PART 4: Toxic Bonds
"You're a monster, Ethan!" Brittany screamed, tears of anger streaming down her face as she threw her designer clothes into a suitcase. "We don't have anywhere to go! My bank account is empty!"
"Maybe you shouldn't have bought a thousand-dollar phone on my credit card last month," I replied coldly, snatching the phone from her hand and tossing it into my pocket. "This is being returned today."
"Ethan, please," Teresa tried a different tactic, putting a hand over her heart and whimpering. "My blood pressure... you're going to kill your own mother. I don't have money for my prescriptions this week."
"I looked at your medical portal online while I was at the hospital, Mom," I said, looking her dead in the eye. "Your insurance covers 100% of your medication. You’ve been pocketing the five hundred dollars I give you every month for 'pills' and spending it on bingo and online shopping. The gravy train is officially over."
Teresa’s dramatic weakness instantly vanished, replaced by an ugly, spiteful snarl. "You'll regret this, Ethan. When that pathetic wife of yours leaves you because you can't provide the luxury she wants, don't come crawling back to us. You're nothing without this family."
"I am finally free without this family," I said.
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At exactly 7:30 a.m., my mother and three sisters dragged their suitcases down the apartment stairs, cursing my name to the neighbors. I didn't look back. I spent the next three hours throwing away every piece of trash, scrubbing the floors, and bleaching the kitchen until the apartment smelled of lemons and fresh air.
It was finally a home fit for my wife and son.
