Chapter 6 - The Escalation of Doubt
Travis slammed his wineglass down onto the polished wood, the red liquid sloshing over the rim and staining the white linen runner. His face had flushed a dark, mottled crimson, the veins in his thick neck bulging against the collar of his designer shirt. For thirty-four years, Travis had been the undisputed king of this household, the center of every universe my parents had ever constructed. Having his authority challenged by the “loser younger brother” was an insult his ego simply could not process.
“Oh, cut the melodramatic self-righteous bullshit, Daniel!” Travis roared, his voice booming against the high ceiling of the dining room. “You come in here waving around imaginary software companies and phantom houses like you’re some kind of Silicon Valley titan, and we’re all just supposed to bow down and kiss your ring? Please! You’ve been a professional scam artist since high school, always running away from real work because you didn't have the stomach for it!”
“Travis, language!” my mother gasped, fluttering her hands uselessly in the air. “Not at the dinner table!”
“No, Mom, let him talk,” I said, holding up a hand to stop her interference. I kept my gaze locked onto my brother’s furious, sweat-beaded face. I felt an odd, liberating sense of calm settling over me. The monster under the bed wasn’t terrifying anymore; he was just a miserable, insecure middle-aged man trapped in the ghost of his high school football glory days. “Go on, Travis. Tell me what else I’m lying about.”
Travis leaned across the table, his eyes narrowing to hateful slits as he pointed a thick, sausage-like finger directly at my face. “Fine. You want to play high roller? Let’s talk about your little trophy wife and your instant-gratification family. You expect us to just swallow the fairy tale that you met some brilliant woman, got married in secret, bought a house, and popped out a kid without a single soul in your family knowing a damn thing about it? In this day and age? People don’t just vanish into the witness protection program because they’re ‘too successful’ to invite their parents to a wedding.”
“We didn't vanish, Travis. We just didn't invite people who only know how to tear us down,” Claire interjected, her voice icy, crystal-clear, and laced with absolute contempt.
Travis shot her a venomous glare, his lips curling back in a snarl. “Stay out of this, sweetheart. I’m talking to my so-called brother here. Though, seeing as you two move so fast, maybe we should start asking the real questions.” He paused, letting a slow, malicious grin spread across his face. He turned his head toward the rest of the table, pitching his voice to carry maximum cruelty. “I mean, let’s be completely honest with ourselves for a second. How do we even know the kid is actually his?”
The dining room instantly froze into a state of absolute, deafening vacuum.
Claire went completely rigid, the fork in her hand hovering halfway to her mouth before dropping onto her plate with a sharp *clack*. Across the table, Melissa whipped her head toward her husband with a look of pure, unadulterated horror, her mouth dropping open in shock. Even my father looked genuinely appalled, shrinking back into his chair as if Travis had just detonated a grenade under the table.
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“Travis!” my father barked, his voice cracking with sudden authority. “That has gone entirely too far! Apologize to your brother and his wife right now!”
“What?” Travis spread his hands wide, feigning absolute innocence while his eyes burned with malicious satisfaction. “I’m just asking the logical questions that everyone else at this table is thinking! Am I supposed to just accept that my deadbeat brother suddenly morphs into a wealthy family man overnight? Women cheat all the time, Dad. Especially when they’re hiding out in the middle of nowhere with a guy who sells junk on the internet. For all we know, the kid belongs to one of her old college boyfriends, and Daniel’s just playing the noble, cuckolded savior to feel important!”
