Chapter 9 - The Final Severance
The week in paradise was coming to an end,
but for Betsy and Pamela,
the nightmare was just beginning.
They had managed to hitch a ride back to the city with a group of hikers,
arriving at Betsy's luxury apartment exhausted and disheveled.
But when Betsy tried to scan her key fob at the entrance,
it didn't work.
A man in a suit,
representing the building's management,
stepped out from the lobby.
"Mrs. Miller,"
he said,
his voice formal and cold.
"I’ve been instructed to inform you that the lease on this unit has been terminated."
"The primary payer,
your son,
has ended the contract."
"Your belongings have been moved to a secure storage facility."
"You have forty-eight hours to claim them before they are auctioned to cover the outstanding fees."
Betsy sank to the floor,
her legs finally giving out.
"He can't do this...
I’m his mother!"
"He can,
and he did,"
a new voice said.
It was Lucas’s lawyer,
standing nearby with a stack of legal documents.
"You are also being served with a civil summons for the recovery of three hundred thousand dollars."
"And there is a criminal investigation pending regarding the fraudulent 'consulting' invoices."
Pamela looked at the papers,
her face pale and streaked with dirt.
"Mom...
what did you do?"
"I did it for us!"
Betsy wailed,
but the words felt empty and hollow.
She had done it for herself.
She had gambled away her son's love for a pile of secret cash,
and now she had neither.
She tried to call Naomi one last time,
expecting to beg or plead.
Naomi picked up.
"Is it full yet,
Betsy?"
Naomi asked,
her voice calm and icy.
"Is the world full enough for you now?"
"Naomi,
please...
we have nowhere to go."
"You told my parents to find a cheap inn,"
Naomi replied.
"I suggest you follow your own advice."
"And Betsy?"
"Don't worry about the suitcases."
"I’ve already instructed the storage facility to donate them to the dumpster."
"Just like you wanted."
The line went dead.
Betsy looked at the locked doors of the life she had stolen,
realizing that the street wasn't the problem.
May you like
The problem was that she was finally seeing herself for exactly who she was.
And there was no one left to look the other way.
