Chapter 6 - THE HOUSE MOM PLANNED FOR LAUREN
Mom's plan was sitting in a mortgage preapproval folder.
Lauren found it inside a drawer at our parents' house.
She went there while Mom was out.
Dad had given permission.
The proposed property price was $415,000.
Borrower:
Lauren Miller.
Proposed gift toward down payment:
$110,000.
Source of gift:
Robert and Diane Miller.
Lauren stared at the document.
“I've never seen this.”
I believed her.
The preapproval had been requested only ten days before Christmas.
Mom planned to surprise Lauren.
Apparently with money she did not have.
Dad explained the rest.
Mom expected him to refinance their house.
But because my $48,000 remaining loan balance was secured against it, refinancing required addressing my lien.
Dad had refused to ask me.
Mom had another idea.
“She wanted me to tell you we'd repaid the note.”
My entire body went still.
“How?”
“She thought you'd sign a release if I said the final payment was coming separately.”
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“That would be fraud.”
Dad nodded.
“I know.”
“Did you agree?”
“No.”
“For once,” Lauren muttered.
Dad flinched.
He deserved that.
Mom had apparently grown increasingly furious with me during December because Dad would not approach me about releasing the lien.
Then she discovered through Lauren that Ethan had changed jobs.
A narrative formed.
Emily was struggling.
Emily needed help.
Emily was dependent.
If everyone believed that, Mom could frame any money I received from Dad as generosity rather than repayment.
Then if the lien ever became public, perhaps relatives would assume I had manipulated my parents.
Christmas wasn't simply an argument that got out of control.
Mom had been laying groundwork.
Her comments.
Lauren's resentment.
The story about us struggling.
“My money is not for you.”
It all sounded different now.
Lauren covered her mouth.
“She wanted me to attack you at dinner.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“Christmas Eve she called me.”
Lauren looked ashamed.
“She said you were planning to ask Dad for more money.”
I stared.
“She told me if I didn't call you out, you'd keep draining them.”
Ethan whispered, “Jesus.”
Mom hadn't reacted to the dinner argument.
She had prepared it.
“Why would she spit on me?” I asked.
Dad looked down.
“Because you mentioned bank records.”
The second I said Dad had borrowed from me, Mom knew her story might collapse.
So she escalated.
Humiliate me.
Make me leave.
Keep everyone focused on my supposed disrespect instead of the records.
Lauren began crying.
“She used me.”
“Yes,” Dad said quietly.
Lauren looked at him.
“And you let her.”
Dad's face crumpled.
“Yes.”
The next morning, our attorney, Rachel Sloan, reviewed the loan documents.
“The lien is valid,” she said.
“I'm not taking their house.”
“I didn't say you were.”
“I want my money back and distance.”
“Then we'll request repayment formally.”
Rachel paused.
“There's something else.”
She had reviewed county filings.
Three weeks before Christmas, someone had submitted an application related to a new home-equity line on my parents' property.
That wasn't surprising.
What was surprising was the amount.
$250,000.
Mom wasn't planning merely to give Lauren $110,000.
May you like
She was trying to pull a quarter-million dollars out of the family home.
And Dad swore he had never signed the application.
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