Chapter 3 - The Golden Child Crumbles
By Tuesday, the illusion of the perfect Vance family was entirely destroyed.
I was at my kitchen island, making pancakes for Leo, when my phone started ringing incessantly. It was Claire. After the seventh call, I finally answered.
"You ruined us!" she shrieked immediately, not even waiting for me to say hello. "I went to the bank! My credit is destroyed! Dad took out three different credit cards in my name, and the trust fund Grandpa left me is completely empty! My fiancé is threatening to call off the wedding!"
"I didn't ruin you, Claire," I said, flipping a pancake with steady hands. "Mom and Dad ruined you. I just turned on the lights so you could see the cockroaches."
"You could have warned me!" she sobbed. "You could have handled this privately! Now the whole family knows! Aunt Susan won't stop calling me. You embarrassed us!"
"They publicly humiliated my son over a cheap toy to make themselves feel powerful," I replied, my voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "They stole his future to pay for their golf memberships. I don't care about your embarrassment, Claire. I care about my son."
"They're our parents!" she cried. "You're sending them to jail!"
May you like
"No, Claire. Their greed is sending them to jail. If I were you, I'd get my own lawyer. Dad is going to need a scapegoat, and you're the only one left in the house."
I hung up and blocked her number. I didn't have room for collateral damage. I was at war, and I was going to win.
