Chapter 9
The financial records became worse every week.
Diane and Ryan had not only stolen from Laura and me.
They had done it before.
A former girlfriend named Melissa came forward after seeing the news.
Diane had pressured her into signing a car loan.
Ryan claimed it was temporary.
When they broke up, Melissa was left with the debt.
Another woman, Karen, had lived with Ryan for six months.
Her credit was destroyed.
Diane called them all unstable.
Ungrateful.
Dramatic.
Nora pinned their names on a whiteboard.
Laura.
Melissa.
Karen.
Emily.
Then she drew a line to Diane.
“This is not temper,” Nora said. “This is a system.”
Ryan’s lawyer tried to separate him from his mother.
Poor Ryan.
Controlled by Diane.
Afraid of Diane.
Manipulated.
Laura shook her head when she heard.
“He was afraid of losing benefits, not of hurting us.”
That line stayed with me.
I thought about him kneeling beside Diane while I lay on the kitchen floor.
He had chosen his comfort so automatically he did not even notice he was making a choice.
My divorce filing went in that week.
Ryan sent one message through his attorney.
He wants reconciliation counseling.
I answered through Nora.
He can reconcile with the criminal docket.
Nora smiled.
Dad laughed for the first time in days.
May you like
My leg still throbbed at night.
But something inside me had stopped begging.
