Chapter 4 - THE LIE THAT BROUGHT ME INSIDE
By Wednesday morning, I had stopped arguing.
When Teresa came outside with the loan packet, I lowered my eyes.
“I’ll sign.”
Grant crouched beside the pit. His face softened with relief.
Teresa did not move.
“Say the whole thing,” she instructed.
“I’ll authorize the loan.”
“And?”
“I’ll transfer the funds to the business account.”
Her eyes narrowed. “My account.”
I let several seconds pass before nodding.
Grant began digging the soil away from my shoulders. When he reached my waist, pain shot through both hips. I could not stand without his help.
He carried me inside and placed me at the kitchen table.
My maternity shirt was stiff with mud. My ankles had swollen above my socks, and a purple bruise covered one side of my mouth.
The loan papers waited beside a black pen.
“I need to speak to the lender,” I said.
Teresa folded her arms. “No.”
“They won’t release that much money without confirming my identity. You know that.”
Grant looked at his mother.
“She’s right.”
Teresa’s expression hardened, but the business had already missed payroll. The loan officer was due the next day, and they could not risk another delay.
Grant set the kitchen landline in front of me and dialed the number printed on the disclosure.
A woman named Mrs. Patel answered.
Grant stood close enough that his thigh touched my chair.
I gave my name, address, and date of birth.
Then Mrs. Patel asked whether I was calling voluntarily.
Grant tapped the signature line with one finger.
I looked directly at him.
“No,” I said. “My husband and his mother are forcing me to borrow against my home. I am injured, eight months pregnant, and they have kept me restrained in the backyard.”
Teresa ripped the cord from the wall.
Grant grabbed my shoulders.
But the call had lasted long enough.
The lender already had my address, the active application, and my statement of coercion.
Teresa slapped Grant across the chest.
“You let her ruin everything.”
He stared at his mother.
May you like
Not at me.
“What do you mean, everything?”
