Chapter 5 - The Family Storm Breaks
By 10:30 a.m., my phone began to vibrate violently on the passenger seat of my car. I ignored the first five calls. They were from Mike. Then came one from Irene. Finally, my mother’s number flashed across the screen.
I pulled into the parking lot of the police precinct, turned off the engine, and finally answered my mother’s call.
“Stephanie!” Mom’s voice shrieked through the speaker, frantic and trembling with rage and panic. “Where are you? What have you done? Mike is at the bank, and they’re locking his accounts! They’re saying the entire commercial line is pulled because of you!”
I kept my voice ice-cold. “I didn’t do anything, Mom. I simply protected myself. My name, my credit, my business—they don’t belong to Mike, and they certainly don’t belong to Tyler.”
“You ruined his business! And they took Tyler’s car! The boy is crying his eyes out, he’s traumatized, he has exams today!” she sobbed, completely missing the irony of her words.
“A boy crying over a car after treating me like trash at your birthday dinner?” I asked softly. “Consider it a life lesson. Actions have consequences.”
“We are your family!” she screamed, the mask of gentle maternity completely shattering. “You selfish, bitter woman! You’ve been jealous of Tyler ever since he was born because you couldn't even keep your own—!”
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I hung up.
My hand shook slightly, not from grief, but from a surge of pure adrenaline. She had almost crossed the line she never dared to touch in years. I blocked her number, along with Mike’s and Irene’s, before stepping out of the car to walk into the precinct.
