Chapter 17\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oliver\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mommy went straight to her desk. I climbed onto the small sofa with Sir Fluffy and watched as she picked up her phone. She took a deep breath before dialing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHello, Mr. Abernathy? This is Cedar Wright\u2026 Yes, regarding the investment opportunity we discussed\u2026\u201d Her voice changed when she talked business\u2013all grown\u2013up and professional.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1 hugged Sir Fluffy closer as the person on the other end talked for a long time. Mommy\u2019s face fell a little.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand your concerns\u2026 Yes, of course\u2026 Thank you for your consideration.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She hung up and immediately dialed another number. Then another. And another. Each call ended the same way\u2013with Mommy\u2019s smile getting smaller and her shoulders dropping lower.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the fifth call, she put down the phone and rubbed her eyes. I could see she was trying not to cry. My chest felt all tight watching her. At home, Daddy never looks sad about money. He just makes phone calls and problems go away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mommy noticed me watching and quickly put on a smile. \u201cHow about some dinner, sweetie? I think we have pasta and\u2014*\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be happy with anything you make!\u201d I jumped up, wanting to make her happy again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Mommy chopped vegetables in the kitchen, I sneaked out my tablet from my backpack. Daddy had set up a special account for me with a little money\u00a0<\/p>\n
for emergencies. Maybe I could give it to Mommy for her eight million dollars!\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tapped the screen and entered my password (it\u2019s \u201ccookiemonster\u2018-don\u2019t tell Daddy). But when I tried to open the money app, a message popped up:\u00a0<\/p>\n
[Account access temporarily restricted. Please contact your guardian.]\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no, no!\u201d I whispered, stomping my foot quietly on the carpet. \u201cStupid Daddy and his stupid rules!\u201d Of course, he\u2019d frozen my account after I\u00a0<\/p>\n
disappeared. He controls EVERYTHING.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I needed to help Mommy get that eight million dollars so the mean Wright people would leave her alone. But how? I\u2019m just a kid with a frozen bank\u00a0<\/p>\n
account.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wait\u2013maybe Aria has money! She gets paid for her dancing shows!\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pulled out my special phone and video called Aria. After a few rings, her face appeared on the screen. She was sitting in her pink bedroom, carefully\u00a0<\/p>\n
brushing her favorite doll\u2019s hair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAri, do you have any money?\u201d I asked, trying to sound casual.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked up, suspicious. \u201cWhy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust wondering.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aria rolled her eyes. \u201cAll my money goes into my trust fund that Aiden manages. I only get my allowance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you\u2019re on TV! Don\u2019t you get paid lots?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
3:50 pm D M\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 17\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDuh, Oliver. But Aiden says I\u2019m not fiscally responsible yet. She made air quotes with her fingers. \u2018I asked for money to buy the new dress and he said no.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s so mean about money.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1 sighed. \u2018Aiden controls everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do you need money anyway? Did you break something? Aria narrowed her eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo! I just\u2026 need it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever. Ask Aiden if you\u2019re desperate. He has access to everything.\u201d She went back to brushing her doll\u2019s hair, clearly done with me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back in my room, I started thinking about all the ways I could get money. I could ask Daddy, but he\u2019d definitely say no and get super suspicious about why I needed it. Breaking open my piggy bank wouldn\u2019t help much, as it only had $ 556.20 inside. I thought about selling my toys, but that would take forever and probably wouldn\u2019t make enough money anyway. Finally, I realized my only real option was to ask Aiden, since he had access to all our accounts and trust\u00a0<\/p>\n
funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aiden was my only hope. My big brother might be strict, but he\u2019d always looked out for me, even when I was being a \u201cpain in his posterior\u201d (his words).\u00a0<\/p>\n
1 grabbed my special phone that only calls family members and hid in the bathroom. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my ears as I pressed\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aiden\u2019s picture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOliver?\u201d Aiden answered on the second ring. \u201cWhere are you? Are you okay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine, Addie,\u201d I said, using my special nickname for him. \u201cI need a favor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of favor?\u201d His voice was immediately suspicious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took a deep breath. \u201cI need eight million dollars.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silence. Then: \u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEight million dollars. I need it. It\u2019s important.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOliver, what are you talking about? Where are you? Does this have something to do with why you ran away?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t tell you,\u201d I said firmly. \u201cBut I really, really need it. And if you don\u2019t help me, I\u2026 I won\u2019t recognize you as my big brother anymore!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOliver-\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease, Addie! It\u2019s for someone really important who needs help!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just then, Mommy\u2019s voice floated down the hall. \u2018Oliver? Mommy made dinner. Come eat, sweetie!\u00a0<\/p>\n
My blood turned to ice as Aiden\u2019s voice sharpened. \u201cWho was that? Oliver, who\u2019s with you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Nobody! Just\u2026 a neighbor kid\u2019s mom,\u2018 I lied, panicking. \u201cSo will you help me? Can you transfer the money?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Oliver Sterling, you tell me exactly where-\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGotta go! Love you! Please hurry with the money!\u201d I hung up quickly, my hands shaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 17\u00a0<\/p>\n
I raced to the kitchen, where Mommy had set the table with pasta and garlic bread. She smiled when I appeared, and my heart felt all warm again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything okay? You look flushed,\u201d she said, touching my forehead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust hungry! I climbed into my chair, trying to act normal while my mind raced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As we ate dinner, Mommy asked about my favorite rides at Navy Pier and laughed at my silly jokes. She even helped me to cut my garlic bread into little pieces. But I could see the tired lines around her eyes that weren\u2019t there this morning. And sometimes when she thought I wasn\u2019t looking, her smile would drop and she\u2019d stare at nothing for a second before snapping back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pushed my pasta around my plate, not really hungry anymore. Grown\u2013ups think kids don\u2019t notice stuff, but we do. I notice everything. Like how Mommy\u2019s voice gets all tight when she talks about money, or how she keeps checking her phone even though nobody\u2019s calling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Would Aiden help me? Maybe. He\u2019s super strict about rules, but he always says Sterlings stick together no matter what. And Mommy is a Sterling too, even if\u00a0<\/p>\n
nobody else knows it yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took a big bite of garlic bread and made a decision. I was going to fix this. I wasn\u2019t going to let anyone take Mommy away from me\u2013not those mean\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wright people, not Daddy, nobody.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sky Remembered the Touch of Our Uninished Goodbyes by Lysa Orion Rehn 17 Chapter 17\u00a0 Oliver\u2019s POV\u00a0 Mommy went […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zero-stars-for-daddy-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30416\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}