credit card debt, the kind of man
who talked constantly about deals that were always just about to close and never did. While Kloe worked part-time as a boutique stylist, claiming they were hit by hard financial times, they asked my mother if they could stay in the home’s guest suite for a couple of weeks until they found a new
apartment. Those two weeks quickly turned into two full years.
Because my mother was soft-hearted and deeply protective of her children, she never told me the truth during our weekly video calls. Whenever we spoke, she would position her tablet camera to show only her smiling face, insisting everything was wonderful, that the house was lovely, that she was so grateful,
so happy, so blessed to finally have some peace. I believed her completely. Why wouldn’t I? I had built that house specifically so she could finally rest, and
