The Solar Reach portal was open, the pending transaction flashing in red text.

*Investor: Eleanor Mitchell Trust. Amount: $500,000. Status: Pending Acceptance.*

“Sarah?” Marcus’s voice echoed from my second phone, still resting on my knee.

I switched back to the three-way call with Marcus and Derek, putting them on speaker.

“She’s on the other line,” I told them. “She says Dad is on board.”

“He isn’t,” Derek said immediately. “I talked to him an hour ago. He sounded miserable, Sarah. He told me he wished he could stop her.”

“But he didn’t,” I said.

“He never does,” Derek muttered.

“If you reject,” Marcus said, “the lender’s automated system flags us at midnight. By nine tomorrow, we are locked out of our primary account.”

“We have forty thousand dollars in the payroll reserve at the credit union,” Derek said. “That buys us four days.”

“Four days isn’t enough to clear a new bridge loan,” Marcus said.

I looked at the red text on my laptop screen.

The button marked *Reject* was a small, gray rectangle.

I clicked back to my mother’s call.