“You will come here,” she demanded. “Right now.”
“No,” I said.
A pause.
“What?” she whispered, like she couldn’t compute the word.
“I said no.” My voice was calm. Steady. Final. “I’m not coming.”
“Julie…” Olivia’s tone shifted into a false softness, like she was trying on another mask. “You don’t understand. We’re family. We need to talk—”
“We’re not family,” I replied.
The silence was sharp.
Then she screamed again.
“You ungrateful little—!”
I hung up.
The calls didn’t stop.
They just changed tactics.
Larry called next. His voice was the same weak, pleading tone I’d heard every time he wanted me to clean up a mess he caused.
“Julie… please,” he said. “Think about our situation.”
I actually laughed out loud.
“Our situation?” I repeated. “Larry, did you ever think about my situation? When your mother was screaming at me? When your sister was stealing my things? When you were… out with another woman?”
His breath caught.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I’ll apologize. Just tell me where you moved.”
The audacity nearly made my stomach twist.
“Why would I tell you that?” I snapped. “So you can show up and make my life miserable again? No, Larry. I’m done.”
His voice cracked.
“We can fix this.”