“What about it?”
“Candace posted on Facebook. Said she’s selling it. Said it’s defective and that you tricked her into accepting a lemon.”
My jaw clenched.
“She what?”
“She didn’t say your name, but it’s obvious. People in the comments are eating it up. Her friend Janice said, ‘Wow, some people just love to hurt their own family.’ And Candace liked it.”
I laughed out loud because at that point, the absurdity was cartoonish.
“She keyed the car.”
“Aaron, I know.”
“She called me selfish.”
“I know.”
“And she’s trying to make me look like the bad guy.”
Aaron looked down at his plate.
“That’s how she works. You’ve just never been on the receiving end before.”
I spent six grand on a down payment. Cancelled the insurance. Took the hit on the lease, and now she’s flipping it for cash.
He nodded slowly like he’d seen it coming.
“You should have recorded her that whole night.”
I shook my head.
“She would have just spun it anyway.”
It didn’t stop there. 2 days later, I got an alert from the leasing company. Someone tried to file a claim on the car under my name. Not just an accident report. Someone tried to transfer ownership.
I had to call and explain everything to the rep, walked them through the fact that the car was no longer in her possession, that I had terminated the lease early, and returned it to the dealership. They flagged the account and assured me they’d investigate.
That night, I got another message, this time from Lacy herself. It was a screenshot of her Instagram story, a blurry photo of her standing next to a different white car with the caption, “Thanks for nothing, Uncle L.”
It was followed by a DM.
“You ruined my sweet 16. I hate you.”
That one hit harder than I expected. I changed her diapers. Picked her up from school when Candace forgot. Helped her rehears a monologue for her school play. We had inside jokes. I planned to teach her how to parallel park next month.
I didn’t reply. I couldn’t.
But I wasn’t done. The final straw came at Sunday dinner.
Despite everything, I went. I figured maybe, just maybe, facing it head-on would help. Maybe someone would acknowledge the insanity.
Big mistake.
Dinner was at mom’s house. Candace arrived late with Lacy. Both dressed like they were headed to a fashion show. Lacy didn’t look at me. Candace did. Smiled like nothing had happened.
“Logan, long time no see. You look tired.”
I didn’t respond.
Dinner was awkward. Tense. Mom kept trying to steer the conversation toward positive family memories while Aaron stayed quiet and kept refilling his water glass.