“You would be sleeping in a studio apartment if I hadn’t taken you in.”

“I would have been free,” I said.

“Free?” he sneered.

He took another step, his face red, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps.

“You don’t know what free means,” he said.

“You are going to learn what it means to have nothing.”

He reached out and grabbed the edge of the dining table, his knuckles turning white.

The silver candlesticks rattled against the wood.

“Derek, calm down,” Arthur said, stepping between us again.

“Get out of my way, Dad,” Derek said, his voice rising to a shout.

“She is not leaving this house with my money.”

“It is not your money anymore, Derek,” Annika said.

“The court has already frozen the joint accounts.”

Derek’s head snapped toward her, then back to me.

The realization that he was completely trapped seemed to hit him all at once.

His eyes went wide, the pupils dilated.

“You think you can lock me out?” he screamed.

He lunged forward, pushing past Arthur with a force that sent the older man stumbling against the sideboard.