“Take that, loser.” Ryan laughs wickedly as he shoots my soldier on the video game we’re playing. The game ends, and he brushes his hands together victoriously. “And that’s how it’s done. Fancy another round?”

“Sure. Let me order the pizza first—I’m starving.”

“Cool. Don’t let pineapple touch that pie. I’m serious—I can’t stand that stuff.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

I pick up my phone to order a pizza, then sit back down with Ryan to continue gaming. After a stressful week helping Melissa out, I’m glad to have a little time doing something mindless with a friend. She’s working a shift at the diner tonight, so it was a good time to invite Ryan over for a few hours of Call of Duty.

About half an hour later, there’s a knock at the door, and Ryan quickly presses pause. “Ye-e-es! Piz-za! Piz-za!”

I laugh. “All right. Calm down. I’ll get it.”

There’s a smile on my face as I go to the door. I needed this downtime.

My smile disappears when I open it and see who’s on the other side. Red-faced and staunch, my father stands with his arms folded over his chest.

I pale. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve discovered some things I’m not happy about and seeing as you won’t pay attention to a word I say on the phone, I felt I had no choice but to come over here and talk some sense into you myself.”

He steps into the living room and casts his disapproving gaze around. It settles on Ryan, who’s still holding his game controller in his hand and looking really confused.

“Nice to see that allowance I’m giving you is going to good use. You could get a 4.0 GPA if you weren’t wasting your time playing war games and disobeying my direct orders not to give handouts to your trashy girlfriend’s convict brother.”

My cheeks flame red.

Ryan’s eyes grow round, and he quickly stands up to leave. “I better get going.”

My father holds up his hand. “No, please. Stay. Henry’s not embarrassed, are you? Henry never gets embarrassed. That’s why he continues to act like an ungrateful, reckless and self-centered fool without the sense God gave him. Henry never feels shame for his actions. Henry’s immune to what people think. Isn’t that right, son?”

Ryan looks like he wants the ground to swallow him up. He’s halfway between sitting and standing, looking more uncomfortable than I’ve ever seen a human look before. His face is as red as mine, and a look of utter relief washes over his face when he spots the pizza delivery guy through the open doorway.

“I’ll get this one.” He darts out the door and shuts it behind him, leaving me to face the wrath of my father’s fury alone.

My father slowly prowls around my flat, picking things up and putting them back down again. Every time he inspects one of my belongings, his lips curl into a snarl of disapproval. He frequently sighs and shakes his head.

At last, he comes to a stop in the middle of the room but doesn’t sit down, as if he thinks the seats aren’t clean enough for him to risk taking a seat.

“I know you gave that girl money. A lot of money.”

“And how would you know that?”

My father pulls his mobile out his pocket and turns the screen to face me. I can see the “Money in” and “Money out” columns of the online bank statement.

“You forget that I set up that account. I can see everything that goes in and out. Thirty-thousand dollars in. Seventy-five thousand dollars. Two thousand—and then it all disappears. Where did you get that kind of money from, Henry?”

I sink down onto the sofa and cross one leg over the other. Now my initial shock at seeing my father has worn off, I’m simply tired; fed-up of defending myself and my choices.

“I sold my things.”

“What things?”

“I had Percy auction off my car and some of my art. I sold my Rolex online. I sold some of my stocks.”

My father’s face grows livid. I can see a vein throbbing at his temple, and his jaw clenches together so tightly, it’s a wonder his teeth don’t crack. “All those expensive things I got you as gifts, as investments, you’ve squandered to impress a girl?”

I look down at my lap. “It’s not like that.”

“You should have understood those things weren’t yours to sell.”

“What do you mean they weren’t mine? They were gifts, weren’t they?”

“I’m disappointed you chose to waste them. How much did you give her? A hundred and twenty thousand? A hundred and thirty?”

“A hundred and fifty.”

He shuts his eyes like he’s in physical pain. “You’re a disgrace.”

“She needed me.”

He raises his voice to a roar that makes the walls of the flat shake. “I told you to break things off with her!”

“And I ignored you. You don’t get to tell me who I love.”

“Love—you don’t know what that word means. As long as you’ve been my son, you’ve been selfish and vain. Right now, you like playing the hero, but when the novelty wears off, you’ll have no feelings left for this girl. It’s all about your ego, Henry. It always has been.”

“You’re wrong. I love her.”

“Well, I hope that’s true because she’s all you have left now. You’re cut off.”

“Cut off?”

My father crosses his arms in a slashing motion through the air. “Done. No more allowance. No more credit cards. No more expensive gifts. And what’s more, no more getting a leg up on the basis of my reputation. You don’t deserve it. The deal is off. There will be no flat waiting for you when you return to England. There will be no job. No cars, no bank account, no room at the manor. You’re on your own. In fact, don’t bother coming home.

“You’ve made no secret of the fact you have no respect for your family. Now you can live life on your own terms and off the fruits of your own labor. I’m done bankrolling this mayhem. It’s over, Henry.”

“Are you serious?”

“Deadly.” He turns back toward the door, sweeping out as quickly as he swept in. “You still have your place at Harvard. If I were you, I wouldn’t screw it up. It’s the last thing you have going for you now.”

I’m done, too. I lift up my hands helplessly and see my father to the door. “As you wish.”

“I expected more of you.”

“No. You didn’t. And you let me know it every day.”

He shakes his head in disappointment. “I wanted better for you.”

“You wanted the same for me.” I look him squarely in the eyes. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m going to be fine. I’m capable of more than you ever gave me credit for—I just don’t fit into your mold.”

“Let’s hope that’s true. For your sake. Good luck, Henry.”

“Goodbye.”

My father leaves the flat. I stand in the middle of the living room, shell-shocked from the encounter.

A moment later, Ryan’s face appears tentatively around the doorframe. “Jesus,” he says. “That was brutal.”

I flop down onto the sofa and pick up my controller. “You got the pizza?”

Ryan steps into the room and lays the box on the coffee table. He sits beside me and fixes me with a look of concern. “You okay?”

I smirk. “Never better.”

“Your father’s pretty scary. When I was reading Harry Potter as a kid, that’s the voice Lord Voldemort always had in my head.”

“He says I’m cut off. More like disowned—he told me not to bother coming home.”

“What did you do that was that bad? I thought you were doing well here? There’s nothing wrong with your grades. You don’t go out drinking.”

“I tried to help someone he didn’t want me to help.”

“Melissa?”

I close my eyes and nod. “What’s done is done. He thinks I’ll crumble on my own, but I’m on my way to good things. I’m going to get this MBA and pave my own way out there.”

“Good for you.” Ryan pauses uncomfortably. “Is Melissa okay?”

“She wouldn’t want people to know.”

Ryan pats my shoulder comfortingly. “I’m here if you need me, buddy. I know your dad just gave you a tough time, but when you say you love Melissa, I know it’s true. You’ve changed a lot since you’ve been here—for the better, I’d say.”

“You heard all that?”

He looks guilty. “Thin walls.”

“The gossip mill will love that one. The whole place will have heard.”

“Let them talk. As far as I can tell, you did a good thing. Selling all your stuff like that. It’s good to see someone around here who is deeper than all that superficial stuff on the surface. No matter what your father says, I respect what you did for Melissa. I hope whatever’s going on with her works out in the end.”