My Family Called Me a Freeloader, So I Took Every Client Away Chapter 07

My Family Called Me a Freeloader, So I Took Every Client Away Chapter 07

I put down my pen. “Family? When you were demanding money, you said you’d be happy to cut me off. Which of you said a word when Tyler tried to make me sign an IOU?”

Megan burst into tears. ‘Evie, I know I was wrong. Debt collectors are at my husband’s door. Our child is afraid to go to school. Please help us. Call it repayment for all the years we looked

out for you.”

Brooke said, “We respected our history. We waited ten years before we said anything…”

I cut her off. “Respect? You cared about the money. You thought I took a commission for

nothing, that I had no real skills, that those clients chose you because your businesses were so

good. Now they’re gone, and suddenly our history matters?”

Daniel stepped forward, lowering his head. “Tyler…he was immature. We’ll keep paying your

commission. Just give us the projects.”

“Tyler was immature. What about the four of you? You’re adults, and you all sat there while he tallied up my supposed debts. You’d been thinking the same thing all along, hadn’t you?”

Claire opened her mouth, but I raised a hand. “Don’t. The projects have already gone to

someone else. Go home.”

They stood there without moving.

Megan broke into sobs. “Evie, are you really going to watch us go bankrupt?”

I let out a cold laugh. “You chose those clients, signed those contracts, and waited for those payments. Your bankruptcies have nothing to do with me.”

Brooke suddenly dropped to all fours and crawled toward me. “Evie, I’m begging you. My

husband wants a divorce. He says I ruined the business. Help us. We’ll never say those things

again.”

I looked at her and felt nothing.

“Leave. If you don’t, I’ll call security.”

They had no choice but to leave, defeated.

At the door, Daniel looked back. His lips moved, but he said nothing.

After that, creditors kept after them.

Sterling stopped answering his phone, and his office was empty.

By the time Walker’s company was served with a lawsuit, its listed principal officer had already

changed.

Brooke’s client filed for bankruptcy and liquidated its assets.

Megan’s client vanished.

They won their lawsuits and still couldn’t collect.

The raw material suppliers sued them in turn.

The courts recognized that they were victims of nonpayment, but their debts to the raw

material suppliers were separate. They still had to pay.

Claire’s clothing factory was seized. Brooke’s store went to auction. Megan’s furniture center closed, and Daniel shut down his production line.

They took out loans, sold their homes, and ran up their credit cards. It still wasn’t enough.

Daniel sold his house and rented a small two-bedroom apartment in a rundown neighborhood.

Claire divorced and moved back into their mother’s house with her child.

Megan took a job stocking shelves at a supermarket. Brooke sold goods at a street market.

Their lives were a mess.

And they hated Tyler for it.

One day, all four siblings met at Daniel’s apartment.

Claire pointed at Tyler. “If you hadn’t insisted on counting every cent, we wouldn’t have cut Evie off. The clients wouldn’t have left, and we wouldn’t have signed with those crooks!”

Tyler stiffened. “You were all thrilled at the time. Which of you objected? Aunt Claire, you were

pretty happy when the money came in. Aunt Megan, Aunt Brooke, you couldn’t send your

account numbers fast enough. Now it’s my fault?”

Megan cried. “Do you still think you’re a child? Look what you’ve done to us!”

He refused to back down. “You were greedy and stupid. You signed contracts without checking who you were dealing with. How’s that on me?”

Brooke lunged at him, but Daniel stopped her.

Tyler slammed the door behind him.

Not long afterward, he got into a fight at college and injured another student. The student’s parents complained to the school.

The school looked into his record, and someone reported his repeated absences and cheating

on exams.

The university expelled him.

Tyler panicked.

He ran home and demanded that Daniel fix it. Without a degree, how was he supposed to land the government job he’d always wanted?

Daniel had no idea what to do. He swallowed his pride and came to me again.

He waited outside my office for two hours.

When I came out, he hurried over. “Evie, Tyler’s been expelled. You know a lot of people. Can you talk to someone and get him back in? Or help him transfer?”

I shook my head. “I can’t help him.”

Daniel’s eyes widened. “Evie, he’s your nephew. You watched him grow up. He didn’t know

better before, but he knows he was wrong now. You can’t let him lose his education.”

I met his eyes. “He has to face the consequences of what he did.”

Tyler rushed out from behind him and pointed at me. “You’re heartless! All you care about is money! Are you trying to ruin my future?”

He kept cursing until Daniel dragged him away.

I said nothing more and went back inside. Sunlight filled the window.

The family group chat was still on my phone, but nobody posted there anymore.

I left the chat and deleted my message threads with Megan, Brooke, Claire, and Daniel.

Some accounts, once settled, stayed settled.

Some family ties, once broken, stayed broken.