Chapter 6 - The House of Cards
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The mediation failed spectacularly, just as Marlene and I intended. We weren't there to negotiate; we were there to dismantle their case before it ever reached a courtroom.
But the final, fatal blow didn't happen in family court. It happened in the civil division.
Three days after the mediation, my father called me. He bypassed my blocked number by using a payphone at his office.
"Nora, please," my father’s voice was broken, stripped of all authority and pride. "You have to stop this. The bank sent the official notice. Because you called in the private note on the mortgage, they are initiating foreclosure proceedings. We have thirty days to come up with $186,000, or we lose the house."
I sat at my kitchen island, sipping my coffee, feeling absolutely nothing.
"I warned you, Dad," I said calmly. "I explicitly told Mom on my front porch that if she pursued legal action regarding Leo, I would call the loan. She chose to test me. Actions have consequences."
"She was just angry! She didn't think you would actually do it!" he pleaded. "Nora, this is your childhood home! I will divorce her if I have to. Just please, retract the note. I'll pay you back, I swear."
"With what money, Dad?" I asked brutally. "You have $4,000 in your savings account and $30,000 in credit card debt. You can't pay me back. And I don't want the money. I want the lesson to stick."
"You are destroying our lives," he wept into the phone.
"No, Dad," I corrected softly. "I stopped paying for them. There is a massive difference. You and Mom destroyed your own lives the moment you decided my son's dignity was worth less than a polite Christmas dinner."
I hung up the phone.
The next day, Carla called me from a restricted number.
"Nora, the kids are crying," Carla sobbed hysterically. "Neil's business went under. The private school expelled them today because the tuition check bounced. We have to put them in public school in the middle of the semester. Kayla is devastated."
"Public school builds character, Carla," I replied smoothly. "And perhaps you can use the time you previously spent driving them to private school to find a job."
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"You are a monster!" she screamed. "Mom is going to lose the house! We are losing everything because you couldn't handle a simple misunderstanding over a present!"
"It wasn't a misunderstanding, Carla," I said, my voice turning to steel. "It was the final line item on a ten-year ledger of disrespect. The account is officially closed. Do not call me again."
