The whole web came apart in front of everyone.

By the fourth day, my mother and Tara packed and moved to a rented room near the bus station.

They took their clothing, their IDs, their own jewelry — I had no interest in matching their cruelty.

Their lavish life vanished overnight. Tara discovered that Brett was no more loyal than she was; he called off the wedding the moment he learned there’d be no house, no spa, no fortune attached to her name.

When she called him a gold-digger, he shot back that she’d misrepresented her family’s wealth from the start.

My mother tried to reach the investment accounts and was told by the bank and by counsel that she had voluntarily signed them away in binding documents.