- 12 hours ago
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00:00Let me get straight to the point because I know how insane this story is going to sound.
00:00:04My name is Sloan. I am 32 years old and I am a structural engineer living in Denver.
00:00:13In my line of work, my job is to look at buildings, bridges, and foundations to find
00:00:20the cracks before the whole thing collapses. I spend my days calculating loads, stress points,
00:00:26and failure margins. I am good at it. I can look at a blueprint and tell you exactly where the
00:00:34weak
00:00:34spot is within five minutes, but for the last decade, I could not see the massive structural
00:00:40failure in my own life. Or maybe I saw it, but I just kept trying to patch it up with
00:00:47cement made
00:00:48of my own blood, sweat, and bank account. It was a Friday evening, the kind of quiet night I usually
00:00:56cherished. I was standing on the balcony of my rental apartment, looking out at the city lights.
00:01:04Most people my age were out at bars or having family dinners. I was
00:01:10standing there holding a black MSKY notebook that I kept hidden in the back of my underwear drawer.
00:01:16I called it the
00:01:18Exit Plan. I took a sip of cheap wine and opened the
00:01:22notebook to the last page. The ink was black and precise. I
00:01:28Had created a spreadsheet by hand. On the left column, my income, my savings.
00:01:35My retirement fund. On the right column, a running total of every single dollar I
00:01:42Had loaned to my family since I graduated college.
00:01:46Tuition fees, car. Payments, credit card bailouts, rent assistance.
00:01:53Emergency medical bills that turned out to be cosmetic procedures.
00:01:57The number at the bottom of the right.
00:02:00Column made my stomach turn every time I looked at it.
00:02:05$128,450.
00:02:08That is enough to buy a small house in the Midwest outright.
00:02:12That is a down payment on a dream home here in Denver.
00:02:15That is my freedom siphoned away transaction by transaction over 10 years.
00:02:21I am the eldest daughter.
00:02:23And if
00:02:25You are listening to this and you are also an eldest daughter from a dysfunctional family,
00:02:29you know exactly
00:02:31What that title means.
00:02:33It does not mean you are a leader.
00:02:36It means you are the
00:02:38Insurance policy.
00:02:39It means you are the
00:02:41Retirement plan.
00:02:43It means you are the
00:02:46Designated adult while your parents get to play the eternal victims.
00:02:50My phone buzzed on the railing, startling me.
00:02:53The screen lit up with a text message from my mother, Brenda.
00:02:58It
00:02:58Read, hi, honey.
00:03:02Dad and I are a little short for groceries this week.
00:03:05Can you
00:03:07Venmo $200?
00:03:09We will pay you back on Tuesday when the pension check hits.
00:03:14Love you.
00:03:15I stared at the screen.
00:03:18$200.
00:03:20It wasn't a lot of money compared to the
00:03:24$128,000 in my notebook, but I knew exactly where that money was going.
00:03:29Dad did not need
00:03:31$200 for eggs and milk.
00:03:34My brother Kyler was back home living in their basement.
00:03:38And Kyler needed vape pods and probably a carton of beer.
00:03:43I typed back, what?
00:03:45Happened to the grocery money I sent last week?
00:03:48Three dots appeared, then.
00:03:51Disappeared, then appeared again.
00:03:54The reply came, unexpected bill.
00:03:57Please
00:03:59Sloan, don't make this a thing.
00:04:01Dad is stressed.
00:04:03Dad is stressed.
00:04:05That was the
00:04:07Magic phrase.
00:04:09That was the trigger code installed in my brain since I was five years old.
00:04:13If dad is stressed, it is my
00:04:17Job to fix it.
00:04:19If mom is crying, it is my job to dry the tears with cash.
00:04:24I
00:04:25Switch apps and open Zillow.
00:04:28I had a saved search for fixer-uppers in a specific historic neighborhood.
00:04:33There
00:04:34Was a Victorian house I had been watching for three months.
00:04:38Peeling paint, sagging porch, probably needed a new
00:04:43Roof
00:04:43It was perfect.
00:04:46I wanted to buy it, strip it down to the studs, and
00:04:50Rebuild it with my own hands.
00:04:53I wanted to create something that was mine, something that no one could take away
00:04:58From me
00:04:59I checked my savings account balance.
00:05:02I was exactly $15,000 short of
00:05:06The minimum down payment
00:05:09If I hadn't sent that $5,000 last month for my
00:05:13Sister's car repair, I would be a homeowner right now.
00:05:17I looked back at my mom's text.
00:05:20My thumb hovered over the
00:05:22Venmo app.
00:05:24I felt that familiar heaviness in my chest, a mix of guilt and exhaustion that felt like wearing a
00:05:30Lead vest.
00:05:31Just this last time, I whispered to the empty air.
00:05:35I opened Venmo, typed in
00:05:39$200, and hit send.
00:05:41I didn't add a caption.
00:05:44I just send it.
00:05:46A second later,
00:05:48A heart emoji popped up on my screen.
00:05:51I closed the phone, went back inside, and
00:05:54Threw the black notebook into the drawer.
00:05:57I felt sick.
00:06:00I was a structural
00:06:02Engineer who couldn't stop her own foundation from sinking.
00:06:06I didn't know it then, but that $200 was the last
00:06:10Peaceful transaction I would ever make.
00:06:13The cracks were about to turn into a landslide.
00:06:17To understand why I
00:06:19Eventually snapped, you have to understand the cast of characters in this tragedy.
00:06:25My family isn't just bad
00:06:27With money
00:06:28They are bad people who use money to mask their rot
00:06:33Let's start with Kyler
00:06:35My brother is 26 years old
00:06:37In my parents' eyes, the sun rises and sets in his lap
00:06:42He is the golden child
00:06:45When Kyler was born, my father, Frank, acted like he had just sired the future king of England
00:06:52Kyler could do no
00:06:53Wrong
00:06:54If Kyler failed a test, the teacher was stupid
00:06:58If Kyler got fired
00:07:00The boss was jealous
00:07:03Currently, Kyler has been between jobs for two years
00:07:07He
00:07:09Calls himself an entrepreneur
00:07:11His business ventures have included dropped shipping cheap sunglasses, a
00:07:17Cryptomining rig that set the garage on fire, and now apparently professional gambling
00:07:22He is charming in a slimy way
00:07:25The kind of guy who smiles while he picture pocket
00:07:28Then there is Tatum, my
00:07:31Baby sister, 23 years old
00:07:34If Kyler is the golden child, Tatum is the princess
00:07:39She lives her entire life for the camera
00:07:42She has about 3,000 followers on
00:07:46Instagram, but she acts like she is being chased by paparazzi
00:07:50She refers to herself as a content
00:07:54Creator
00:07:55Her content mostly consists of lip syncing to rap songs and showing off
00:08:00Outfits she cannot afford
00:08:03I learned to keep my distance from them the hard way
00:08:06The first major lesson happened on the day of my college graduation
00:08:11I remember standing in my cap and gown
00:08:14Holding my engineering degree
00:08:16I had worked two jobs all through school to avoid taking out massive loans
00:08:21I was
00:08:23Proud
00:08:24I thought finally I am free
00:08:27My parents took me out to dinner at a nice steakhouse in Vegas
00:08:32I thought it was a celebration
00:08:34We ordered appetizers
00:08:37And Dad ordered a bottle of wine
00:08:40Halfway through the meal, Kyler, who was
00:08:4318 at the time, slid a piece of paper across the table to me
00:08:47It was a credit
00:08:50Card bill
00:08:51His credit card bill
00:08:53The balance was $4,200
00:08:57I looked at Dad
00:08:59He didn't look ashamed
00:09:02He looked expectant
00:09:03Your brother got into a little trouble with online gaming, Dad said, cutting his steak
00:09:10We thought since you are
00:09:12Graduating and you have that big engineering job lined up starting next month, this could be your way of saying
00:09:18Thank you to the family for raising you
00:09:21I stared at them
00:09:23Thank you
00:09:24I had paid
00:09:27My own tuition
00:09:29I had paid my own rent
00:09:31Mom reached over and squeezed my hand
00:09:34Her grip was tight, bordering on painful
00:09:38Don't cause a scene, Sloan
00:09:41It
00:09:41Is a small amount for an engineer
00:09:45Help your brother start fresh
00:09:47I looked at
00:09:49Kyler
00:09:50He was scrolling on his phone, not even making eye contact
00:09:55He knew I
00:09:57Would pay it
00:09:59He knew the script better than I did
00:10:01I paid it
00:10:03I took my signing
00:10:05Bonus from my new job and paid off his gambling debt before I even bought myself a new pair of
00:10:10work boots
00:10:12That
00:10:13Was the moment I should have run
00:10:16That was the moment I should have changed my name and moved to Alaska
00:10:20But I didn't
00:10:22I stayed
00:10:23And the price of staying kept going up
00:10:26Flash forward to the present
00:10:29The family house in North Las Vegas is a monument to bad decisions
00:10:34It has been refinanced three times
00:10:37There is a boat in the driveway that hasn't touched water in six years
00:10:42Inside
00:10:43It smells like glade plug-ins trying to cover up the scent of dog urine and desperation
00:10:49Every time I visit, I feel like I am walking into a trap
00:10:52And two months ago
00:10:55The trap finally snapped shut
00:10:57It started with a group chat notification
00:11:01Kyler announced he needed a mental health reset
00:11:04His text read, yo, fam, going to lake
00:11:09Tahoe for the weekend
00:11:10Need to clear my head
00:11:13Stress is real
00:11:15Stress
00:11:17The guy
00:11:18Hadn't worked a Tuesday in his life
00:11:21But of course, mom chimed in immediately with heart emojis and praying hands
00:11:26You deserve it, baby
00:11:28You work so hard on your ideas
00:11:31Then came the kicker
00:11:33Kyler added
00:11:35Going with Harrison
00:11:38We are staying at Harris
00:11:41Harrison is
00:11:43Kyler's best friend from high school
00:11:45Harrison actually comes from money
00:11:48His
00:11:49Dad owns a chain of car dealerships in Nevada
00:11:53Harrison is the guy Kyler wishes
00:11:56He was
00:11:58Before I could roll my eyes and close the app, Tatum jumped in
00:12:03OMG
00:12:04I am coming too
00:12:07Content opportunity
00:12:08Plus, I need to bond with my big bro
00:12:12I
00:12:13Typed out a message
00:12:15Who is paying for this?
00:12:18Tahoe is expensive
00:12:19Dad replied
00:12:22Instantly, almost like he was waiting for me to ask
00:12:26Don't start, Sloan
00:12:29Harrison is covering the rooms and the flight
00:12:31We just gave Kyler and Tatum $3,000 for food and spending money
00:12:37It
00:12:38Is a gift
00:12:40Let them live
00:12:42$3,000
00:12:45My mind did the math instantly
00:12:47Mom and dad lived on a fixed pension and social
00:12:52Security
00:12:52Their mortgage was barely being paid
00:12:55I knew for a fact they
00:12:58Didn't have $3,000 lying around
00:13:01Where did you get $3,000, Dad?
00:13:05I texted back
00:13:08Sold the old truck
00:13:09He lied
00:13:11I knew he sold that truck two years ago
00:13:14But I
00:13:16Didn't push it
00:13:17I was tired
00:13:19I was at work staring at a CAD drawing of a
00:13:24Suspension bridge and I just didn't have the energy to fight them
00:13:28Fine, I wrote
00:13:30Have fun
00:13:32I put the phone down, but the knot in my stomach tightened
00:13:36$3,000 for a weekend trip while begging me for $200 for groceries
00:13:41The mouth wasn't mating, but I told myself it was fine
00:13:46Harrison was rich
00:13:48Maybe he really was paying for the hotel
00:13:51I was so naive
00:13:53I didn't know that quiet
00:13:56Weekend was going to cost me my entire sanity
00:13:59That night, after the group chat went
00:14:02Silent, I couldn't sleep
00:14:04The mention of the $3,000 had triggered something
00:14:09I
00:14:10Lay in bed staring at the ceiling fan, and the ghosts of past checks started floating around the room
00:14:15The most
00:14:17Painful ghost was the Jeep incident
00:14:20It happened three years ago
00:14:23Tatum had just
00:14:25Turned 20
00:14:26She decided that her brand as an aspiring influencer required a
00:14:32Specific aesthetic and that aesthetic was a white Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
00:14:36Mom called me sobbing
00:14:39We are at the
00:14:41Dealership
00:14:43Sloan, they won't approve the loan
00:14:46They say our credit is too
00:14:49Utilized
00:14:50Tatum is heartbroken
00:14:52She is sitting on the floor of the showroom crying
00:14:56I can't buy her a car
00:14:58Mom, I had said standing in the break room at work
00:15:02We don't need you to buy it
00:15:04Mom wailed
00:15:06We just need a
00:15:08Cosigner
00:15:10We will make the payments
00:15:11I promise
00:15:14Dad has a side job lined up
00:15:16Please, Sloan
00:15:18She needs a safe car
00:15:20Do you want your sister driving a death?
00:15:24Trap?
00:15:25That was their weapon of choice
00:15:28Safety, guilt, responsibility
00:15:31I drove to the dealership
00:15:33I saw Tatum sitting in the driver's seat of the white Jeep, grinning like a shark
00:15:39She
00:15:41Wasn't crying
00:15:42She was taking selfies with the steering wheel
00:15:45I walked into
00:15:47The finance office
00:15:49The finance manager, a greasy guy with too much cologne
00:15:54Looked at me with pity
00:15:56He knew
00:15:57He knew I was the sigh
00:16:00You understand that if
00:16:02They miss a payment, you are 100% liable?
00:16:07He asked, sliding the papers
00:16:10Toward me
00:16:11I looked at my dad
00:16:13He was standing in the corner looking at the
00:16:17Floor
00:16:17He wouldn't meet my eyes
00:16:20Dad, are you sure you can cover this?
00:16:24It is
00:16:26$600 a month, I asked
00:16:28Absolutely, sweetheart, he said
00:16:31It is handled
00:16:33I
00:16:34Signed a 48-month loan
00:16:38$600 a month
00:16:40Guess how many payments my parents made
00:16:43Three
00:16:44For the last three years, $580
00:16:49Has been deducted from my bank account every single month
00:16:52For a car I do not drive for a sister who does not think
00:16:56Me
00:16:58When I tried to take the keys back last Christmas, dad threatened to call the police and say I stole
00:17:03it
00:17:04He said
00:17:06The loan is in your name, but the registration is in hers
00:17:10You can't take it
00:17:12Lying in bed, remembering the smell of that finance office and the sound of Kyler flicking that credit card bill
00:17:18at
00:17:19Graduation, I felt a cold rage settling in my bones
00:17:23I sat up and turned on the
00:17:26Lamp
00:17:27I opened my exit plan notebook again
00:17:30I looked at the number $128,450
00:17:35I picked up a red pen
00:17:38I drew a thick angry line under the last entry
00:17:42No
00:17:43More, I said out loud, to the empty room
00:17:46Not another cent
00:17:48Not for bail, not for
00:17:51Blood, not for breath
00:17:53I didn't know that promise was going to be tested in less than 48 hours
00:17:58And I didn't know
00:18:00That the price of keeping that promise was going to be watching my family burn to the ground
00:18:05But looking back, I would
00:18:08Let them burn again
00:18:10I closed the notebook, turned off the light, and finally fell into a restless sleep
00:18:16Dreaming of a white Victorian house with a strong foundation and a lock on the door that only I had
00:18:21the key to
00:18:22That
00:18:24Thursday morning, I woke up at 6 o'clock, sharp, as I always do
00:18:28I brewed a cup of
00:18:31Black coffee and sat down at my laptop to begin a long day of reviewing structural blueprints
00:18:37While waiting for the heavy files to load, I habitually picked up my phone and opened Instagram
00:18:43Tatum's performance had already begun
00:18:45The first post was a photo taken at the
00:18:49Private aviation terminal in North Las Vegas
00:18:53Tatum was posing next to a luggage cart overflowing with designer
00:18:58Suitcases
00:18:59She was wearing an expensive-looking gray tracksuit and oversized sunglasses
00:19:04Despite being indoors
00:19:07The caption read, Goodbye, Tahoe is calling our names
00:19:11Thank you, Mommy and Daddy, for the best gift ever
00:19:15I zoomed in on the photo
00:19:17There were at least three brand-new Ramoa suitcases
00:19:22I knew the price of those
00:19:24They were
00:19:25About $1,500 each
00:19:29That luggage alone was worth more than $4,500
00:19:34Then Kyler appeared in the next story
00:19:37He was boarding a small private jet, a Gulfream
00:19:41He was wearing an off-white jacket and a pair of Balenciaga sneakers that I knew for a fact cost
00:19:46at least $1,100
00:19:49He flashed a thumb up at the camera
00:19:52A triumphant smirk plastered across his face
00:19:55I felt my chest tighten
00:19:58My parents had told me they only gave them $3,000 for
00:20:03Spending money and that their rich friend Harrison was covering everything else
00:20:07But I had lived with this family
00:20:10Long enough to know that Harrison, no matter how wealthy, was not a fool
00:20:15He
00:20:16Might cover a hotel room, but he wasn't buying Ramoa luggage or Balenciaga sneakers for my siblings
00:20:23I picked up my phone, my hand trembling slightly with anger, and texted my mother
00:20:28I just saw Tatum's photos
00:20:31Where
00:20:32Did all that new gear come from?
00:20:35You told me you only gave them $3,000
00:20:39My mother replied almost instantly
00:20:42Oh, Harrison, let them borrow those things, sweetie
00:20:46He is so kind
00:20:49Don't always be
00:20:51So suspicious
00:20:53Let your brother and sister enjoy themselves for once in their lives
00:20:57Don't be so bitter, Sloan
00:21:00Borrow gear, I muttered to myself in my empty
00:21:04Apartment
00:21:06Nobody borrows designer sneakers and luggage for a vacation
00:21:10Those are personal items
00:21:13I knew she was lying, and I knew the price of that lie
00:21:17Wouldn't be cheap
00:21:18I went back to work trying to push the numbers out of my head
00:21:21But as an engineer, my brain
00:21:25Doesn't allow me to ignore the margins of error
00:21:28$3,000 could not buy that lifestyle
00:21:32That private flight, even if they were hitching a ride, cost thousands of dollars an hour in fuel and fees
00:21:39The
00:21:40Unfairness was like acid, eating at my concentration all day
00:21:45I thought about how I was saving every penny to buy in
00:21:48Old house while my siblings were flying through the clouds on money I suspected was being drained from my parents'
00:21:54maxed
00:21:55Out credit cards
00:21:57By Friday afternoon, the flood of images from Lake Tahoe
00:22:02Began to hit Tatum and Kyler's social media feeds
00:22:06They hadn't just checked into Harris
00:22:08They were in a high-end
00:22:11Luxury suite with floor-toe ceiling windows looking directly at the deep blue water of the lake
00:22:17Tatum filmed a
00:22:18Tour of the room
00:22:20She ran her hand over marble countertops, opened a mini bar stocked with expensive liquors, and
00:22:27Stopped on the balcony to show off the million-dollar view
00:22:31The life I deserve, she wrote
00:22:33But Kyler was the one who concerned me the most
00:22:37He posted a short video at a
00:22:40Craps table in the casino
00:22:42In the video, Kyler was shaking dice in his hand
00:22:47Surrounded by a crowd of cheering people
00:22:49On the table in front of him was a stack of chocolate chips
00:22:53My heart
00:22:55Skipped a beat
00:22:56In the casino world, chocolate-tackled chips usually have a denomination of $5,000 each, and Kyler
00:23:04Had at least ten of them
00:23:07$50,000
00:23:09I felt dizzy
00:23:11Where did Kyler get that
00:23:13Kind of money to wager?
00:23:16Harrison might be rich, but no friend hands you $50,000
00:23:21To throw at a gambling table
00:23:24Unless it was Kyler's own money, or worse, it was
00:23:28Money borrowed under someone else's name
00:23:31I screenshotted the video and zoomed in as much as I could
00:23:35At the
00:23:37Corner of the table, I saw a small slip of paper tucked away
00:23:41It was a marker, a
00:23:43Form of credit the casino extends to players based on their financial standing
00:23:49I saw a loopy signature on it
00:23:51It looked very much like Kyler's, but Kyler had no credit score to justify a line of credit that large
00:23:58I began to
00:24:00Feel a dull headache
00:24:02I opened my banking app and checked every single account
00:24:06I even checked my personal
00:24:09Credit report to ensure Kyler hadn't stolen my identity to take out a loan
00:24:14Everything was fine
00:24:15My accounts were secure, but if it wasn't me, then who was it?
00:24:20My parents
00:24:22Where did they get the assets to back a $50,000 credit line?
00:24:26I messaged the
00:24:28Family group chat
00:24:30Kyler, I saw you at the high roller table
00:24:34Where did you get
00:24:36Those chips?
00:24:38Kyler replied with a string of sunglasses emojis
00:24:41Don't worry so
00:24:43Much, big sister
00:24:46Harrison is handling everything
00:24:49I am on a massive winning
00:24:52Streak
00:24:54Tonight I am taking everyone out for gold leaf steaks
00:24:57I turned off my
00:25:00Phone
00:25:01I didn't believe a word of it
00:25:03In engineering, we have a saying, if a
00:25:07Structure looks too weak to hold the load, it is because it is going to fail
00:25:12And my family's financial structure
00:25:15Wasn't just weak, it was hanging over an abyss
00:25:19Saturday was the peak of the madness
00:25:22Tatum posted photos of them on a luxury yacht cruising through Emerald Bay
00:25:26They were drinking champagne directly from
00:25:29The bottles, the kind of vintage that I knew cost no less than $500 a bottle
00:25:35But the detail that made me go cold was the photo of Tatum showing off a new Cartier
00:25:40Love bracelet on her wrist
00:25:42It
00:25:44Sparkled under the mountain sun
00:25:46Her caption was gifts from the best big brother in the world
00:25:50He hit it big last
00:25:52Night
00:25:54Hashtag family is everything
00:25:57Hashtag Cartier I knew that bracelet
00:26:00It was the rose gold
00:26:02Version with diamonds retailing for $42,000
00:26:07$42,000
00:26:09That number was equivalent to nearly two years of take-home pay for an average worker
00:26:15And my brother, the man who had
00:26:18Never held a job for more than three months, had just handed it to his social media obsessed
00:26:23sister like it was a plastic
00:26:25Toy
00:26:27I felt a wave of nausea
00:26:29I thought about how much I had agonized over
00:26:33Buying a new $200 coffee maker
00:26:36I thought about the nights I spend awake calculating steel loads for skyscrapers
00:26:40To earn every honest dollar
00:26:43My mother texted again, this time a photo of her
00:26:47And my father at home eating pizza and watching television
00:26:51She wrote, do you see your siblings?
00:26:55We
00:26:55Are so proud of Kyler
00:26:58He finally found his luck
00:27:00He promised to buy us a new
00:27:03House after this trip
00:27:05I didn't reply
00:27:08I couldn't
00:27:10If I said
00:27:11The truth, if I said that all of this was a deadly illusion, I would be the jealous one
00:27:16again
00:27:17The one who always
00:27:20Wants to ruin the family's joy
00:27:22I stood up, put on my jacket, and went outside
00:27:26I needed the cold Denver air to cool down my head
00:27:30I walked along the Cherry Creek Trail, trying not to think about
00:27:35Cartier bracelets or champagne bottles
00:27:38I realized that I was an outsider to
00:27:41This game
00:27:42And that was the safest place to be
00:27:45I had drawn the line in my black notebook
00:27:48I had sworn not to spend another cent
00:27:51But I also knew my family
00:27:54When the
00:27:56Party ended, when the bottles were empty and the casino came to collect, they wouldn't look to Harrison
00:28:02They wouldn't
00:28:04Look to Tatum
00:28:06They would look to their most reliable ATM
00:28:09I returned home at
00:28:11Ten o'clock that night, feeling exhausted
00:28:15I plugged in my phone, but for the first
00:28:18Time in my life, I did something I had never done before
00:28:22I turned the power off completely
00:28:25I wanted a night of
00:28:27Peace
00:28:29I wanted to dream about the old house I was going to buy
00:28:32I didn't want
00:28:34To hear the bells for money or the manipulative crying
00:28:38I fell asleep at eleven o'clock
00:28:41I had no idea that 700 miles away in a VIP room at a casino in Lake Tahoe, my
00:28:48Family's illusion had just exploded into a thousand pieces
00:28:53Thank you so much for following the
00:28:56Story this far
00:28:58If you are enjoying this and want to see how Sloan handles the chaos that is about to erupt, please
00:29:03hit
00:29:04The like button and subscribe to the channel
00:29:08Also, drop a comment below with the name of the city you are watching
00:29:12From
00:29:14Every comment helps this video reach more people, and I really appreciate your support
00:29:19Now, let's get
00:29:21Back to the nightmare
00:29:23That Saturday night in Denver was perfectly still
00:29:27I
00:29:28Had turned my mobile phone off, an act that felt like cutting a heavy anchor chain that had been dragging
00:29:33me toward
00:29:34The bottom of the ocean for a decade
00:29:37I enjoyed the absolute silence of my apartment
00:29:41I read a few chapters of a
00:29:44Book on Renaissance architecture, drank a cup of herbal tea, and fell into a deep, uninterrupted sleep
00:29:50In my dreams
00:29:52I was standing inside the Victorian house I wanted to buy
00:29:56I was painting the window frames white, and the golden
00:30:00Sunlight was streaming through the stained glass
00:30:03There were no buzzing phones, no Venmo requests, and no wait
00:30:08On my shoulders from being the eldest daughter
00:30:11But the reality 700 M away was
00:30:14A completely different story
00:30:17While I was sleeping, the Lake Tahoe fantasy had detonated
00:30:21What I learned
00:30:23Later from the police report and the trail of hysterical messages was a disaster in every sense of the word
00:30:31Kyler's winning streak had ended in a spectacular crash shortly after midnight
00:30:35He hadn't just lost his
00:30:38Winnings, he had started signing markers for money he didn't have
00:30:42He was gambling like a man possessed, his eyes
00:30:47Bloodshot from alcohol in desperation
00:30:50By 2 o'clock in the morning, the casino security had moved in
00:30:55Kyler had lost
00:30:57Control
00:30:58He screamed that he was a billionaire, that they didn't know who they were dealing with
00:31:04An altercation
00:31:06Broke out, and in his drunken rage, Kyler assaulted a floor supervisor
00:31:11The Hard Rock security team took him
00:31:14Down hard on the marble floor
00:31:16He was handcuffed on the spot, his ribs slamming into the edge of a card table
00:31:21While Kyler was being hauled into a holding cell, Tatum and my parents received the news
00:31:27And their first
00:31:30Instinct, like a programmed reflex, was to find me
00:31:33In Denver, the digital clock
00:31:36On my bedside table flipped to 2.14 in the morning
00:31:40My mobile phone remained
00:31:42Dark and silent in the drawer where I had locked it
00:31:46But I had made a fatal error
00:31:49I had forgotten about the
00:31:52Landline
00:31:53I kept a landline solely for work emergencies, for times when a
00:31:58Bridge inspector needed to reach me when cell towers were down during a storm
00:32:03I almost never used it
00:32:05The ringer was set
00:32:07Too high
00:32:09When it rang at 2.14 in the morning, it sounded like a fire alarm in
00:32:13The quiet apartment
00:32:15I jolted awake, my heart hammering against my ribs
00:32:20For a
00:32:22Split second, I thought the building was on fire
00:32:25Then I recognized the shrill
00:32:28Mechanical ring of the dusty phone on my desk
00:32:31I stumbled out of bed, confused
00:32:34And groggy
00:32:36Who would be calling the landline at this hour?
00:32:40My boss
00:32:41Had a
00:32:43Bridge collapsed
00:32:45I picked up the receiver
00:32:47My voice thick with sleep
00:32:50Hello?
00:32:51The sound that came through the receiver was not my boss
00:32:55It was a
00:32:57Scream so raw and piercing that I had to pull the phone away from my ear
00:33:02Sloan
00:33:03Thank God
00:33:05Why is your cell phone off?
00:33:07We have been calling for thirty minutes
00:33:10It was my mother, Brenda
00:33:13She was hyperventilating, the sounds of chaos echoing in the background
00:33:18I could hear
00:33:20Sirens or maybe slot machines
00:33:23I couldn't tell
00:33:25Mom, what is going on?
00:33:27I asked, rubbing my eyes
00:33:29Your brother is dying
00:33:32She shrieked
00:33:33They beat him
00:33:36Sloan
00:33:37They beat him like an animal
00:33:39He is in the emergency room right now
00:33:43He
00:33:44Is coughing up blood
00:33:46Before I could process the words, the phone was ripped away and my father's voice boomed into
00:33:52My ear
00:33:54Frank sounded terrified, but underneath the fear was that familiar tone of demand
00:33:59Listen to me closely
00:34:02Sloan
00:34:03We are at Barton Memorial Hospital
00:34:06Kyler has massive internal
00:34:09Bleeding
00:34:10His ribs are shattered
00:34:12The doctor says his lung is punctured
00:34:15I
00:34:17Felt a cold chill run down my spine
00:34:19What happened?
00:34:21Where is Harrison?
00:34:24I
00:34:25Thought he was handling everything
00:34:27Forget Harrison
00:34:30Dad yelled
00:34:31That kid is
00:34:34Useless
00:34:35Listen to me
00:34:37The hospital is refusing to operate
00:34:40We are out of network and
00:34:42Because it involved a fight, the insurance is rejecting the claim pending an investigation
00:34:49They are demanding a cash deposit before they will him into surgery
00:34:52Cash deposit?
00:34:55I asked my engineer brain
00:34:58Trying to find the logic in the panic
00:35:01Hospitals don't refuse life-saving surgery, Dad
00:35:05That is illegal
00:35:07Don't you?
00:35:09Quote lost to me while your brother is bleeding out
00:35:11He roared
00:35:14This is a
00:35:15Private facility
00:35:17They want $28,000 immediately to clear the surgical team
00:35:22If we don't pay in the next 10 minutes, they are going to let him go into shock
00:35:26He could die tonight, Sloan
00:35:29Do you hear?
00:35:31Me?
00:35:33He could die
00:35:35$28,000
00:35:37The number hung in the air like a guillotine blade
00:35:41It was almost exactly the amount I had in my house savings
00:35:45Account
00:35:46The money I had scraped together for two years
00:35:50The money that
00:35:52Stood between me and homelessness if I lost my job
00:35:56Mom got back on the line sobbing
00:35:59Sloan, please
00:36:01I know you have the money
00:36:03I know you are saving for that
00:36:06House
00:36:08But this is Kyler
00:36:10This is your baby brother
00:36:12You can buy a house next
00:36:15Year
00:36:16You can't buy a new brother
00:36:18Wire it
00:36:20Zal it
00:36:21Do whatever you have to do
00:36:24I swear on my life we will pay you back
00:36:27I stood there in the dark clutching the
00:36:30Phone cord
00:36:31I closed my eyes
00:36:34I tried to picture Kyler dying
00:36:36I tried to summon
00:36:39The panic, the grief, the overwhelming urge to save him that I had felt when we were kids
00:36:45But nothing came
00:36:47Instead, I
00:36:49Saw the Cartier bracelet
00:36:51I saw the Rimela luggage
00:36:54I saw the $50,000 chip
00:36:58Stack
00:36:59I looked at the number in my head
00:37:02$28,000
00:37:04If he is dying, let me speak to the doctor, I said, my voice flat
00:37:09We can't
00:37:11They took him to the prep room
00:37:14Dad lied
00:37:15I knew he was lying because I
00:37:17Could hear a PA system in the background paging a janitor to the lobby, not a surgical floor
00:37:24Send the money, Sloan
00:37:27Dad screamed
00:37:29You selfish, ungrateful, I cut him off
00:37:32If he is rich enough to fly
00:37:35Private and by diamonds, he can pay for his own ribs
00:37:39What?
00:37:41Mom gasped
00:37:42I took a
00:37:43Deep breath
00:37:45And then I said the words that severed the cord forever
00:37:49Call your
00:37:50Golden princess
00:37:52Ask Tatum to sell her bracelet
00:37:55I am closed for business
00:37:58There was a moment
00:38:00Of absolute silence on the line
00:38:03It was the silence of shock
00:38:06They had pushed
00:38:08The button
00:38:09The button labeled guilt
00:38:12And for the first time in thirty-two years, the machine didn't dispense cash
00:38:17Then the
00:38:19Screaming started again, louder than before
00:38:22My father was cursing, calling
00:38:25Me names that no father should ever call his daughter
00:38:29My mother was wailing that I was a murderer, that I had ice in my
00:38:34Veins
00:38:34You will never be forgiven for this
00:38:37Dad shouted
00:38:39If he dies, his blood
00:38:42Is on your hands
00:38:43I will tell everyone
00:38:46I will ruin you
00:38:48I didn't yell back
00:38:50I
00:38:51Didn't cry
00:38:53I simply moved the receiver away from my face
00:38:57I looked at the phone
00:38:59Cord plugging into the wall jack
00:39:02It was a thin beige wire
00:39:04It looked so fragile
00:39:06I reached down and pinched the plastic clip
00:39:10The line went dead
00:39:12The screaming
00:39:14Stopped instantly
00:39:16I didn't just hang up the phone
00:39:18I pulled the cord completely out of the
00:39:21Wall socket
00:39:24Then I walked into the living room and unplugged the router, cutting off the internet
00:39:29I stood in the center of my dark apartment
00:39:32My heart was beating slow and steady
00:39:35I waited for the guilt to come
00:39:38I waited for the panic attack that usually followed saying no to my parents
00:39:43I waited for the urge to plug
00:39:45The phone back in and apologized to send the money just to make the noise stop, but the guilt
00:39:50didn't come
00:39:52Instead, I
00:39:54Felt a wave of exhaustion so heavy it was almost narcotic
00:39:58I walked back to my bedroom
00:40:00I crawled
00:40:02Under the duvet
00:40:04I closed my eyes
00:40:06I thought about Kyler
00:40:08If he was really
00:40:11Dying, my money wouldn't save him in the next five minutes anyway
00:40:15And if he wasn't dying, which my gut told me he wasn't
00:40:19Then I had just saved myself $28,000
00:40:23I fell asleep within minutes
00:40:26I slept
00:40:28Harder and deeper than I had in years
00:40:31I slept while my family imploded
00:40:34I slept
00:40:36While the world burned
00:40:38And for the first time, I didn't care who was holding the matches
00:40:42I woke up on Sunday
00:40:44Morning at nine o'clock
00:40:46The sun was shining
00:40:48I made coffee
00:40:51I
00:40:52Watered my plants
00:40:54I stretched
00:40:56It felt like a normal Sunday, except for the
00:41:00Nagging knowledge that I had essentially nuked my family dynamic a few hours prior
00:41:05I sat on the balcony and decided
00:41:07It was time to face the music
00:41:10I plugged the router back in
00:41:13I turned on my
00:41:15Mobile phone
00:41:17The device vibrated so hard and for so long that it actually moved across the table
00:41:2284 missed calls
00:41:26150 text messages, 12 voicemails, and hundreds of notifications from
00:41:32Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn
00:41:34I ignored the texts from my parents
00:41:38I
00:41:39Could guess what they said and opened Instagram
00:41:43Tatum had been busy
00:41:44She had
00:41:46Posted a video three hours ago
00:41:49It already had 1.2 million views
00:41:52The video started
00:41:54With a close-up of Tatum's face
00:41:57She was crying, her mascara running imperfect, tragic streaks down her
00:42:03Cheeks
00:42:04She was standing in a hallway with fluorescent lights
00:42:09Guys, I don't
00:42:11Usually do this, she whispered, her voice trembling
00:42:15But my family is in crisis
00:42:18My brother, my amazing big brother, Kyler, he was attacked last night
00:42:22He is
00:42:25Fighting for his life in the hospital
00:42:27She paused for dramatic effect, sniffing
00:42:30Loudly
00:42:32We need life-saving surgery for him, but the hospital is demanding $28,000 cash
00:42:38Up front
00:42:40My parents are tapped out
00:42:42We called my older sister, Sloane
00:42:45She is a
00:42:48Structural engineer
00:42:50She makes six figures
00:42:52She has the money sitting in
00:42:55Her bank account
00:42:57Tatum looked directly into the camera lens, her eyes hardening
00:43:01We begged her
00:43:03We told her he
00:43:05Was dying
00:43:07And do you know what she said?
00:43:10She said, call your princess
00:43:12And hung up
00:43:14She went back to sleep while her brother bleeds out
00:43:18She held
00:43:19Up a photo of me, a photo from my LinkedIn profile
00:43:23This is Sloane Hayes
00:43:26She lives in Denver
00:43:28She works for Keywood Engineering
00:43:31She is letting her
00:43:33Own brother die to save money for a house
00:43:36Please, if you have a heart, help us
00:43:39We started a GoFundMe
00:43:41Link in bio, and please share this
00:43:44The world needs to know what kind of monster
00:43:48She is
00:43:49I scrolled down to the comments
00:43:52It was a blood bath
00:43:55User 123 wrote, I
00:43:57Hope she gets fired
00:44:00What a psycho
00:44:02User 456 wrote, Imagine loving money
00:44:06More than your siblings
00:44:09Disgusting
00:44:11User 789 wrote, I found her work email
00:44:14Let's flood it
00:44:16I checked my work email
00:44:1947 unread
00:44:21Messages
00:44:23Subject lines like, you are a disgrace
00:44:26Resign now and we know where you live
00:44:29My boss, as David, had forwarded one of the emails to me with a single line of text
00:44:35Sloane, we need to talk on Monday
00:44:38Is
00:44:39This real?
00:44:41I felt a spike of adrenaline
00:44:43This wasn't just family drama anymore
00:44:46They were coming for my livelihood
00:44:49They were trying to burn down my career because I refused to be their fuel
00:44:54I
00:44:55Didn't reply to the comments
00:44:58I didn't make a reaction video
00:45:00I did what an
00:45:02Engineer does
00:45:03I began documenting the evidence
00:45:07I took screenshots of
00:45:10Everything
00:45:12Tatum's video, the timestamps
00:45:14The lies about the life-saving surgery
00:45:17If they wanted a war, they were going to get one
00:45:20But I wasn't going to fight
00:45:23With tears
00:45:25I was going to fight with facts
00:45:27At eleven o'clock, my phone rang again
00:45:31It wasn't my parents
00:45:33It was a number from
00:45:36Florida
00:45:38Aunt Martha
00:45:39Martha was my mother's older sister
00:45:42She was the
00:45:44Family matriarch, a woman who wielded religion and family values like a cudgel
00:45:49She hadn't called me in three years
00:45:52Not even on my birthday
00:45:54I swiped answer
00:45:57Hello, Aunt Martha
00:46:00Sloan Elizabeth Hayes, she began, her voice dripping with disappointed piety
00:46:04I am shaking right now
00:46:07I am literally shaking
00:46:09Your mother called me
00:46:11She
00:46:13Couldn't even speak
00:46:15She was crying so hard
00:46:17Here we go
00:46:19I thought, how could
00:46:21You
00:46:23Martha continued
00:46:25I held you when you were a baby
00:46:27We raised you to be a
00:46:30Good Christian woman
00:46:32And now you are letting your brother perish for what
00:46:36Greed
00:46:37Pride
00:46:39He isn't perishing, Martha
00:46:41I said calmly
00:46:43And it isn't
00:46:46Greed
00:46:47Don't you dare talk back to me
00:46:50She snapped
00:46:51You have been blessed with
00:46:53A good job and no children
00:46:56You have a duty
00:46:58The Bible says I cut her off
00:47:01I
00:47:03Didn't have the patience for a sermon
00:47:05Martha, do you have a pen?
00:47:08I asked
00:47:10What?
00:47:11Do you have a pen and paper?
00:47:14Write this down
00:47:16There was a pause, then the
00:47:18Sound of shuffling paper
00:47:21I am listening, she said, sounding confused
00:47:25Write down $128,450
00:47:29What is this number?
00:47:31That is the exact amount of money I have given Frank, Brenda, and Kyler over the last ten
00:47:38Years
00:47:38I said, my boy's steady
00:47:41I paid for Kyler's college
00:47:44He dropped out
00:47:46I paid
00:47:47For his credit card debt
00:47:50He racked up more
00:47:52I paid for Tatum's car
00:47:54I paid for
00:47:56Their mortgage payments
00:47:59I took a breath
00:48:01Now, Martha, write down the
00:48:04Number zero
00:48:06Excuse me
00:48:08Zero
00:48:09That is
00:48:11The amount of money you have given them
00:48:14I said, you judge me from your condo in Florida, but you haven't spent a dime
00:48:19If you are so worried about Kyler's soul and his surgery, why don't you wire them the $28,000?
00:48:26You just sold your boat last month, didn't you?
00:48:29There was a long, stunned silence on the
00:48:32Other end
00:48:34That that is different, Martha stuttered
00:48:37I am retired and I am
00:48:40Done
00:48:41I said if you call me again to harass me, I will block you too
00:48:46Goodbye, Martha
00:48:47I hung up
00:48:49My hands were shaking, not from fear, but from
00:48:53The adrenaline of finally saying the quiet part out loud
00:48:57I had just fired the family matriarch
00:49:00The most illuminating call of the day came at noon
00:49:04An unknown number appeared on my screen
00:49:07I almost let it go to
00:49:11Voicemail
00:49:12Thinking it was another internet troll, but the caller ID
00:49:15Said South Lake Tahoe, California
00:49:18I answered
00:49:20Sloan Hayes
00:49:22Hello, Miss Hayes
00:49:23This is Linda from the billing
00:49:26Department at Barton Memorial Hospital
00:49:29We have been trying to reach your parents, but their phones seem to be
00:49:34Turned off
00:49:35I am not paying, I said immediately
00:49:38Oh, I know, Linda said, her voice
00:49:42Sounding tired and professional
00:49:45I am not calling to collect payment from you
00:49:48I am calling because you are listed as the secondary emergency contact and we need someone to pick up Mr.
00:49:54Hayes
00:49:55Pick
00:49:57Him up?
00:49:58I asked confused
00:50:01I thought he was in critical condition
00:50:03I thought he
00:50:05Needed life-saving surgery
00:50:08Linda sighed
00:50:09There was the distinct sound of
00:50:12Keyboard typing in the background
00:50:15Ms. Hayes, your brother has two fractured ribs and a mild concussion
00:50:20It is painful certainly, but not life-threatening
00:50:23He does not need surgery
00:50:25We treated
00:50:28Him, wrapped the ribs, and discharged him an hour ago
00:50:31I felt the blood rush to my face
00:50:34The lie was so big, so
00:50:38Audacious, I almost respected it
00:50:40Wait, I said, grabbing a pen
00:50:44My
00:50:46Parents told me you demanded $28,000 for surgery
00:50:49They said he would die without
00:50:52It
00:50:54Linda paused
00:50:56Well, there was a financial discussion
00:50:59Since they are out
00:51:00Of network, we required a standard deposit for the emergency room visit and imaging, which was about $2,000
00:51:09However, however, what?
00:51:11However, the police were here, Linda continued
00:51:16Since
00:51:17Mr. Hayes is in police custody due to the incident at the casino, the financial responsibility is complicated
00:51:24But the $28,000 figure, that sounds like the total amount of the casino marker he
00:51:30owes, plus his bail, it definitely isn't a hospital bill
00:51:34I let out a harsh, dry laugh
00:51:37So, I summarized, my brother is fine
00:51:41He is
00:51:42Just arrested, and my parents tried to trick me into paying his gambling debt and bail by telling me he
00:51:48was dying on
00:51:49The table
00:51:51I cannot speculate on what your parents told you, Linda said diplomatically
00:51:56But medically, he is stable
00:51:59The police have transported him to the county jail
00:52:02If you want to bail him out, you will need to contact the sheriff's department
00:52:07Thank you, Linda, I said
00:52:10You have been very helpful
00:52:12I hung up the phone and looked out at the city of Denver
00:52:16They had weaponized my empathy
00:52:18They had staged a deathbed scene to cover up a felony
00:52:22They had dragged my name through the mud on TikTok, knowing
00:52:27Full well that Kyler was sitting in a police car with nothing more than a headache and some bruised ribs
00:52:33It
00:52:34Wasn't just abuse anymore
00:52:37It was fraud
00:52:38And I was the mark
00:52:40I opened my laptop
00:52:43I didn't go to the sheriff's website to pay bail
00:52:46I went to the website of a defamation lawyer in Denver
00:52:50Then I
00:52:52Drafted an email to my boss, David, with the subject line regarding the harassment campaign against me, the
00:53:00Facts
00:53:00I attached the hospital call log
00:53:03I attached the screenshots of the text
00:53:07Messages
00:53:09I wasn't just a daughter anymore
00:53:11I was a witness for the prosecution
00:53:14The most damning piece of the puzzle arrived at 2 o'clock in the afternoon
00:53:19My phone buzzed with an unfamiliar number
00:53:22By this point, I had stopped answering calls, but the caller ID didn't say unknown or scam likely
00:53:29It said South
00:53:31Lake Tahoe Police Department
00:53:33I swallowed hard and swiped to answer
00:53:37This is Sloan Hayes, I said, my voice steady
00:53:41Ms. Hayes, this is Officer
00:53:44Ramirez, a male voice replied
00:53:47He sounded authoritative but not aggressive
00:53:50I am the investigating
00:53:53Officer regarding the incident at the Hard Rock Casino involving your brother, Kyler Hayes
00:53:59I spoke to the hospital, I
00:54:02Said
00:54:03I know he isn't dying
00:54:05Is he in custody?
00:54:08He is, Ramirez confirmed
00:54:10He is currently being held at the El Aredo County Jail
00:54:14He is facing charges of
00:54:17Felony assault, disorderly conduct, and fraud
00:54:21Fraud?
00:54:23I asked
00:54:24I assumed he
00:54:27Meant the unpaid marker
00:54:29Yes, ma'am
00:54:31That is actually why I am calling you
00:54:35Directly
00:54:35When we booked your brother, we confiscated a counterfeit driver's license he was using to obtain credit at
00:54:42The casino
00:54:44I frowned
00:54:45A fake ID?
00:54:48He is
00:54:5026, why does he need a fake ID?
00:54:53To hide his identity from the credit bureau checks
00:54:57Ramirez explained
00:54:58He was using a Colorado driver's license
00:55:02The name on
00:55:03The ID was Kyler Hayes, but the address listed was
00:55:08He paused, shuffling papers
00:55:11The address was 1214, Maplewood Drive, Denver, Colorado
00:55:16Is that familiar to you?
00:55:19The blood
00:55:20Drained from my face
00:55:22That was my old apartment address
00:55:25The one I lived in three
00:55:28Years ago
00:55:29That is my previous address, I whispered
00:55:32We suspected as much
00:55:35Ramirez said he used your established credit history at that address to trick the casino system into granting him a
00:55:42$50,000 line of credit
00:55:45Essentially, Ms. Hayes, he was trying to pin the debt on
00:55:49You
00:55:50If he had defaulted and walked away, the collections agency would have come looking for the resident at that
00:55:57Address
00:55:58They would have come for you
00:56:00I sat in stunned silence
00:56:03It wasn't just a
00:56:06Gambling addiction
00:56:07It was predatory
00:56:10Kyler hadn't just asked me for money
00:56:13He
00:56:14Had actively tried to steal my financial identity
00:56:18He was willing to ruin my credit score, my ability to buy a house
00:56:23My entire future, just so he could feel like a high roller for a weekend
00:56:28Miss
00:56:30Hayes, are you still there?
00:56:32I am here
00:56:34I managed to say, officer, I want to
00:56:37Press charges
00:56:40Excuse me
00:56:41If he used my address to commit fraud, I am a victim, right?
00:56:46I
00:56:47Want to cooperate fully
00:56:49I will send you proof of my residence
00:56:52I want it on the
00:56:55Record that I did not authorize this
00:56:57I understand, Ramirez said, his tone
00:57:01Shifting from professional to sympathetic
00:57:04We will add identity theft to the charge sheet
00:57:07With the amount involved, he is
00:57:10Looking at significant time
00:57:13Bail is set at $8,000 cash only
00:57:16Your parents have
00:57:18Been informed
00:57:20They don't have it, I said
00:57:23And neither
00:57:24Do I understood?
00:57:27Have a good day, ma'am
00:57:29I hung up
00:57:31I
00:57:32Didn't cry
00:57:34I didn't scream
00:57:36I felt a cold, hard knot of resolve tighten in my
00:57:40Chest
00:57:42My brother had tried to frame me
00:57:44My parents had tried to manipulate me
00:57:47Into paying his bail
00:57:49The bridge hadn't just cracked
00:57:52It had collapsed into the river and I
00:57:56Was done trying to swim against the current
00:57:59After the call with Officer Ramirez, I went into full engineer mode
00:58:03I needed to know the extent of the damage
00:58:07If Kyler was desperate enough to use a fake ID, what else were they
00:58:11Hiding?
00:58:13I logged on to the Clark County Recorder Office website
00:58:16It is a public
00:58:19Database where you can look up property deeds and liens
00:58:22I typed in my parents' address in North Las Vegas
00:58:26450 Coral
00:58:28Shale Street
00:58:30The search results loaded and my jaw dropped
00:58:33I expected to see a
00:58:36Mortgage, maybe a second mortgage
00:58:39What I saw was a financial autopsy of a dying
00:58:43Life
00:58:44There were four active liens on the house
00:58:47The first was the original
00:58:50Mortgage from 20 years ago, mostly paid off
00:58:53But below that were two massive
00:58:57Entries labeled HCM, Home Equity, Conversion Mortgage
00:59:01Reverse Mortgages
00:59:03My parents are only 62
00:59:05You usually have to be 62 to qualify for
00:59:09A reverse mortgage
00:59:12They must have taken it out the day my dad had his birthday
00:59:15I pulled out my calculator and started crunching the numbers
00:59:20Loan 1, $60,000, taken out 18 months ago
00:59:25Loan
00:59:262, $45,000 taken out 6 months ago
00:59:30That was $15,000
00:59:34Of equity stripped from the house in less than 2 years
00:59:38Where did that money go?
00:59:40My parents didn't renovate the
00:59:43Kitchen
00:59:44They didn't go on a world cruise
00:59:47They drove a 10-year-old Ford
00:59:49It went to Kyler
00:59:51It all made sense now
00:59:53The entrepreneurial ventures, the crypto
00:59:58Mining rigs, the sudden trips
01:00:00They had been feeding his addiction by literally
01:00:04Eating the walls of their own home
01:00:06But the final document on the list was the most terrifying
01:00:10It was a notice of default filed just last week by the lender
01:00:14My parents hadn't paid the property taxes or the insurance required by the reverse mortgage terms
01:00:20The bank had
01:00:23Initiated foreclosure proceedings
01:00:26There was a scheduled auction date, September 14th
01:00:30I looked at the
01:00:32Calendar
01:00:34That was in three weeks
01:00:36My parents weren't just broke
01:00:39They were
01:00:40Technically homeless already
01:00:43They were living in a house owned by the bank, waiting for the sheriff to come and put
01:00:47A padlock on the door
01:00:50And the trip to Tahoe, the winning streak Kyler bragged
01:00:54About, that was their Hail Mary pass
01:00:57They had sent him to Tahoe with the last
01:01:01Scraps of their cash, hoping he would turn $3,000 into $100,000 to save the
01:01:07House
01:01:09It was madness
01:01:11It was the logic of addicts
01:01:13I sat back in my chair
01:01:16Staring at the screen
01:01:17I finally understood the desperation in my father's voice at 2 AM
01:01:22He wasn't
01:01:24Just scared for Kyler's health
01:01:27He was scared because their last gamble had failed
01:01:31The golden child had gone to the
01:01:34Casino to save the family and instead he had burned down the lifeboat
01:01:38I printed
01:01:41Every document
01:01:43I put them in a folder labeled evidence
01:01:46I wasn't going to let
01:01:48Them drag me down into that hole
01:01:50I had my own house to buy
01:01:53A house with a solid foundation paid for with clean
01:01:57Honest money
01:01:58The final confrontation happened at 6 o'clock that evening
01:02:03My phone
01:02:05Rang
01:02:06It was my father
01:02:08I debated not answering, but I needed to close the
01:02:12Book
01:02:13I needed to hear him admit it
01:02:16I answered
01:02:18Hello, Frank
01:02:19I didn't call
01:02:22Him, Dad
01:02:23I couldn't
01:02:26Sloan, he rasped
01:02:27He sounded like a ghost
01:02:30I could hear the background noise of an airport terminal
01:02:34We are at the airport
01:02:36We are
01:02:38Flying home
01:02:40I know about the fake ID, Frank, I said
01:02:43I spoke to Officer
01:02:46Ramirez
01:02:47I know Kyler tried to frame me for the debt
01:02:51There was a long silence, then a
01:02:54Heavy sigh
01:02:56He didn't mean to hurt you, Frank said weakly
01:02:59He was just trying to
01:03:01Buy time
01:03:03He thought if he won, he could pay it back before anyone noticed
01:03:08He committed a felony against his own sister
01:03:11I said, and I know about the house
01:03:14I saw the notice of default
01:03:17Online
01:03:19Frank broke down
01:03:20He started weeping, a horrible wet sound that made
01:03:24My skin crawl
01:03:26We lost it all, Sloan
01:03:29The house is gone
01:03:31The car is gone
01:03:33We
01:03:34Have thirty days to vacate
01:03:37We have nowhere to go
01:03:39Why did you do it?
01:03:41I asked
01:03:43Why?
01:03:45Did you give him one hundred thousand dollars?
01:03:48He is our son, Frank sobbed
01:03:50We couldn't
01:03:53Say no to him
01:03:54He always had such big dreams
01:03:57We just wanted to help him win
01:04:00And what about me?
01:04:02I asked, my voice trembling for the first time
01:04:05I had big
01:04:08Dreams, too
01:04:10I wanted to buy a house
01:04:12I wanted to travel
01:04:14But every time I had a
01:04:17Dream, you handed me a bill for his mistakes
01:04:20Why was his potential always worth more?
01:04:24Than my reality?
01:04:25You are strong, Sloan
01:04:27Frank said, you can handle it
01:04:30He is
01:04:33Fragile
01:04:34He needs us
01:04:35He doesn't need you
01:04:38I said, he needs consequences
01:04:41And so do you
01:04:44Please, Sloan
01:04:45Frank begged
01:04:46Just a small loan
01:04:48Ten thousand dollars
01:04:50Just so we can rent an apartment
01:04:52And get Kyler a lawyer
01:04:54We can't let him go to prison
01:04:56He won't survive in there
01:04:59He
01:05:00Will have to, I said
01:05:02And you will have to figure out where to live
01:05:05I am not
01:05:07Sending ten thousand dollars
01:05:10I am not sending ten dollars
01:05:13You are abandoning your family, he screamed
01:05:16His sorrow turning back into rage
01:05:18You are leaving us to die on the
01:05:21Street
01:05:23I am not abandoning you
01:05:25I said I am finally protecting myself
01:05:28You chose your gamble, Frank
01:05:31Now you have to live with the payout which is
01:05:35Zero
01:05:36Don't you ever call us again
01:05:39He spat
01:05:40You are dead to us
01:05:42Good
01:05:44I said
01:05:46That is the first thing you have given me in years that I actually wanted
01:05:50I hung up
01:05:52Then I went into my phone
01:05:54Settings
01:05:56I blocked Frank
01:05:57I blocked Brenda
01:05:59I blocked Kyler
01:06:01I blocked
01:06:04Tatum
01:06:05I sat in the silence of my apartment
01:06:08The sun was setting over the Rockies, turning the sky a brilliant shade of purple and gold
01:06:14I felt lighter
01:06:17Physically lighter
01:06:18It was as if gravity had released its hold on me
01:06:21I walked to
01:06:23The kitchen and poured a glass of wine
01:06:26I toasted the empty room
01:06:28To Sloan, I
01:06:32Whispered
01:06:33Welcome to the rest of your life
01:06:35The fallout was swift and brutal
01:06:38On Wednesday, the eviction notice was officially served
01:06:42A neighbor sent me a photo of the yellow sticker on the front
01:06:46Door of the house on Coral Shell Street
01:06:49My parents had to pack 20 years of hoarding and bad memories into a U-Haul
01:06:54Truck within 48 hours
01:06:57They moved into a weekly rental motel on Boulder Highway
01:07:01The kind of place where you pay by the day and the neighbors are drug dealers
01:07:06Kyler didn't get bail
01:07:07The judge saw the
01:07:10Fake ID, the flight risk, and the previous record and denied it
01:07:14He sat in
01:07:16The county jail for three months waiting for trial
01:07:21Eventually, he took a plea deal
01:07:23He pleaded guilty to felony fraud and identity theft
01:07:27He was sentenced to two
01:07:30Years in state prison followed by mandatory gambling addiction treatment
01:07:34I didn't go to the sentencing
01:07:37I read about it in the local paper online
01:07:40The article mentioned that his family was present weeping in the back
01:07:44Row
01:07:46It didn't mention me
01:07:48Tatum's downfall was perhaps the most public
01:07:51The internet sleuths who had seen her viral video dug deep
01:07:56They found the foreclosure records
01:07:58They found Kyler's
01:08:01Arrest record
01:08:02They realized her entire rich girl persona was a lie funded by
01:08:07Elderly abuse and fraud
01:08:10Her brand deals evaporated overnight
01:08:13Fashion Nova
01:08:16Dropped her
01:08:17The teeth whitening company dropped her
01:08:20She lost 50,000 followers
01:08:23In a week
01:08:25She tried to pivot to victim content, crying about how hard it is to
01:08:29Lose everything, but the comments were ruthless
01:08:34User 777 wrote, maybe you should sell
01:08:37That Cartier bracelet you bragged about
01:08:40She eventually deleted her account
01:08:44The last I heard, she was
01:08:47Working as a hostess at a chain restaurant in Henderson, living with my parents in the motel
01:08:52As for the email harassment at my job, my boss, David, was amazing
01:08:58Once I
01:09:00Showed him the evidence, he had legal draft a cease and desist letter to Tatum
01:09:04The email stopped
01:09:06My career
01:09:09Didn't just survive, it thrived
01:09:12Freed from the constant stress of my family's drama, I was promoted to senior project
01:09:18Manager three months later
01:09:20Six months after the phone call, on a crisp October
01:09:24Morning, a moving van pulled up to my apartment building
01:09:28I wasn't moving because I had been evicted
01:09:31I was moving
01:09:33Because I had closed on the Victorian house
01:09:37I had done it alone
01:09:39No
01:09:41Cosigners, no gifts from rich friends, just my own savings, my own credit score, and my own
01:09:47Hard work
01:09:49I carried the last box down to the van
01:09:51It was the box containing my
01:09:55Black notebooks, the ledgers of my life
01:09:58I hesitated by the dumpster in the
01:10:01Alley
01:10:03I opened the box
01:10:04I looked at the notebooks filled with columns of
01:10:08Numbers, the record of every dollar they had taken from me
01:10:13$128,000
01:10:16I thought about keeping them as a reminder, but then I realized I didn't need a reminder
01:10:21The scar on my bank
01:10:23Account would heal, but the lesson was burned into my soul
01:10:27I tossed the notebooks into the dumpster
01:10:30I got into
01:10:32My car and drove across town to the historic district
01:10:36I pulled up in front of the house
01:10:39It was painted a soft sage
01:10:41Green now, with white trim
01:10:43The porch didn't sag anymore
01:10:46I walked up the steps, put the key in
01:10:50The lock, and turned it
01:10:52The door swung open with a smooth, solid click
01:10:56I
01:10:58Walked inside
01:10:59The house smelled of fresh paint and sawdust
01:11:02It smelled like
01:11:05Potential
01:11:06It smelled like peace
01:11:08I walked to the center of the living room and lay down
01:11:12On the floor, looking up at the high ceiling
01:11:15I spread my arms out, taking up
01:11:19Space
01:11:21My space
01:11:22My phone buzzed in my pocket
01:11:25I pulled it out
01:11:27It was a
01:11:30Notification from my bank app
01:11:32Mortgage payment paid
01:11:34Remaining balance
01:11:36In savings, $18,000
01:11:40I smiled
01:11:41It wasn't a fortune, but it
01:11:44Was mine, and nobody was ever going to touch it again
01:11:48It has been exactly one
01:11:50Year since the night I unplugged the phone
01:11:53I am hosting a housewarming party tonight
01:11:56It is a small gathering
01:11:59Just a
01:12:01Few friends from work, my boss David and his wife, and a guy named Mark I met at the dog
01:12:06park
01:12:07Mark is nice
01:12:09He is an
01:12:11Architect
01:12:13He understands about load-bearing walls and structural integrity
01:12:17Last week, he left his watch on my counter while he did the dishes
01:12:22When he came back, it was exactly where he left
01:12:26It
01:12:27He didn't even check to see if it was there
01:12:30That level of trust feels
01:12:33Like a luxury to me
01:12:34I am standing in the kitchen arranging cheese on a platter
01:12:38The window is open, letting in
01:12:41The cool autumn breeze
01:12:43I think about my parents sometimes
01:12:47I wonder if they are
01:12:49Still in that motel
01:12:51I wonder if Kyler is learning anything in prison or if he
01:12:55Is just learning new ways to calm people
01:12:58I wonder if Tatum misses her imaginary fans
01:13:02But I don't check
01:13:04I
01:13:06Don't google them
01:13:07I don't drive past their old neighborhood
01:13:11There is a concept in engineering called
01:13:14Redundancy
01:13:16It means building extra strength into a structure so that if one part fails, the
01:13:21Whole thing doesn't come down
01:13:24My family was a structure with zero redundancy
01:13:27They relied on one single pillar, me, to hold up the entire weight of their dysfunction
01:13:32When I stepped away, the collapse was inevitable
01:13:36I am not a monster for stepping away
01:13:39I was simply a pillar
01:13:42That decided it wanted to be a person instead
01:13:45The doorbell rings
01:13:47I hear
01:13:50Laughter outside
01:13:51My friends are here
01:13:53I wipe my hands on a towel and walk toward
01:13:56The door
01:13:58I catch a glimpse of myself in the hallway mirror
01:14:02I look different
01:14:04Than the woman in Tatum's video
01:14:07I look younger
01:14:08The dark circles are gone
01:14:11The
01:14:13Tension in my jaw is gone
01:14:15I open the door
01:14:17Welcome, I say, and I
01:14:20Mean it
01:14:21I invite them into my home, my sanctuary, my fortress
01:14:26So, I have to ask you
01:14:28Am I wrong for letting my brother go to prison and my parents lose their home to save my own
01:14:33Future?
01:14:35Or was it the only way to finally build a life that wouldn't collapse?
01:14:39Thank you for listening to my
01:14:42Story
01:14:43If you've ever had to make a hard choice to save yourself, hit that like button and subscribe to the
01:14:48channel
01:14:49Leave a comment below with your thoughts
01:14:52I read every single one
01:14:55And if you are still carrying the weight for
01:14:58Someone else, maybe it is time to put it down
01:15:02See you in the next video
01:15:03Like, comment below
Comments