Anna nodded slowly. «And the $50,000 he demanded is what Romano Financial makes in about three hours.» She looked around the room at all these people who’d spent the evening treating her family like an amusing charity case. «Preston,» she said quietly, «we’re done.»
Preston’s face went through several shades of pale before settling on a sickly green. «Anna, you can’t be serious. This is our engagement party.»
«No,» Anna said, her voice steady and clear. «This is my education.» She pulled the engagement ring off her finger—a three-carat diamond that probably cost less than her father’s daily earnings—and set it on the nearest table.
Reginald stepped forward, trying to salvage the situation. «Mr. Romano, surely we can discuss this like reasonable businessmen. These are emotional circumstances.»
«Emotional?» I asked. «Mr. Whitfield, this is purely business. Your family signed a mortgage contract with specific character provisions. Those provisions have been violated. The loan is now due in full.»
Maria opened her portfolio and extracted a thick document. «Loan Acceleration Notice, approved by Romano Financial’s Board of Directors this afternoon. The Sheriff’s Department will serve formal papers Monday morning at 9 a.m.»
«You prepared this before you even came here tonight?» Catherine asked in horror.
«Standard procedure,» said the board chairman. «When character violations are documented through direct observation, Romano Financial acts swiftly to protect its interests and community values.»
Preston was frantically scrolling through his phone. «I need to call my lawyer.»
«By all means,» I said. «Though you should know that Romano Financial’s legal department has been preparing for this contingency since Friday. We’ve reviewed all possible appeals, injunctions, and delaying tactics. Your family’s options are quite limited.»
«This is extortion!» Reginald shouted, loud enough that other diners turned to stare.
«No,» Maria said calmly. «This is contract enforcement. Your son demanded $50,000 from a family he considered financially inferior. He made discriminatory statements about ethnic neighborhoods, suggested that families like ours should have weddings with paper plates, and explicitly told Mr. Romano that his immigrant family needed to learn their place in America. Romano Financial considers such behavior fundamentally incompatible with our community values.»
The older woman with diamonds, Mrs. Pemberton, I now remembered her name, finally spoke up. «Reginald, what exactly did Preston say?»
Before Reginald could answer, Preston jumped in. «I never said anything discriminatory!»
«You said my family needed to learn our place in America,» I reminded him. «You laughed about banking services in ethnic neighborhoods. You told your friends that Anna ‘managed to get through Stanford,’ like it was surprising that someone from our background could succeed academically. You suggested paper plates for our wedding reception.»
Anna looked at Preston with something approaching disgust. «Is that really what you said?»
«Anna, you’re taking this out of context.»
«Preston,» she said quietly, «three hours ago, you were entertaining your friends by talking about my family’s financial problems. You made jokes about paper plates at our wedding. You treated my father like he was some kind of charity case you were graciously tolerating.»
«I was just…»
«Just what? Just showing your true feelings when you thought there wouldn’t be consequences?»
Maria handed me another document. «Mr. Romano, there’s also the matter of Preston’s trust fund.»
Preston’s eyes went wide. «What about my trust fund?»
«$600,000 managed through Romano Financial’s private banking division. Recent withdrawal patterns suggest possible violations of trust provisions.»
«What kind of violations?» Catherine asked weakly.
«Expenditures inconsistent with character requirements,» said the board chairman. «Large cash withdrawals without proper documentation. Payments to luxury services while demanding financial contributions from families the beneficiary considers economically inferior. Trust fund guidelines specifically prohibit using inherited assets to exploit or demean others based on their perceived economic status.»
Preston’s phone slipped from his hands and clattered on the marble floor.
«You’re freezing my trust fund?»
«Pending a character review,» Maria confirmed. «Standard procedure when a beneficiary’s behavior raises questions about fitness to manage inherited wealth responsibly.»
The silence in the room was deafening. Other Yacht Club members had stopped pretending not to watch. The Whitfield family’s public humiliation was now entertainment for their entire social circle.
«How long?» Reginald asked, his voice hollow.
«How long for what?» I asked.
«The foreclosure process. How long do we have?»
«Twenty-four hours to produce $4.2 million in certified funds,» Maria said. «After that, the property enters immediate foreclosure proceedings.»
«That’s impossible,» Catherine whispered. «We don’t have that kind of liquid capital.»
«Perhaps,» I suggested, «you could ask your friends here for a loan. I’m sure they’d be happy to help, given how much they’ve enjoyed discussing our family’s financial situation tonight.»
The looks that passed between the Yacht Club members made it clear that no help would be forthcoming. These people were vultures, not friends. They’d enjoyed watching the Whitfields mock a poor immigrant family, but they had no interest in actually helping when the tables turned.
Preston made one last desperate attempt. «Mr. Romano, this is about Anna and me. Don’t let your hurt feelings destroy our future.»
«My hurt feelings?» I looked at him with genuine curiosity. «Preston, this isn’t about hurt feelings. This is about character. You spent eight months showing me yours. Now I’m showing you mine.»
Anna stepped closer to me. «Dad, what happens to their house?»
«Standard foreclosure process,» Maria explained. «Public auction. The proceeds go to satisfy the outstanding loan balance.»
«And if it sells for more than they owe?»
«They keep the difference. If it sells for less, they remain liable for the shortfall.»
Reginald’s face crumpled. «That house has been in my family for four generations.»
«And my family has been in America for one generation,» I replied. «The difference is, we built something instead of just inheriting it.»
Preston turned to Anna one more time. «Anna, please, we can work this out. Your father is being unreasonable.»
«No, Preston, he’s being a father. Something you might understand if you’d ever respected the concept.» She took my arm. «Dad, I think we should go.»
As we walked toward the exit, I heard Katherine Whitfield’s voice behind us, shrill with panic. «Reginald, call the bank president! Call someone who can fix this!»
I turned back briefly. «Mrs. Whitfield, I am the bank president.»
The last thing I saw was Preston on his knees, frantically trying to gather the pieces of his shattered phone from the marble floor.
The next morning, I was reading the Providence Journal with my coffee when Anna knocked on my door. She looked like she hadn’t slept much, but there was something different in her eyes—clearer, stronger.
«Dad, we need to talk.»
We sat in my kitchen, the modest kitchen in the modest house that had apparently fooled an entire family of supposed sophisticates.
«Why didn’t you tell me?» she asked. «About Romano Financial, about the money, about everything.»
I poured her a coffee and thought about my answer. «Do you remember when you were applying to colleges and I told you that you’d have to earn your way through scholarships and hard work?»
«Yes, and I did. I worked my ass off.» She stopped. «Wait, did I?»
«You worked exactly as hard as I said you’d have to. You earned every grade, every achievement, every opportunity. The only difference is that I paid the bills instead of making you take out loans.»
«But why lie about it?»
«Because I wanted you to become Anna Romano, not Anthony Romano’s daughter. I wanted you to know that you could succeed based on your own merit, not because Daddy wrote checks.»
She was quiet for a moment. «And Preston?»
«Preston was a test you didn’t know you were taking. I needed to see if he loved you enough to respect you, regardless of what he thought your family’s status was.»
«He failed. Spectacularly.»
Anna’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it and shook her head. «Twentieth call from Preston this morning and fifteen text messages.»
«Saying what?»
«That he’s sorry. That he didn’t mean it. That his family is in crisis and he needs my help to fix this.»
«How do you feel about that?»
She was quiet for a long moment. «Like I dodged a bullet. Dad, last night when I was lying awake, I kept thinking about the last eight months. Every time Preston introduced me to his friends, he’d apologize for something: my clothes, my car, my job plans. He was constantly managing other people’s perception of me, like I was a project he was trying to fix.»
«And now?»
«Now I realize that the problem was never me. It was him. And them.» She looked around our kitchen. «This house isn’t a step down from the Whitfield estate, is it? It’s a choice you made.»
«Every choice I’ve made for 26 years has been about building something real instead of just displaying wealth. Your mother and I decided that family mattered more than status.»
