The next three weeks were defined by an icy silence.
Logan and Chloe practically tiptoed past my door.
However, I noticed their lifestyle changed dramatically overnight.
Chloe’s expensive SUV sat untouched in the driveway for days.
Instead, Logan started taking the commuter bus to work early in the morning.
Their sudden lack of funds was now on full display for the whole town to see.
One afternoon, there was a gentle knock on my kitchen window facing the backyard.
It was Logan.
He was alone.
I opened the back door and let him in.
He sat down at the kitchen table where he had done his homework so many times as a child.
“We don’t have any money, Mom,” he said, staring intently at his hands. “Chloe has been living way beyond our means for years. She opened lines of credit in my name without me knowing. When you cut off the accounts, the whole house of cards collapsed. The couch, the vacations—everything was financed on credit, and she just assumed you would eventually clear the debt.”
“Why did you forge my signature, Logan?” I asked, my voice leaving absolutely no room for excuses.
He swallowed hard.
“Chloe put immense pressure on me. She told me if I didn’t get the money, she was taking the kids and leaving. I didn’t know what else to do.”
I felt a brief twinge of maternal heartache, but I suppressed it immediately.
“You are a grown man, Logan. You tried to steal from me. I am still going to clear out the upstairs apartment.”
He looked up, terrified.
“Why? I’m telling you we’ll pay now.”
But my mind was made up.
“As long as you live here rent-free, you will never learn to stand on your own two feet. Furthermore, I need my peace. I am going to rent the upper unit to a quiet tenant. You two need to find your own place. You have three months.”
Logan lowered his head.
He finally realized that the old version of me was gone.
He stood up and left without another word.
The great packing phase began.
The following two months were a whirlwind of transition upstairs.
The sounds of packing tape tearing and heavy boxes dragging echoed through the ceiling.
Chloe didn’t look at me once when we crossed paths in the yard.