Chapter 4 - The Sister’s Betrayal
“Diane thought she could guilt-trip me into paying her bills. Until I showed her the texts her brother sent about her behind her back.”The next morning, the fallout continued.
I was at my desk at work when my phone rang. It was Diane.
Normally, I would have ignored it, but I knew she was the weakest link in the Miller family ecosystem. Diane was thirty-eight, perpetually unemployed, and lived off the scraps of whatever her parents and John gave her.
"Elizabeth," Diane sobbed into the phone the moment I answered. "Please, you can't do this to me. My car is going to get repossessed. I can't afford the insurance, and the bank is threatening to take the car because I missed the last two loan payments. John told me he was handling it!"
"John was supposed to be handling it, Diane," I said, keeping my voice professional. "But as you heard on Sunday, John believes in financial independence now."
"But you have so much money!" Diane cried, her voice turning from pathetic to angry. "You’re a partner! You make three times what John makes! Why are you being so selfish? It’s just a few hundred dollars to you, but it’s my life!"
"Diane," I said, leaning back in my office chair. "Do you know why I stopped paying your bills?"
"Because you're mad at John!"
"No. Because of how you and John treat me. Do you remember the Maui trip last year? The one I paid for?"
"That was a family trip, Elizabeth! You agreed to stay behind!"
"I didn't 'agree,' Diane. John told me your mother was too stressed to have 'outsiders' around. And do you know what John texted me while you were all there, sipping drinks on my dime?"
There was a silence on the other end of the line.
"I’ll tell you," I continued. "He sent me a text complaining about you. He said, and I quote: 'Diane is being a parasite as usual. She’s demanding I pay for her spa treatments. Thank God Liz is working her ass off so I don't have to worry about the credit card bill. Just keep her happy so she keeps sending the cash.'"
I heard Diane catch her breath. "He... John said that about me?"
"I have the screenshot, Diane. I can send it to you if you’d like. John has been playing us against each other for six years. He tells you that he’s the big savior who is rescueing you from your financial misery, while he complains to me that you’re a lazy leach who is draining our marital assets. He uses my money to buy your loyalty, while badmouthing you to protect his own ego."
"He... he told me you were the one who didn't want me to come to Thanksgiving last year," Diane whispered, her voice suddenly trembling. "He said you thought my lifestyle was 'depressing.'"
"I never said that, Diane. In fact, I bought the organic turkey and the wine for that dinner. John told me you didn't want to come because you were embarrassed about your divorce. He plays both sides so he can always be the hero in the middle."
"I don't believe you," she said, but her voice lacked conviction.
"Check your text messages," I said. "I just sent you the screenshots."
I had indeed sent her three different threads of John complaining about her financial dependence, calling her a "burden," and bragging about how he had her "under his thumb."
Ten seconds of silence passed as Diane read the screenshots.
When she spoke again, all the anger was gone. Only cold, bitter resentment remained. But it wasn't directed at me anymore.
"He's a monster," Diane whispered.
May you like
"He's a fraud, Diane," I corrected gently. "And if I were you, I’d ask him where he’s going to get the money to pay for your car now. Because he certainly isn't getting it from me."
I hung up. One down. Two to go.
