"Am I wrong, though?" Steve set down his phone and sat up straight. "Look at Mr. Wang's son-in-law. The guy started his own import-export company. Pulls in millions a year."

"Now look at ours. Eats our food, lives under our roof, coasts through a few years at the company, and suddenly thinks he's somebody?"

"You ask him to write one business plan, and after two weeks he still can't squeeze out a damn thing. What good is he?"

Valerie chimed in. "That's enough out of you. Your sister knows the score."

"I'm just saying she deserves better."

Steve slumped back into the couch and picked up his phone again, thumbing back to his game.

The living room went quiet for a few seconds.

Felicity never said a word.

I stood where I was, listening to all of it, my face blank.

On the shoe cabinet by the entryway sat an umbrella. Felicity had told me to take it this morning. The forecast called for rain.

I looked at the umbrella.

Then I turned around, pushed the door open, and walked back out.

The door closed softly behind me. Barely a sound.

I drove to the driveway outside the villa and lit a cigarette.

The night wind blew in, carrying a slight chill.

In the distance lay the neighborhood's man-made lake. A row of streetlamps lined its edge, their reflections stretching across the water in long ribbons of light.

My phone rang. Felicity.

"Joseph, where are you?"

"How's that business plan coming?"

I was quiet for a moment.

"It's not finished."

"How is it not finished?" Her voice climbed half a register. "You know how important that plan is, don't you? My father's already asked about it two or three times. You didn't present it at today's meeting either, and he was already unhappy about that."

I held the phone. Said nothing.

Part of me almost wanted to laugh.

Otis had said the business plan was critical to the company.

But at today's meeting, in front of everyone, he'd told me to step out. Didn't even give me the chance to present.

Critical? Maybe it was.

I just wasn't.

Felicity must have picked up on something in my silence, because her tone softened.

"What happened today... I know it wasn't fair to you."

"But my father is the head of this family. He's the chairman. He has his reasons. You... try not to take it too personally."

I told her I understood.

"Good." She let out a breath, a note of relief slipping into her voice. "I'm glad you see it that way. So just pull an all-nighter tonight, push through, and have the plan ready by tomorrow no matter what."

The line went dead.

I set the phone on the passenger seat and stared through the windshield.

I thought about what was in that business plan.

A three-year roadmap. Transitioning from traditional manufacturing to smart manufacturing. Two new automated production lines. Building a proprietary e-commerce platform. Expanding into overseas markets.

Every item had detailed timelines, budget projections, and risk assessments.

I'd spent two weeks on it.

Run the numbers more times than I could count. Revised the proposal through draft after draft.

Today was supposed to be the day I presented it. But before I could open my mouth, Otis had told all non-essential personnel to leave the room.

Non-essential personnel.

He was the chairman at the company. He was the head of the household at home.

If he said you were non-essential, then you were non-essential.

Seven years. I'd thought that if I delivered results, things would eventually be different.

But in the end, to the Hensons, I was nothing more than a freeloader. A live-in son-in-law who'd married up.

Steve called me a deadbeat, a slacker. Valerie said I was a lost cause.

They'd said it right in front of Felicity.

She hadn't pushed back. Not once.

I opened the car door and flicked the cigarette butt into the trash can by the curb.

I thought about how I'd spent these past seven years.

The first year, Steve called me a "freeloader." I kept my mouth shut, telling myself that time would reveal my worth.

The second year, Valerie said I "wasn't good enough for the Henson family." I smiled it off, telling myself that all I had to do was prove myself at Henson Group.

The third year, I doubled Henson Group's revenue. At the dinner table, Otis said, "Good numbers this year." He didn't mention my name.

I told myself it was fine. He knew. That was enough.

The fourth year. The fifth. The sixth.

Every year was the same.

Every New Year's Eve, the relatives gathered together, and I sat in the farthest corner. I listened to them talk about whose kid had gone abroad, who'd bought a mansion, whose son-in-law had just been promoted to VP.

Nobody spoke to me. Nobody cared what I'd done for the company.

Last New Year's Eve dinner, Steve had too much to drink and blurted out in front of a dozen family members: "Seriously, Joe, you're running around the office like a headless chicken all day. What's even in it for you?"

"No equity. No dividends. You're not even a director."

"Don't tell me you actually think you have a stake in Henson Group."

Everyone laughed.

Felicity laughed too. She told me later, "Don't pay attention to him. He was drunk."

But in the moment, she hadn't said a word.

She never spoke up for me in front of those people. Not once.

It was always afterward, when it was just the two of us, that she'd say softly, "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

And then everything went back to normal.

I didn't go back to the office. Instead, I called up Solomon James for drinks.

Solomon was a colleague from my days at the research institute, and the only friend who'd stayed in touch over the years.

We met at a little hole-in-the-wall on the south side of town.

He was already inside when I arrived.

"There he is."

"Day off? Don't have to keep the wife company?"

I shook my head.

He read something in my face and didn't push it. Just lifted his glass and clinked it against mine.

We drank the first few rounds fast, without much talking.

The place was nearly empty. The owner was behind the counter scrolling through his phone, and some news broadcast murmured from the TV on the wall.

After a few more rounds, Solomon started to open up.

"Joseph, you've gotten thin." He pointed at me. "Back at the institute, you had this energy about you. Now you look like you've aged twenty years."

I said nothing. Took another sip.

He clapped me on the shoulder. "Honestly, man, sometimes I think you got a raw deal."

"Back at the institute, who didn't respect you? That algorithm model of yours. Marvin talked about it all the time. Said you were the best talent he ever mentored, that your future was limitless."

"And then what? You just up and left."

I picked up a peanut, tossed it in my mouth, and chewed.

Back then, I'd been leading the algorithm framework for a core project. Three straight months buried in the lab, sleeping four or five hours a night. Writing code until two or three in the morning was routine. When exhaustion hit, I'd crash on a cot for a few hours and get right back to it at dawn.

The day the system finally ran clean, the whole team exhaled.

Marvin Lawrence slapped the table during a group meeting and declared that this young man was going places.

I was twenty-one that year, my head full of nothing but architecture design and model optimization, convinced the future held infinite possibilities.

Then I met Felicity.

I spoke slowly. "The road I took was my own choice."

"I know." Solomon raised his glass. "But I think you chose wrong."

"You gave up everything for love. And what did it get you? You think I haven't heard what your life's been like with the Hensons?"

"Marrying in, doing their grunt work, getting looked down on by every last one of them. What's the point?"

I didn't answer.

He took a sip, eyeing me through half-closed lids. "Joseph, let me ask you something. If you had the chance, would you be willing to come back to the institute?"

4

I sat in silence for a long time.

The TV switched to a different program and started playing an old song.

The owner turned off the counter light, came over, and set down a fresh pot of tea for us.

I finally spoke. "Hard to say."

"It's not that I don't want to. I just don't know if I can go back."

"Technology is one of those things where a year or two away is fine, but seven years? Everything's changed."

"The work I was doing back then, nobody would have any use for it now."

Solomon waved that off. "That's an excuse."

"Sure, the tech evolves fast, but the underlying logic doesn't change. With the foundation you built back then, picking it back up wouldn't be hard."

"The real question is whether you want to."

Something stirred in me.

He read my expression and gave a slow nod, then raised his glass. "Enough talk. Everything that needs saying is in the drink."

After that we drank even more. Solomon started telling me about the changes at the institute over the years. Who'd been promoted, who'd jumped ship, who was leading a doctoral team now. Marvin had retired last year. Before he left, he'd mentioned me, said it was a shame.

I listened, nodding now and then.

By the end we were both drunk. He found a hotel nearby and dumped me onto a bed.

"Figure it out yourself tomorrow," he said, and left.

When I woke the next morning, I fumbled for my phone and glanced at the screen.

9:17.

It was packed with missed calls, all from Felicity.

The earliest one was at 7:40. The last one, three minutes ago.

I sat up. My head was still pounding.

I splashed water on my face, went downstairs, checked out, and hailed a cab to the office.

My phone rang twice more on the way. I didn't answer.

By the time I got to the company it was already 9:40.

I pushed open the conference room door and walked in. Every pair of eyes turned toward me.

Otis's expression was ugly. Not the kind of dark that comes with anger, but the quiet before a storm.

"Joseph, do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Work starts at eight. You waltz in at nine forty-five?"

"Wow, bro, you've really got some nerve." Steve leaned back in his chair, one leg crossed over the other. "Making the entire senior leadership wait just for you."

Valerie chimed in. "We all agreed today was the board meeting, and you show up this late. Are you trying to make someone look bad on purpose?"

Otis stared at me, tapping two fingers against the table.

"Where's the business plan?"

I stood where I was, my expression calm. "I threw it away."

The conference room went silent for a full second.

"What did you just say?"

Otis's voice dropped low.

"I said I threw it away." I repeated myself. "Yesterday, in the hallway. Tossed it in the trash."

Steve shot upright in his chair. "Are you out of your mind? The board's been waiting on that, and you threw it away?"

"Joseph, what is that supposed to mean?" Valerie's voice pitched higher. "Did you do this on purpose?"

Otis raised a hand, cutting them both off.

"Joseph, I'm going to give you one chance to explain yourself."

Seven years. In seven years, he had never once spoken to me in that tone.

It wasn't anger. It wasn't disappointment. It was the condescension of I'm giving you a chance. As if my standing here at all was some kind of gift he'd bestowed.

"There's nothing to explain. I threw it away."

"You—!"

Steve shot to his feet, eyes blazing like he wanted to tear me apart.

Otis told him to sit down.

Steve glanced at his father, then dropped back into his seat.

Otis turned to me, tapping the table twice more.

"Joseph, in all your years at Henson Group, I believe I've treated you more than fairly."

"I started you in admin and gave you opportunities, step by step. The marketing department, the product line, the new brand launch. Which one of those doors didn't I open for you?"

"The company is about to go public, and you've turned the most critical proposal into this. How do you expect the board to see you?"

Valerie sneered from the side. "How else would they see him? You can't polish a turd. We've given him chance after chance, and it's the same thing every time."

Steve jumped in. "Dad, he did it on purpose. He probably thinks the family's been unfair to him, so he's taking it out on the work."

"I've seen his type a hundred times. No talent, but plenty of pride. Can't deliver results, so he throws a tantrum instead."

The other Henson family members on the board sat off to the side, their expressions carefully neutral. Some scrolled through their phones. Others flipped through the documents in front of them. Nobody said a word.

Felicity hadn't spoken at all. Her face was blank, her teeth pressing into her lower lip.

Otis spoke again, every word landing like a hammer.

"Joseph, your attitude today is deeply disappointing."

"We'll set the proposal aside for now. You showed up over an hour late and made this entire room wait for you. What kind of behavior is that?"

"Do you have any respect left for discipline? For this company?"

Steve laughed. "Dad, give it a rest. He's still technically a Henson son-in-law, even if he's worth less than the family dog."

I cut him off.

"Enough."

"I'm not here to hand in some proposal."

"I'm here to tell you that starting today, I am no longer an employee of Henson Group."

"And I am no longer a son-in-law of the Henson family."

The conference room went dead silent. So silent you could hear the low hum of the air conditioning.

I turned and looked at Felicity. Her face was frozen in shock.

"Felicity. Let's get divorced."