Chapter 5 - Mother Wendy’s Desperate Plea
Three days after the freezing of the accounts, I was sitting on my back porch watching Ethan and Noah play soccer in the yard.
The front doorbell rang continuously, followed by loud, desperate banging on the wooden panel.
I walked to the door, looked through the peephole, and saw my mother, Wendy.
She looked ten years older than she had on the morning of the wedding. Her hair was unwashed, her clothes were rumpled, and her face was pale and drawn with anxiety. Gone was the arrogant, condescending woman who had told me to "support my family."
I opened the door, but I didn't step back to let her in. I stood squarely in the threshold, my arms crossed over my chest.
"Jessi," Wendy sobbed, reaching out to touch my arm, but I pulled back instantly. "Jessi, please... you have to stop this! You have to talk to that lawyer of yours!"
"Why would I do that, Mom?" I asked, my voice completely free of emotion.
"They're going to arrest Chloe!" Wendy cried out, wringing her hands together hysterically. "The police came to her apartment this morning with a subpoena! They said she could be facing up to ten years in prison for financial fraud! She’s taking medication just to stop hyperventilating! She’s your baby sister, Jessi!"
"She stopped being my sister the moment she laid in my husband's bed while I was carrying his fifth child," I said coldly.
"She made a mistake!" Wendy pleaded, her voice rising to a shriek. "She was young and foolish! Luca manipulated her! He told her he loved her!"
"She was twenty-six years old, Mom. She wasn't a child," I shot back, my eyes locking onto hers with unwavering intensity. "She knew exactly what she was doing. She laughed about taking my home, she used stolen money to buy her wedding dress, and when I lost my baby, she told you I was 'too weak' to be a mother."
Wendy flinched as if I had slapped her across the face.
"And where were you, Mom?" I continued, stepping forward so that Wendy had to step back onto the porch. "When I was crying alone in that hospital bed after losing my child, where were you? You were helping Chloe pick out table linens for her country club wedding. You told me her happiness mattered more than my survival."
"I was trying to keep the family together!" Wendy whimpered, tears spilling down her wrinkled cheeks.
"No," I corrected her firmly. "You were protecting the daughter who gave you access to money and high society, while discarding the daughter who actually needed a mother. You chose your side six months ago, Wendy. Now you have to live with the consequences."
"What about Luca?" Wendy tried again, her voice desperate. "He has no money left! He can't even afford a lawyer! He's living in a cheap motel outside the city because the rent on his place bounced! He’s the father of your children, Jessi!"
"He is a biological contributor who owes this family over a million dollars in stolen assets and back child support," I stated plainly. "My lawyer will handle all future communication regarding Luca. As for you, Mom... do not come back to my house."
"Jessi... please..."
"If you set foot on my property again, I will file a formal restraining order against you just like I did against Chloe," I said softly, but with absolute conviction. "Goodbye, Mom."
I shut the heavy oak door in her face.
May you like
Through the wood, I heard her faint, pathetic cries gradually fade away as she walked down the driveway. I leaned my back against the door, closed my eyes, and took a deep, cleansing breath.
The toxic weight of my family's manipulation had finally been lifted off my chest.
