Chapter 5 - DIANE WAS THREE MONTHS FROM FORECLOSURE
Laura found the public records in under an hour.
Diane’s house had two mortgages.
Then a home-equity line.
Then a tax lien.
She owed nearly $390,000 on a property worth approximately $460,000.
Worse:
She was four months behind.
A foreclosure notice had already been filed.
I sat staring at the screen.
All those lectures about responsibility.
All those comments about my career being “easy.”
All those expensive handbags.
Diane was drowning.
Eric knew.
The $250,000 home-equity loan against my house would have done three things.
Pay Diane’s arrears and tax debt.
Clear approximately $90,000 of Madison’s personal debt.
Leave around $80,000 for “family emergency reserves.”
Whose reserve?
Apparently not mine.
That evening, Eric found me packing a box.
“What’s that?”
“Work files.”
“Why?”
“Reorganization.”
He shrugged.
Then:
“Mom thinks we should convert your office into a nursery extension.”
I looked at him.
“Your sister already has a room.”
“It’s temporary.”
“So is the nursery extension?”
He sighed.
“Why do you have to make everything difficult?”
I almost answered.
Instead:
“Okay.”
He relaxed.
That word had become my camouflage.
Later, Madison knocked softly on my office door.
“I need to tell you something.”
She closed it behind her.
“Mom says after the baby comes, she might move in too.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“She said her house needs repairs.”
No.
Her house was being taken.
“Does Eric know?”
“Yes.”
Of course.
The plan unfolded perfectly.
Madison first.
Baby second.
Diane third.
Then guilt would make removing any of them almost impossible.
“What did Mom promise you?” Madison asked.
“Nothing.”
She frowned.
“She said you agreed to let her stay six months.”
“I didn’t.”
Madison sat down.
For the first time, she looked genuinely horrified.
“She said Eric talked to you.”
“He didn’t.”
Then she whispered:
“I don’t think Mom planned to leave.”
Neither did I.
Madison pulled out her phone.
She had seen a message from Diane to Eric.
She photographed it because it scared her.
DIANE:
Once I’m in, she can’t make all three of us homeless without looking like a monster. Stop asking. Just get your name on that deed.
I read it once.
Then twice.
My mother-in-law had not moved into my life because she needed help.
May you like
She was building legal and emotional occupation.
And my husband was helping her.
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