Grandpa Had to Start Small
Chapter 11 - Grandpa Had to Start Small
Richard did not send gifts.
He did not send jewelry.
He did not send money.
Instead, three days later, he appeared outside Ethan's small rented house carrying two grocery bags.
Ethan stared at him.
"What are you doing?"
Richard looked uncomfortable.
"Lily said she likes pancakes."
"So?"
"I bought pancake ingredients."
"You own a company worth hundreds of millions."
"Yes."
"You could've sent a chef."
Richard looked embarrassed.
"She specifically said she wanted me to make them."
Ethan stepped aside.
"Good luck."
The pancakes were terrible.
Lily ate three.
Richard burned two pans.
For the first time, Ethan saw the powerful businessman laugh at himself.
It became a Saturday tradition.
Pancakes.
Then trips to the park.
Then school plays.
Richard missed an important investor meeting to attend Lily's first piano recital.
The board survived.
The company survived.
And slowly, Lily stopped asking whether Grandpa Richard would come.
She started assuming he would.
But Ethan was still struggling.
Emma's medical bills had buried him in debt.
He had lost construction contracts while caring for her.
Some nights, after Lily slept, he sat alone at the kitchen table surrounded by unpaid notices.
Richard discovered the truth accidentally.
He offered help.
Ethan refused.
"I won't be bought."
"I'm not trying to buy you."
"Maybe not anymore."
That sentence hurt.
Because Richard knew he had once believed every relationship had a price.
Then one afternoon, Ethan received a letter from his landlord.
Thirty days.
The house had been sold.
Ethan and Lily had to leave.
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And this time, Richard knew offering a mansion would only push them further away.
So he came up with a different idea.
