My Son Seated Me At Table 12 “Guest” At His Thanksgiving Dinner, So I Sued Him For $340k And Never..

The Lawsuit

November 30th came and went. No payment. No call. Nothing. Grace filed the lawsuit on December 1st.

Mark’s response came through his own lawyer, someone from a big downtown firm. They claimed the note was a gift disguised as a loan and that I had no intention of actually collecting.

They claimed I’d verbally agreed to restructure the payments. They claimed undue hardship. It was all lies but they were well-written lies.

” This is going to get ugly, ” Grace warned me. ” Are you prepared for that? ”

I thought about Mark’s face at Thanksgiving. The way he’d looked relieved when I’d said I understood about the seating like he’d gotten away with something.

” I’m prepared, ” I said.

Discovery was brutal. Mark’s lawyers demanded every financial record I had, trying to prove I didn’t actually need the money.

They deposed Sarah, asking her invasive questions about our family dynamics, trying to paint me as a vindictive father trying to control his son.

But Grace was thorough. She had the signed promissory note. She had my bank records showing the wire transfer of $340,000.

She had emails from Mark promising to pay me back. She had the audio recording I’d made of our phone conversation where he’d asked to restructure.

In British Columbia, you only need one-party consent to record a call. Mark had taught me that years ago when he was studying evidence law. The irony wasn’t lost on me.

The Settlement Offer

The trial was set for March, but in February, Mark’s lawyer called Grace with a settlement offer. They want to pay $200,000 and call it even.

Grace told me, ” Tell them no. ”

” Mr. Chen, taking this to trial is expensive and there’s always risk. Even with a strong case, $200,000 is… ”

” Tell them I want every dollar. $340,000 plus the 6% interest we agreed to. That’s $455,000. Not a penny less. ”

There was a long silence. Then Grace said, ” You’re sure? ”

” I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. ”

The Trial

The trial lasted 3 days. Mark testified that I’d been happy to help him, that I’d understood it was an investment in his future.

His lawyer painted me as a lonely old man who’d promised to support his son’s dreams and was now reneging out of spite.

Then I took the stand. Grace walked me through it all. The phone call asking for money. The promise to pay me back in 5 years. The promissory note Mark had insisted on because he wanted to do it the right way.

The Thanksgiving dinner. Table 12. The name card that said Guest.

” Mr. Chen, ” Grace asked. ” Why do you think your son seated you where he did that night? ”

Mark’s lawyer objected. Relevance. The judge looked interested.

” I’ll allow it. Answer the question Mr. Chen. ”

I looked at Mark sitting at the defendant’s table in his $2,000 suit.

” Because I was an obligation, ” I said. ” Not a father. Not the man who raised him. Just someone he had to feed, like the caterer he thanked in his speech. I’d served my purpose. I’d given him the money. Now I was just in the way. ”

The judge awarded me the full amount: $455,000 plus court costs and legal fees. Total came to $478,000.

Mark had to take out a loan to pay it. I heard through Sarah that it nearly destroyed the firm. They had to let go of six associates, cancel their expansion plans.

Mark and Vanessa had to sell their condo in Cole Harbor and move to a rental in Burnaby.

Building Something New

I didn’t feel good about it, but I didn’t feel bad either. I felt settled.

Sarah helped me invest the money properly this time. We put most of it in a diversified portfolio, kept some liquid for emergencies, and I used $150,000 to do something I’d been thinking about for years.

I bought a small commercial space in East Van and turned it into a community tutoring center. Free math help for kids whose families couldn’t afford the expensive tutoring services.

Sarah volunteered to teach art classes there on weekends. We hired two other retired teachers part-time. We called it the Ellen Chen Learning Center, after my wife.

Mark sent one email after the judgment was final. No subject line, just one sentence: I hope you’re happy now.

I didn’t respond.

Sarah asked me once if I regretted it. We were at the learning center, watching a kid finally understand how to factor a quadratic equation.

” Dad, do you ever wish you’d just let it go? ” she said.

I thought about it. Really thought about it. ” No, ” I said.

” I spent my whole career teaching kids that actions have consequences. That you can’t just take and take and never give back. If I’d let Mark get away with it, what would that have taught him? ”

” But he’s your son. ”

” Exactly. He’s my son. Which means I owe him the truth. Even when it hurts. Especially when it hurts. ”

A Lesson Learned

” The truth is you can’t treat people like they’re disposable just because they love you. You can’t take someone’s entire life savings and then act like you’re doing them a favor by acknowledging they exist. ”

Sarah was quiet for a moment. Then she said, ” Mom would be proud of you. ”

I felt my throat tighten. ” You think so? ”

” I know. So she always said you were the most principled person she’d ever met. Even when it cost you. ”

Two years have passed since the trial. Mark and I haven’t spoken. I heard he and Vanessa had a baby last year, a boy. Sarah showed me a picture on Facebook.

He looks like Mark did when he was little. Sometimes I wonder if Mark will do it differently. If he’ll teach his son about gratitude, about respect, about the fact that love isn’t a transaction and family isn’t a networking opportunity.

But mostly, I don’t think about Mark at all anymore. I think about the kids at the learning center. About the single mom who cried when I told her the tutoring was free.

About the 14-year-old who came in failing math and just got accepted to UBC on a scholarship.

I think about Sarah, who calls me twice a week and comes over for dinner every Sunday. Who brings her boyfriend sometimes, a social worker named James who treats her like she’s the most important person in the world.

Who asked my permission before he proposed last month, even though he didn’t have to.

I think about the life I’m building with the money I fought to get back. Not the one Mark stole from me, but the one I’m creating now with intention and purpose.

More Than Enough

Last week, a kid at the learning center asked me why I did this. Why I spent my retirement helping random kids with homework instead of traveling or playing golf or whatever old people are supposed to do.

I told him what Ellen used to tell me back when we were young teachers who thought we could change the world one student at a time.

” Because someday, someone’s going to help you when you need it, and you need to know what that feels like so you can do it for someone else. ”

The kid nodded like he understood. I don’t know if Mark ever understood that. I don’t know if he ever will. But I’m not responsible for teaching him anymore.

I did that job for 30 years. I gave him everything I had, everything I knew, everything I was.

Now I’m teaching other people’s kids. Kids who actually want to learn. Who say thank you. Who remember my name.

And you know what? That’s enough. More than enough.