Chapter 10 - MOM’S MONEYGary moved into our house four years earlier.
The house was Mom’s.
Mortgage still large.
Her income as a dental-office manager covered most basics.
Gary contributed.
At first.
Then he lost a salaried claims position.
Started contract adjusting.
Income unpredictable.
Mom covered more.
Then Gary handled more of the household finances because he said she was “bad with money.”
By the year of the incident:
Gary’s name was on the joint checking account.
He controlled online bill pay.
Mom’s paycheck deposited there.
His work income entered irregularly.
Credit-card balances had climbed to $28,000.
Mom had not realized how much.
Why?
Gary told her:
“Business expenses.”
Some were.
Some weren’t.
Sports betting:
Approximately $6,400 over a year.
Not hundreds of thousands.
Enough to create pressure.
Truck payments.
Tools.
Restaurants.
Cash withdrawals.
Nothing that turned him into a criminal mastermind.
Just a man whose finances were worse than the authority he projected.
Mom feared leaving because she thought the house would immediately go into foreclosure.
May you like
It wouldn’t have.
But fear is often built from numbers nobody has checked.
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