Dad’s Rоlех was the only thing he left me. Mom and her new husband sold it for my stepbrother’s «startup.» The pawn shop owner called: «Ma’am, you need to see what was hidden inside this watch…»

Tyler, of course. He took cash for it. Eight thousand, five hundred dollars.

But here’s the thing, I never filed the paperwork. Technically, this transaction hasn’t happened yet. What do you mean? I mean I’ve been in this business thirty years, I know stolen goods when I see them, even when the thief has a key to the house.

He slid the watch across the counter. Take it. If anyone asks, it was never here.

I can’t just. Your dad helped me once. My kid needed surgery and I was short on rent.

He did a roofing job for me at cost. Let me pay him over six months. Frank’s gruff voice went soft.

Man never mentioned it again. This is me settling up. I left the pawn shop clutching the watch, my mind racing.

Dad’s toolbox was in the garage, mom had wanted to throw it out, but I’d insisted on keeping it. The level he’d mentioned was his favorite, an old Stanley that he’d taught me to use when I was eight. But first, I had questions that needed answering.

I found mom in the kitchen with Richard, both hunched over coffee and what looked like bank statements. They looked up when I walked in, and I saw immediately, the guilt, quick and unmistakable, before mom rearranged her face into confusion. Mia? What are you doing home? I set the watch on the counter between us, looking for this.

The silence stretched like taffy. Where did you, Richard started. Where did I find the watch you stole from my desk drawer? The watch you pawned for Tyler’s ridiculous app idea? The watch that was the only thing my father left me? My voice was steady, calmer than I felt.

Is that what you were going to ask? Now Mia, Richard stood, using his mediator voice. Let’s not be dramatic, Tyler needed capital for his business. His third business, after the food truck that never got off the ground and a cryptocurrency disaster.

This one’s different, mom interjected. He has a partner, a business plan, funded by stealing from me. It’s not stealing, Richard said firmly.

We’re a family, family shares resources. Like Tyler shared his trust fund with me? Oh wait, he spent that on a Mercedes and a trip to Cabo. That’s different.

How? How is it different? Mom stood, her face hardening. Because Tyler has potential, he’s building something. You just, you just sit on valuable things while people with vision need resources…