Chapter 4 - WHY PATRICIA DID IT
Patricia’s explanation arrived through counsel.
Not excuse.
Explanation.
Three years earlier, Robert’s consulting business suffered a major client loss.
Then their home-equity loan reset at a higher rate.
Their household looked wealthy.
Large house.
Country-club membership.
New cars.
But cash flow deteriorated.
Patricia panicked.
Instead of telling Grandma, she borrowed.
Credit cards.
Home equity.
Then more cards.
When Evan died and Grandma asked how she could help me, Patricia saw money passing through her hands.
She told herself she would borrow some temporarily.
$20,000.
Then repay it.
But $20,000 became $42,000.
Then kitchen contractors threatened liens.
Then the Cabo trip had already been booked.
Then she told herself I had insurance.
Then she convinced herself Grandma would eventually leave me much more anyway.
Each lie made the next one easier.
That was how $180,000 became somebody else’s safety net.
Patricia offered to sell investment accounts.
There were not enough.
She offered to refinance the house.
Possible, but Robert’s attorney insisted ownership and lender terms had to be reviewed.
No instant repayment.
Grandma was furious.
I was strangely calm.
May you like
Maybe because explanations shrink monsters into people.
And people can be held accountable.
