Chapter 3 - The Unraveling Credit
"Dad! Dad, she stole my car!" Shay screamed into the phone the second Darcy picked up. She paced back and forth across my hardwood floor, her breathing ragged, her chest heaving with theatrical indignation. "She literally had a tow truck come and steal my Audi right out of the driveway! You need to leave work and come fix this right now!"
I stood in the kitchen doorway, crossing my arms as Darcy’s muffled, panicked voice drifted through the speaker.
"Wait, Shay, slow down. What do you mean the car is gone? Who stole it?"
"She did!" Shay pointed an accusatory, shaking finger toward me. "Your wife! She's standing right here acting like a complete psychopath! She said she canceled the lease and sent it back to the dealership!"
There was a long, suffocating pause on the other end of the line. I heard the rustle of papers, Darcy’s chair squeaking at his architectural firm downtown.
"Elena?" Darcy’s voice came through, strained and tight with irritation. "Elena, tell me she's exaggerating. Tell me you didn't actually do that."
I stepped into the living room and spoke clearly toward the phone. "I didn't steal anything, Darcy. I terminated a discretionary luxury expense that was registered exclusively in my name and drafted from my personal account. Shay informed me yesterday that I am a nobody in her life. I decided to respect her boundary and remove myself from her financial ecosystem."
"Elena, for God's sake!" Darcy exploded, his voice losing its calm veneer. "She's twenty-three! She was mouthing off at Sunday dinner! You don't take away her transportation over a petty argument! How is she supposed to get to campus? How is she supposed to get to her internship?"
"I don't know, Darcy. How do other adults without wealthy benefactors get around? The city bus runs right past the entrance of our neighborhood. Or perhaps you can buy her a car yourself."
"You know damn well I don't have that kind of liquidity right now!" Darcy barked. "We're partners! We handle these things together!"
"We handle *our* life together," I replied coldly. "I have carried Shay's adult expenses out of goodwill for four years. The goodwill has expired."
"Dad!" Shay wailed, sensing her father's impotence. "Do something! I have a group project meeting downtown in forty minutes! I can't ride a disgusting bus!"
"Just... call an Uber, sweetie," Darcy sighed, his voice defeated and stressed. "Use the silver card in your purse. I'll be home by six-thirty and Elena and I will sort this out like adults."
"Whatever! This house is toxic!" Shay snarled. She slammed the end call button, glared at me with pure venom, and pulled up her rideshare app.
I watched in silence as she aggressively typed in her destination. A moment later, her thumb froze. A red banner flashed across her phone screen: *Payment Method Declined.*
She tapped it again furiously. "What is wrong with this stupid app?"
She opened her food delivery app and tried to order an iced latte. *Declined.*
She looked up at me, the arrogance in her posture cracking just enough for raw, cold panic to bleed through. "What did you do to my credit card?"
"That wasn't your credit card, Shay," I said calmly. "It was an authorized user card linked to my personal American Express Platinum account. The limit was ten thousand dollars a month. As of seven-thirty this morning, that card has been deactivated and destroyed."
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Her jaw dropped. "How am I supposed to eat? How am I supposed to get home to my apartment?"
"I suggest you ask your father for his card," I said, walking back toward my home office. "Or better yet, find a job that pays for the lifestyle you think you're entitled to."
