickly trying to mask it with a cough.

Chloe muttered under her breath, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Told you so. Pure tech grunts only ever get base pay."

"Sales and management are where the real power is," Tyler chimed in smugly. "What's the point of grinding your life away behind a screen if you don't call the shots?"

My mother-in-law grimaced. "Jack, don't you think it's time you looked for another firm?"

"The company rakes in that much cash and throws you table scraps? They're treating you like an absolute fool."

"She's right," my father-in-law agreed, shaking his head. "A grown man needs some real ambition. You can't just let people walk all over you forever."

Sarah clattered her fork onto her porcelain plate, her voice frigid. "I'm done eating."

She stood up and walked straight into the guest bedroom, closing the door behind her.

I kept eating. One bite at a time. Slow and steady.

Every mouthful tasted like sawdust, but I mechanically chewed and swallowed anyway.

Tyler watched me, his eyes full of arrogant sympathy.

"Hey Jack, you want me to put in a word for you at my shop? Our tech team's looking for extra hands."

"Pay might be lower than what you're pulling now, though. You know how brutal the tech market is these days."

I looked up, met his patronizing stare, and smiled faintly.

"Thanks, but I'll pass."

"So what's your game plan?" Chloe pressed. "You can't just coast like this forever, can you?"

I put my fork down, dabbed my mouth with a napkin, and stood up.

"I already have a plan in motion."

My mother-in-law exhaled in relief. "Well, thank heavens for that. It's high time you started looking out for yourself."