I drove to my parents’ house that afternoon with Scott beside me. My mother cried and said they only wanted to save Derek. My father could not meet my eyes. I told them I would have helped if they had simply told me the truth, but they chose to forge my name and trick my sister instead. Derek finally stood up and admitted the gambling, the lies, and the years they had covered for him. Then he asked for help, and my parents said nothing at all.

I pressed charges for the forgery, but I asked the court for a plan instead of jail. My parents agreed to repay the debt from their own savings, and Derek entered a treatment program. Jenna and I placed the cottage in a trust that no one can sell without both our signatures. That summer, we sat on the porch where Grandma Ruth used to shell peas, and Jenna cried and apologized. I told her she had never been the problem. For the first time, I was no longer the daughter who simply obeyed.