CHAPTER 6 — When the Favorite Child Became the Next Target
CHAPTER 6 — When the Favorite Child Became the Next Target
Lauren called me at 6:12 the next morning.
I almost didn't answer.
After everything she'd done, I owed her nothing.
But curiosity won.
The moment I picked up, I heard crying.
Not fake tears.
Real ones.
"Maya..."
Her voice cracked.
"Mom kicked me out."
I said nothing.
"Are you there?"
"I'm listening."
"The house..."
She struggled to breathe.
"...she changed the locks."
I frowned.
"What happened?"
"After Dad left, she started saying I ruined everything."
I waited.
"She said if I hadn't needed those phones..."
None of this would've happened.
Over the next hour, the truth spilled out.
The iPhones?
Lauren had never asked for them.
Not once.
"My boys were happy with the phones they already had," she admitted.
"They only wanted new cases."
I blinked.
"Then why did Mom tell me she needed twenty-six hundred dollars?"
"I don't know."
Lauren sounded genuinely confused.
"I thought she was buying them as a surprise."
Something clicked inside my head.
A terrible possibility.
"What if..."
"What?"
"What if the money wasn't actually for the phones?"
Silence.
Then Lauren whispered,
"Oh my God..."
Rebecca investigated.
Within days she uncovered the answer.
My mother's credit cards were maxed out.
She had taken out several personal loans.
Hidden debts.
Late payments.
Collection notices.
The "Christmas money" had never been about Christmas.
She needed cash.
Fast.
The iPhones had simply been the perfect emotional excuse.
Children.
Christmas.
Family.
She thought I would never say no.
The revelation destroyed what remained of our family.
Lauren was furious.
"You used my kids?"
she screamed during a phone call Jesse accidentally overheard.
"You blamed Maya because you needed money?"
My mother exploded.
"I sacrificed everything for this family!"
"No," Lauren shouted back.
"You sacrificed everyone else."
Then came the sentence none of us expected.
"I was never your favorite."
"What?"
"I was your investment."
Silence.
"You kept rescuing me because it made you feel needed."
"And when Maya stopped needing your approval..."
"You couldn't control her anymore."
The call ended with my mother hanging up.
Neither of them spoke again.
A week later there was another knock on my apartment door.
This time...
It was Lauren.
Alone.
No makeup.
No expensive handbag.
No attitude.
Just exhaustion.
"I owe you an apology."
I crossed my arms but didn't close the door.
She looked at Lily sleeping inside the apartment.
"I never realized Mom treated us so differently."
I almost answered.
Then I remembered every birthday.
Every holiday.
Every disappointment.
"You realized."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"You just benefited from it."
She lowered her head.
"You're right."
For several long seconds neither of us spoke.
Finally she reached into her purse.
She handed me an envelope.
Inside was a cashier's check.
For $2,600.
"I know it doesn't erase anything," she whispered.
"But my boys don't need this."
"Lily might."
I stared at the check.
Then back at Lauren.
For the first time since we were children...
I saw not my mother's favorite daughter—
But another person trying to climb out from under years of manipulation.
Maybe we were both victims.
Just in different ways.
I accepted the envelope.
Not for me.
For Lily's future.
As Lauren turned to leave, she stopped.
"Maya..."
"Yeah?"
"Mom's coming."
"What do you mean?"
"She told me if she couldn't get her family back..."
"...she'd make sure nobody else wanted you either."
A chill ran through me.
Because I recognized that tone.
It wasn't desperation anymore.
It was revenge.
And deep down...
May you like
I knew my mother wasn't finished yet.
TO BE CONTINUED...
