I placed my purse on the side table and looked him dead in the eye.
“You have until next Sunday to find a new place to live,” I said, my voice steady and completely devoid of emotion.
Leo physically stepped back, shocked.
“What, Mom? We don’t have first and last month’s rent saved up. Where are we supposed to go?”
“That is not my problem. Leo,” I answered. “You are a grown man. You will figure it out.”
Leo tried to argue. He brought up family loyalty, his financial struggles, and how hard it was for young people these days.
I didn’t engage. I simply repeated my boundary.
7 days.
If they needed a place to sleep in the meantime, I told him calmly, the garage was still available.
Sarah emerged from the guest room later that evening.
She didn’t apologize. She just glared at me with red, swollen eyes and immediately started packing her bags in a furious silence.
I didn’t care about her anger anymore. It held absolutely no power over me.
They didn’t even make it to Sunday.
By Thursday morning, Leo and Sarah were loading the last of their boxes into a rented moving van.
Sarah refused to look at me as she climbed into the passenger seat.
Leo stood at the the end of the driveway, looking small and defeated before giving me a stiff nod and driving away.
The moment their tail lights disappeared around the corner, I picked up my phone and called a locksmith.