Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 70004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
I closed my eyes. “How bad is it?”
He knew what I was asking because he said, “In total, she has five loans out in your name. The car note she still owes forty-two thousand on. The other loans are all small loans. Under eight thousand a piece. Three are almost paid off. Two have about fifteen hundred left to pay on them. In total, you have forty-five thousand dollars in debt to your name.” He paused. “Though, she’s actively paying everything off. The loans were paid off in the last month. The car loan got a payoff inquiry yesterday. It looks like she’s trying to right some wrongs before the trial.”
I rolled out my neck.
Of course she did.
Of, fucking, course she did.
“They don’t look that much alike,” Romeo broke in. “How was she able to do all of this? I mean, she’s practically stolen Mable’s identity at this point.”
“They don’t, but every time that she wants to do something in Mable’s name, Birdee is using a fake driver’s license. I found the correspondence between her and the forger. And in later text messages between Birdee and her mother, the only reason that she did all those things to her before her wedding was so that Mable wouldn’t use her own driver’s license and passport to get to her honeymoon. It might’ve had too many red flags going up while she was on her ‘vacation.’ That was a failsafe, however, because they honestly thought you would stay behind and deal with all the shit she left you and not even try to go on your honeymoon. She thought you would forget all about it.”
“I almost did, but Cody encouraged me to go anyway. She was like ‘Mable, you’re going to have a problem waiting for you when you get home. You can either deal with it now or later, but at this point, what’s done is done.’” I laughed under my breath. “The real question is, why? What is her motive here? She could’ve done all of this in her own name and gotten better credit. And the wedding thing still doesn’t make sense to me. Why would they do this, and bring the attention to them?”
“That’s one other thing I can help you answer,” Apollo said as he typed away. “Going back through text messages between Birdee and your stepmother, it turns out that the stepmother, Whitney, literally used all of her credit up to the point where it was ruined before she met your father. When Whitney needed more income, she started using up her daughter’s credit. And never stopped. She alternates getting loans out in your dad’s name, her name, and Birdee’s name regularly. Your dad is having a hell of a time paying all of this off. He’s blown through almost his entire trust fund and any money that your mom’s life insurance paid out. In fact, I’ll predict by the end of the year, he’ll need a job.”
“You mean to tell me that my stepmother has screwed her own daughter over?” I asked.
“Looks like it. And it drives Birdee mad. She hates it. Birdee and your stepmother have a very tumultuous relationship.”
“It’s always been them against me for so long that I guess I never paid attention to how my stepmother treated Birdee,” I admitted.
Romeo grunted and cracked a few eggs into the skillet in front of him.
I took over the task of cooking the eggs while Apollo continued to talk. “I shared everything that I had with your lawyer. Tell her that if she wants to get back to me, to just reply to the email even if it says undeliverable.”
“I will,” I promised.
“I’m not sure what she can and can’t use. I sent it all to her anyway,” he continued. “I’ll happily continue to sort through text messages as I have time, but another project was just thrown into my lap. If I find anything else, I’ll keep you updated.” He paused. “Birdee is good enough with a computer that I feel like she can get into anything she wants. She may not be able to hide her whereabouts well, but if she wants in, she’ll get in. I did a little shoring up on your accounts and things. She also won’t ever be able to get another loan out in your name. I froze your credit, and I don’t think she’ll be able to unfreeze it. In the meantime, be careful about leaving your electronics accessible. She could get into your online life pretty easily if she had access to your things.”
“I’ll be very careful about that,” I promised again. “Thank you, Apollo.”
Apollo and Romeo exchanged goodbyes of their own as I finished up the rest of breakfast.
“You’re taking this very casually.”
I sighed. “Birdee has been screwing me over since the beginning. This is just one extra thing in a long line of wrongs. Do I hate that she is using my credit? Yes. Do I think that she is doing this for some other reason? Yes. But right now, I have no way to know. And I’m not going to give Birdee the brain time. I hired a really good lawyer that’ll hopefully find a way to answer these burning questions I have. She can hopefully use some of that information your brother-in-law found. And I already emailed her about also adding on the house issue. I’ve already told myself I’m never speaking to my father again.” I plated the eggs then checked on the biscuits before turning it on to broil. “But mostly, I just don’t want to think about them anymore. A lot of my life has been spent being pissed off and hurt. You said something to me a few days ago that really stuck with me, and you were right. I don’t have to give them any pieces of me anymore. I’m a grown adult. And I’m happier for it. I don’t have to let them affect me anymore.”