My husband set his phone down sharply and said, “From now on, your money is yours, and mine is mine. And please don’t use my money to help your parents anymore.”

begged me to hire his father’s struggling logistics company as one of Westbridge’s vendors.

I agreed.

Not long afterward, Kyle’s business became a vendor too.

Then Megan’s marketing agency joined them.

Over the years, companies controlled by Daniel’s relatives had received more than $430,000 in contracts from my firm.

They liked calling it family supporting family.

Daniel preferred to tell people that his connections had helped make my company successful.

Neither version was accurate.

Those contracts existed because I had personally approved them.

And once Daniel demanded financial independence,