Chapter 5

Ethan had locked me in the bedroom.

The moment I realized what had happened, I didn’t even bother to think about why he would do such a thing. Instead, I pounded on the door with both fists.

“Ethan! What the hell are you doing locking me in here?”

“I didn’t ask you to kick your mom out onto the street! If you can’t afford to put them in a hotel, I’ll pay for it! What are you trying to pull here?”

It sounded like Ethan was leaning against the door, because as soon as I finished speaking, I heard his voice, clear as day.

“Abby, I’m sorry. I didn’t have any other choice.”

“My dad got into trouble with some gambling debts. He had to mortgage the house, and now the debt collectors are after us. Tiffany’s in-laws kicked her out to avoid getting mixed up in it, too.”

“I can’t just let my mom and my sister hide from debt collectors while I stay here living comfortably with you.”

For a moment, I was speechless, stunned by the revelation.

Suddenly, all their strange behavior made sense.

But locking me in my room wasn’t going to solve the problem.

So, I forced myself to stay calm and reason with him.

“Ethan, your dad’s debt is his responsibility. If the debt collectors come to the door, we can call the police.”

“If the amount isn’t too big, I can even help out. We can figure it out together. But locking me in this room isn’t going to fix anything.”

There was silence from the other side of the door, but I could hear him breathing.

“Open the door, Ethan. Let’s sit down and talk about how to handle this.”

“You know I’m not the kind of person who would leave you to deal with this alone, right?”

Normally, Ethan was smart enough to see reason by now. But what I forgot was that he had a mother who was anything but reasonable.