Chapter 4 - THE DEBT THEY EXPECTED ME TO PAY
I pulled the envelope away before Daniel could touch it.
“Emily, listen to me.”
“No.”
“This can be explained.”
“Then explain it from over there.”
Claire moved beside me.
Daniel stopped.
I opened the envelope.
The paperwork inside was dense, but I recognized three things immediately.
Daniel’s company name.
A loan amount.
And an address.
Linda’s Los Angeles house.
I looked up.
“This loan is against this property.”
Linda’s expression hardened.
Daniel stared at the floor.
I read further.
The monthly obligation was just under $3,000.
I actually laughed.
It was the same strange, empty laugh I had heard come out of me when my father died.
“You borrowed against Linda’s house.”
Daniel finally spoke.
“The company was going to recover.”
“And it didn’t.”
“No.”
“So now your mother wants me to make the payments.”
Linda stepped closer.
“You’re his wife.”
“I’m not his investor.”
“You benefited from this house.”
“I maintained this house.”
“You lived here!”
“Because your son begged me to.”
Daniel raised both hands.
“Everybody needs to calm down.”
I turned toward him.
“No, Daniel. You need me calm because calm Emily pays bills.”
He flinched.
“Calm Emily fixes emergencies.”
“Emily—”
“Calm Emily doesn’t ask why her husband tried to use her separate property to rescue a company he told her was doing fine.”
Silence.
I picked up my suitcase.
Linda blocked me.
“If you leave, don’t expect to come crawling back.”
I looked around the kitchen.
The imported refrigerator I had paid for.
The new lighting.
The refinished floors.
The expensive espresso machine Linda told everyone Daniel had bought her for Christmas.
I suddenly realized how much of my life had disappeared into this house in increments too small to feel like theft.
Five hundred dollars.
Twelve hundred.
Four thousand.
Another emergency.
Another promise.
Another “family” expense.
I looked at Linda.
“I won't be coming back.”
Then Claire quietly said, “Emily, there’s another problem.”
Daniel’s head snapped toward her.
Claire looked directly at me.
“The Malibu inquiry wasn’t made only in Daniel’s name.”
May you like
She paused.
“It was made in yours.”
