Chapter 13 - The Ghost from Ohio
I opened the envelope in the solitude of my private office. Inside was a single, crumpled sheet of lined notebook paper, smeared with ink and tear stains. It was from Tyler’s younger sister, Chloe—the one whose lifestyle blog I had funded for three straight years while she mocked my fashion choices behind my back.
“Liv, please,” the letter began, the words bleeding together in panic. “Mom hasn't eaten in two days. The bank foreclosed on the Ohio house this morning, and the sheriff is putting their belongings on the lawn. Tyler is locked in his room refusing to talk to anyone, and Dad’s medical prescriptions ran out because the pharmacy card was cancelled. Can’t you just call your lawyers? Just one word from you and they’ll drop the charges. We’re family, Liv. You can’t just let us starve.”
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I stared at the letter, a cold, detached numbness washing over me. Family. That was the magic word they always used when they wanted something extracted from my bank accounts. When they threw me into the freezing lake, I wasn't family. When Denise screamed in my face that I was a useless outsider, I wasn't family.
I walked over to the shredder standing quietly in the corner of my office, dropped Chloe’s letter into the slot, and watched as the sharp metal teeth ground the paper into meaningless dust. There was no room for emotional blackmail in my new life. You reap the exact harvest you sow.
