Chapter 6 - The Fracture
Three days later, Estelle called again. She demanded that Colton, Asa, and I come to the main estate for a "reconciliation dinner" ahead of Christmas.
"Your father is willing to overlook your emotional outburst at Thanksgiving," Estelle said smoothly over the phone, her tone dripping with conditional forgiveness. "We will have a nice caterer, and we can all move past this little drama."
Colton took the phone from my hand.
"Will Asa be sitting at the main table with us?" Colton asked, his voice tighter than I had ever heard it.
There was a pause on the line. "Colton, darling, let's not make things complicated. Your father has set up a lovely little kids' table in the sunroom—"
"No," Colton interrupted, his voice firm. "We aren't coming."
"Colton James Prescott!" Estelle gasped. "You do not speak to your mother that way! Your father will cut you out of the family foundation!"
"Then tell him to write the check to someone else," Colton said, and hung up.
May you like
It was the first time in thirty-four years Colton had ever said "no" to his parents. But Foster wasn't a man to accept defeat quietly. Within forty-eight hours, rumors began circulating through the extended family network that I was "isolating" Colton from his family and using our son's condition to "manipulate" financial decisions.
Foster was setting the stage for a total family war.
