Courtney complained about online shopping delays.
Vanessa scrolled social media.
Diane looked perfectly comfortable.
Ethan walked directly to the entertainment center and yanked the television cord from the wall.
The room fell silent.
“What is wrong with you?” Madison snapped.
Ethan slowly turned toward the four women he had financially supported for years.
“The real question,” he said coldly, “is what’s wrong with all of you?”
Part 2: The Medication They Tossed Away
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
The silence felt sharp enough to cut skin.
Diane stood first.
“You don’t speak to your family like that.”
Ethan pointed toward the kitchen.
“Who made my pregnant wife clean all of that alone?”
Vanessa rolled her eyes dramatically.
“Oh my God, Ethan. They’re dishes.”
“No,” he snapped. “What’s serious is an eight-months-pregnant woman crying over a sink at ten at night while the rest of you sit in here eating food I paid for.”
Courtney crossed her arms.
“Olivia acts exhausted all the time.”
Madison nodded immediately.
“She stays home anyway.”
Ethan stared at them in disbelief.
“She’s carrying my child.”
Diane’s expression hardened instantly.
“And she lives in my house.”
That sentence destroyed whatever patience he still had left.
Ethan inhaled slowly.
“No,” he said quietly. “This is my house. I bought it. I pay every bill here. And tonight, the free ride ends.”
The room went still.
Vanessa frowned.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means every card connected to my accounts is canceled.”
Courtney laughed nervously.
“You’re bluffing.”
Ethan pulled out his phone.
“I already shut them off.”
Madison immediately grabbed her wallet and checked her banking app.
A second later her face turned white.
“My card’s declined.”
Diane stepped closer, horrified.
“You would do this to your own mother?”
Ethan looked her directly in the eyes.
“My wife is upstairs trying not to collapse from exhaustion.”
Then Vanessa muttered something under her breath.
Something that made the room colder.
“Well maybe if Olivia stopped acting like some delicate pregnant princess, none of this would be happening.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
