“You owe me respect.”
“I gave you a free house for five years.”
“I raised you!”
“And now I’m raising my children.”
She went silent.
Then she used the weapon she had used my entire life.
“Your father would be disgusted with you.”
Usually, that sentence could still reach the child inside me.
This time, it didn’t.
“My father has been dead for eleven years. Stop using him to control me.”
She inhaled sharply.
“You selfish little—”
I ended the call.
Then I blocked the number.
Ten minutes later, Derek emailed.
His subject line read:
YOU HAVE DESTROYED THIS FAMILY.
I deleted it without opening it.
Vanessa posted publicly.
I know because a cousin sent me a screenshot.
“Imagine being so jealous of your own family that you secretly sell your elderly mother’s home while she’s overseas.”
Comments flooded underneath.
Some people called me cruel.
Others asked questions Vanessa apparently had not anticipated.
