On a typical Tuesday evening, I walked into my in-laws’ house to find my children with completely empty plates, while their nieces and nephews were eating their third helping of lasagna from a “real” dinner set. Eighteen minutes later, I quietly decided I’d had enough of being their personal ATM, and that something in this family was about to go wrong in a way no one expected.

“What did you just do?” he whispered.

“I took everything I gave them. The mortgage, the truck loan, Payton’s rent. It ends today.”

“They will lose everything they have.”

“All right.”

My phone rang again. Roger. This time I let it go to voicemail, and a moment later I heard his angry voice leaving a message about how I was destroying my family, how I didn’t deserve it, and how he wanted me to fix it.

Twelve minutes after the first call, my phone rang a third time. Payton, sobbing, rang before I could even say hello. Discover more
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“You told Frank to stop paying me rent. Leah, without this help, I can’t afford the apartment. I’ll be evicted.”

“Then I suggest you ask your mother for help,” I said calmly. “Oh, wait a minute. She’s about to lose her house because I stopped subsidizing her lifestyle.”

“You vengeful…”

“Be careful what you say, Payton, because I’ve also informed your attorney in the custody case that I will no longer be covering your legal fees. I think you still owe them about $8,000. I’m sure they’re very anxious to get paid as soon as possible.”

The connection was interrupted.

Seventeen minutes after the first call.

I looked at Wyatt, who was staring at me as if he had never seen me before.

“I’m keeping track of time,” I said. “Eighteen minutes. The exact amount of time our children sat with empty plates, watching their cousins ​​eat. Every phone call, every moment of panic they’re experiencing right now—it matches what they did to Mia and Evan. Minute by minute.”

“Leah, they will lose everything they have.”

“Yes,” I said. “That’s right.”

The next morning at 6:00 a.m., Wyatt’s phone rang. His mother’s. He glanced at the screen, looked at me, and didn’t answer. Thirty seconds later, the phone rang again, and again. And again.

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