He Guaranteed Her Loan, I Filed for Divorce the Same Day Chapter 13

He Guaranteed Her Loan, I Filed for Divorce the Same Day Chapter 13

I silenced my phone and walked out to a flower bed on the hospital grounds. Night had fully fallen.

Cool night air swirled around me, mixing the sharp scent of disinfectant with the sweet fragrance of wild honeysuckle.

Liana called.

“Ms. Voss, there are new developments in Lorelei’s case. Her husband adimitted they targeted

Darien long before everything happened. They knew exactly how much savings your family had, and they knew your marriage was falling apart.”

I hummed in acknowledgement.

“Lorelei started getting close to Kai back when he was in preschool, pretending to be another

parent.”

There was a short pause on the line.

“How is your son holding up?”

“He’s hospitalized. Severe cardiac stress. Doctors are keeping him under observation.”

“And custody?”

“I’m not pursuing it.”

Liana fell quiet.

Late that night, the building superintendent phoned me.

“Ms. Voss. A little boy around eight years old waited for you in the lobby for three hours.”

My steps stilled,

“Where is he now?”

“A man showed up and carried him off. Said he was his father.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

Darien’s parents sold their family honie.

They borrowed money from every relative they could reach. They scraped together less than two-hundred-thousand dollars.

It was nowhere near enough.

The predatory lenders had been arrested, but the promissory note remained legally enforceable. The court ordered Darien to pay the full debt.

Creditors assigned new legal representatives. Courts seized and auctioned Darien’s cars and property. Most of the proceeds from his parents’ house sale went straight toward the debt.

Darien moved into a run-down low-income apartment complex with Kai.

He worked odd-jobs during daytime hours and drove for a ride-share service late into the

night.

Kai was pulled out of his private academy and transferred to a rough local public elementary

school nearby.

On his first transfer day, he stood out front of the school for ages and refused to walk inside.

Darien posted a short message in the parent group chat:

[Kid’s throwing a tantrum. He never added anything further.]

Kai secretly grabbed Darien’s phone to text me.

[Mom. Our apartment has roaches. We have to share public restrooms down the hall.1

[None of the other kids here do homework.]

[I don’t want to go to school anymore. I want to come to you.]

I typed two-word reply.

[Study Hard.]

He called ine in the middle of one night. He was sobbing so hard he could barely speak.

[Mom. Dad’s drinking again. When he’s drunk he yells at me. Blames me for siding with Aunt

Lorcles instead of you!

I closed my eyes.

“Hand the phone to him.

Darien took the phone, heavily intoxicated, his speech slurred.

“Happy now, Elowen? I lost everything. Are you satisfied?”

My voice stayed calm.

“You still have your son. Don’t lose him too.”

He was quiet for a few seconds.

Then he threw the phone. The call cut to dead dial tone.

I sat in the dark. I did not call back.