Downhill

"I-I don't believe this. Please wake me up from this nightmare."

"I've failed as a father."

"Yes, you did! Why did you need a second loan anyway?! We had some time left to repay the first one which we got through the supposed means!"

"We wouldn't have made it. We couldn't default on the count's loan, so I decided that we needed to invest in rebuilding the run-down roads that connect us with the nearby city so that merchants would be more inclined to make their way toward our town. It would've bolstered our commercial possibilities greatly…"

"So that's where you got the money for that stupid project of yours." Vernice's tone turned from desperate to ice-cold as things finally began clicking into place. I had to wonder if she was about to kill her husband.