My mother hurried up beside him, clutching her purse and trembling. SiblingRivalry Workshop
“Please don’t be difficult, Carter. We’ve had the worst day. Can we just come inside?”
“You can’t show up with a U-Haul and move into my house. You have a house in Ohio.”
Arthur sighed like I was testing his patience.
“We sold it. Closed this afternoon.”
“You sold your house? Why?”
“To save Chloe,” Martha cried. “Your sister was in trouble. The bank was going to foreclose. We couldn’t let our little girl lose everything.”
Chloe. My younger sister. The golden child who had never been allowed to fail properly because my parents always rescued her. Slowly, the truth came out. They had sold their paid-off home for $620,000, used the money to clear Chloe’s debts, and given her the rest so she could “start over.” Since I had a large house, they had decided they would take my downstairs suite.
“You decided this without asking me?”
“We are your parents!” Arthur shouted. “Family helps family. Now get out of the way.” Family
