Not once did they say, “We’re sorry.”
Not once.
When they finished, Jordan stood up and went into his office.
He returned holding a check.
$20,000.
My mother’s eyes lit up instantly. My father leaned forward, already relaxing.
“You have no idea what this means to us,” she said, reaching for it.
But Jordan pulled it back slightly.
“You can have this,” he said calmly, “but only under one condition.”
Their confidence cracked for the first time.
“What condition?” my father asked.
“It’s simple,” Jordan replied. “I want an apology. For how you’ve treated me over the years.”
My father exhaled sharply, almost laughing.
“That’s it? Of course. I’m sorry, Jordan.”
My mother nodded quickly. “If anything we said hurt you—”
“If?” I interrupted.
She hesitated, then pushed forward anyway.
“We didn’t mean it like that. They were just jokes. We’re sorry.”
And just like that, twelve years of humiliation were reduced to a careless excuse.
I felt something snap inside me.
I reached out and took the check from Jordan’s hand.
“No,” I said.
Silence.
“What do you mean, no?” my mother asked.
“You don’t get to insult him for 12 years and fix it in 12 seconds with a fake apology.”
“But we did what he asked,” my father argued.
“No. You rushed through words you didn’t mean just to get what you wanted.”
My father leaned back, frustrated. Then he turned to Jordan.
“You’re not seriously going to let her do this. We came to you.”
Jordan didn’t hesitate.
“We make decisions together. If Jen isn’t satisfied, I trust her judgment.”
That shifted everything in the room.
For the first time, they weren’t in control.
For illustration purposes
I placed the check on the table.
“If you want our help,” I said, “you’re going to earn it.”
My father scoffed. “Earn it? We’re your parents.”
“And you spent years mocking the man I love because he’s different,” I replied. “So here’s what you’ll do.”
My mother frowned. “What?”
“You’ll spend one week at Jordan’s firm.”
“Doing what exactly?” my father asked.
“Observing. Listening. Being there every day.”
He frowned. “We don’t need a job.”
