Chapter 6 - The Ultimatum
Two weeks after Cassidy moved into Simone's townhouse, the illusion of comfort in the Miller household had completely evaporated.
Arthur’s phone had started ringing off the hook—not from bill collectors yet, but from utility companies issuing final shut-off warnings. The electricity had been cut off for twelve hours last Tuesday before Arthur scrambled to borrow cash from an old acquaintance. Brent’s truck had been temporarily immobilized due to a missed payment on his auto loan. And Eleanor was discovering, with mounting panic, that running a household required actual money rather than magical thinking.
On a chilly Tuesday afternoon, Cassidy's phone rang. It was her mother.
Cassidy let it ring twice before answering, keeping her voice completely neutral. "Hello, Mom."
"Cassidy! Thank goodness," Eleanor blurted out, sounding breathless and frantic. "Where have you been? We've been trying to call you for days. The water company just delivered a pink disconnect notice, and the mortgage payment was due three days ago. The bank is calling every hour. Your father’s blood pressure is through the roof."
"I'm glad you called," Cassidy said calmly. "Actually, I have some news."
"Did you reconsider? Are you coming back to help with the bills? Because we can talk about Brent finding a job, maybe—"
"No, Mom. I'm not coming back. And I'm definitely not paying your bills."
"Then how are we supposed to pay the mortgage?!" Eleanor shrieked, her panic finally breaking through her denial. "They're going to foreclose on us! We're going to lose the house!"
"Then I suggest you ask Brent to step up," Cassidy replied smoothly. "He’s thirty-five. He has a newer truck than mine, a huge TV in his room, and plenty of free time. Let him pay the mortgage."
"You know your brother can't afford—"
"Then sell the house," Cassidy interrupted, her voice hard as steel. "Because my attorney has already filed the paperwork with the county. You have two choices, Mom. You can voluntarily list the house, sell it, pay off the remaining balance, and take whatever equity is left to rent an apartment... or my legal team will force a partition sale through the courts, and you'll end up with nothing."
Silence stretched across the line so long that Cassidy wondered if her mother had fainted.
"A... a lawyer?" Eleanor whispered, horror creeping into her tone. "You sued your own family?"
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"I didn't sue my family, Mom. I protected myself from your fraud. You and Dad made your choice on Thanksgiving. Now live with it."
Cassidy ended the call and blocked her parents' numbers.
