Part 8: The Bigger Lie
The room went silent.
Diane laughed, sharp and breathless.
“You spineless idiot. After everything I’ve done for you.”
Ethan’s face hardened slightly.
“No. After everything I’ve done for you.”
Megan started crying.
“Where are we supposed to go?”
“Stay with your friend Madison,” Diane snapped.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Megan went pale.
That’s when I realized the house wasn’t the only thing they’d lied about.
After Martin stepped outside, I turned to Megan.
“What happened with Madison?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why can’t you stay with her?”
Diane grabbed her elbow.
“Go upstairs and pack.”
Megan pulled away.
“Stop!”
First time I’d ever heard her raise her voice at her mother.
Then she admitted the truth.
She no longer had an apartment. She’d lied about waiting on approval. She owed almost eleven thousand dollars.
Some of my property account money had gone straight to her cards.
“Maybe five thousand,” she whispered.
Diane turned on her.
“You ungrateful little fool. I told you we’d fix this.”
“By taking her house?” Megan cried.
“Nobody was taking anything!”
“Mom, you said once the refinance happened, we’d all be secure!”
There it was.
Diane’s real plan wasn’t a small temporary loan.
She wanted to refinance my house, clear Megan’s debts, put a down payment on her own condo, and possibly rent out my home if I got another assignment.
“How much were you planning to borrow?” Ethan asked.
Diane wouldn’t answer.
Megan whispered, “A hundred and twenty thousand.”
Ethan stared.
Diane had told him thirty.
That’s when everything clicked.
The rules. The bedroom. The rent. The chores.
None of it random.
Diane wanted me off balance before asking for something enormous.
She’d mistaken exhaustion for weakness.
I looked at her.
“Pack.”
