Kyle went to see her that very afternoon. Rachel later told me every detail of what happened. To make the act believable, she had paid a local worker to linger around the office and casually mention that state surveyors had been spotted marking boundaries for a huge new government project.
Kyle heard precisely what he wanted to hear.
Thirty minutes later, he walked into Rachel’s office in his best suit, trying to carry himself like some serious, powerful investor.
“I am Kyle, Chloe’s husband,” he announced, clearly expecting special treatment.
Rachel welcomed him with a stack of documents on her desk, appearing tired and entirely unimpressed, which only made Kyle more desperate to secure the deal.
“Look, Kyle, I do not have all day. Five lots, six million total. If you want to buy them, great. If not, I have other interested parties waiting in the lobby.”
Kyle barely looked over the contracts, too drunk on the word “opportunity” to bother studying the details. With the three million dollars he had extorted from my father, he purchased two lots and left a six-hundred-thousand-dollar deposit to hold the remaining three.
He signed his name with dramatic confidence, convinced he had just locked in his future as a millionaire.
But during the drive back home, the numbers began to torment him. He still needed another three million within five days to complete the purchase, and that was when his ambition became truly poisonous.
That night, he came home and went directly to his mother’s room without even stopping to greet me. I moved quietly down the hallway and stood near the narrow opening of the door.
“Mom, Heather, listen to me,” Kyle said, his voice tense and urgent. “Chloe cannot know about this.”
“What did you do now, Kyle?” Susan asked, sounding uneasy.
“I found the opportunity of a lifetime, but it requires capital. Chloe is currently under investigation at her firm, so she gave me the inside track on a major land deal. I have already bought part of it, but I need another three million to acquire the rest.”
“Three million?” Heather let out a shrill laugh. “Where on earth are we going to find that kind of money?”
Kyle lowered his voice, but the greed inside it was unmistakable.
“We sell the house in Nebraska.”
I felt the wall tremble faintly beneath my shoulder as I leaned against it, listening to the betrayal unfold.
“Our family house?” Susan exclaimed. “That is your father’s legacy! That house has been in our family for three generations.”
“Mom, I am your son, and that place will be mine eventually anyway. If we sell it now, in a month I will be able to buy you a house three times the size of that old shack. You won’t have to live off of Chloe’s charity anymore. You will have a driver, a housekeeper, and international vacations. You will finally be the lady you deserve to be.”
A long, heavy silence filled the room.
Kyle knew exactly where to aim. Susan had always hated depending on me, even while she enjoyed spending my money. She resented that everyone in our circle knew I was the one keeping her son afloat.
Heather surrendered first.
“Mom, just think about it. Chloe has always looked down on us, acting like she is the savior of this family. If Kyle becomes a millionaire, she will finally have to stop being so bossy and demanding.”
“But selling it so fast seems so drastic…”
“We have to do it now,” Kyle insisted, his voice turning harder. “Otherwise, the window of opportunity will close forever.”
I stood behind the door, feeling both complete revulsion and quiet satisfaction. They were tightening the rope around their own throats.
The following day, Susan and Heather traveled to Nebraska under the excuse of visiting a distant relative. In truth, they pressured my father into selling the family homestead for far below its real value simply so they could get the money quickly. Three million dollars went straight into their account.
Kyle received the funds with excitement he could barely hide.
During the next several days, my home became a ridiculous stage for their arrogance. My mother-in-law no longer even pretended to be pleasant and began treating me like a servant in my own house.
“Chloe, this dinner is bland,” she said one evening, pushing her plate away with a sneer. “Now that you are having problems at your job, you should really learn to be a better wife. Money comes and goes, but a woman who cannot cook for her husband is not worth very much.”
