Page 144 of Red River

"What?!"

Igor nodded firmly.

"Yep. Father’s debts drained your account. I know you saved up for years. I know you dreamed of going back to school someday, even after all this time."

"How do you know that?"

"Sam told me."

My eyebrows shot up. My friendship with Sam had improved a lot, but it was still healing—we weren’t quite where we used to be.

Igor observed me attentively.

"Sam helped me with this. He really wants to make things better between the two of you. Since I’m a minor, I couldn’t access the money from my channel directly, so we put Sam down as the formal owner. The transfer has already been made—the money… it’s yours now. Here’s the receipt. Do whatever you want with it. But when the kids are older… maybe you’ll decide to follow your passion for music more seriously. You have time, Dad. A lot of time. And I wanted to do something—to make up, in a small way, for what my father took from you."

My throat tightened, I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

"Igor… that’s not your responsibility. Those were his mistakes, not yours. You don’t have to pay for them. You earned this money—it’s yours—"

Igor stood up, leaving the paper on the bed beside me, his eyes filled with sadness.

"When I decided to take on the role of alpha in this family, this was one of the first things I wanted to do—give you back what was taken from you. You worked so hard for that money, Dad. This is part of my own promise to myself—to do right by you."

He nodded, about to leave—but I carefully shifted Phoenix off me and rushed to Igor, catching him at the door and pulling him into a tight hug.

We stood there for a moment before he gently freed himself and stepped away.

"I need to go, Milo is waiting. And it’s not a big deal, Dad. Chill out."

"It is! You have no idea how much this means to me… You're the best son a parent could ask for."

"I’m not. I’ve made mistakes—"

"Like we all have! I’ve made a million mistakes. It’s part of growing up."

"But I have the chance to make one thing right. And I decided to take it."

He stepped back, his eyes shining.

"I love you, Dad."

"And I love you!" I gasped, still in disbelief.

We exchanged smiles, and Igor left.

Wow, my dear Fate—what a day!

I walked back to the bed and picked up the receipt. I didn’t need the money.

My parents had set up a fund specifically for my college education, and it was still there, untouched, waiting for me to finally use it to complete my dream studies. They had given me access to it.

But Igor’s gesture… that meant more than anything.

We had come full circle. Dad and son. We had found our way back to each other.

And that was worth more than any amount of money.

I already had an idea of what I’d buy him in the near future. I remember what he said when we visited my parents' house, what caught his attention there! Smiling roguishly to myself, I tucked the receipt away.

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