I let out a dry laugh that surprised even me. “What interviews, the ones after the jobs she quit this year or the degrees she never finished,” I asked.
“That is not fair,” Brielle snapped before instantly bursting into tears like flipping a switch. “Mom, she is attacking me again,” she cried.
My mother wrapped her arms around her immediately as if I were the enemy. “Please, just stop, she is going through a hard time and you have always been the strong one,” she said.
The strong one, the responsible one, the one who fixed everything while everyone else took advantage of it.
“You are right,” I said quietly as I pulled out my phone and started dialing.
“I knew you would understand,” my mother said with relief, not realizing what I was about to do.
“I am the strong one, and I am also the one whose name is on every single account,” I said calmly while the call connected. “Yes, this is Penelope Archer, and I would like to close account number 884215 immediately.”
My father’s face drained of color. “What are you doing, stop right now,” he demanded.
“I am doing exactly what I should have done years ago,” I replied as I stepped back from my mother reaching for my phone. “It is my money, and I am done being your safety net.”
I looked directly at Brielle as I ended the call. “Enjoy the car, I hope it was worth it,” I said before turning away.
“You are just jealous because they love me more,” she shouted after me as I reached my car. “You are boring and stuck while I am living my best life.”
I paused for a moment, then smiled faintly. “Karma does not always wait, sometimes it shows up fast when someone deserves it,” I said before getting in and driving away.
I pulled over a few blocks later, my hands still trembling, and called my friend Andrew. “I finally did it, I cut them off completely,” I said.
“About time,” he replied instantly. “Come meet me, and bring everything because we need to look at your finances tonight.”
Four days later, everything began to collapse for them.
“They are outside again,” Andrew said from my apartment window while I stayed focused on my laptop. “Your mother is crying and Brielle is pressing every buzzer in the building like she has lost her mind.”
“They lost access to everything,” I said calmly while scrolling through documents. “The credit lines depended on my accounts, and now those are gone.”