Chapter 4 - The Investigation
Dylan was desperate. He had tried to call me, but my number was long gone. He had even tried to email me, but his messages were being auto-filtered into a "trash" folder.
He didn't know I was moving to London. He thought I was just "hiding out" in the city. He spent his days in their dark, cooling house, stalking my LinkedIn, my Instagram, and my work profiles. He was stunned by what he saw.
My profile pictures changed. I looked different. The tired, drawn look I’d carried for ten years had vanished. I looked vibrant, confident, and dangerously successful. Photos of me at black-tie galas, meetings in international offices, and conferences in Europe flooded my feed.
"Look at her!" Dylan screamed, throwing the tablet across the room, where it shattered against the wall. "She's living like a queen while we're eating canned beans! She’s stealing from us!"
"She's not stealing, Dylan," Sarah whispered, sitting in the corner, finally seeing the reflection of their own failure. "She's just stopped giving."
Dylan didn't want to hear it. He decided to play his final card. He looked through my old files—the ones I’d been foolish enough to leave behind—and found contacts for my firm. He decided he would "expose" me. He would call my bosses and tell them I was "unstable" and "frivolous."
He didn't realize that in the corporate world, you don't call the boss of a high-earner to complain about their personality. He made the call, expecting someone to listen. Instead, he reached a corporate security line.
"I'm Rebecca's brother," he declared. "I need to tell you about her financial situation."
The silence on the other end was professional and cold. "Mr. Foster, we are aware of Rebecca’s situation. In fact, we have already received a request from her legal team to issue a restraining order against you for harassment. If you contact this firm again, we will not be issuing a warning."
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Dylan sat in the dark, the reality finally shattering the last of his delusions. He had tried to strike, and he had only ensured his own isolation.
