Chapter 5 - CAROL’S HOUSE OF RULES
Carol eventually gave her version.
She said children today were spoiled.
She said Emma was dramatic.
Noah was lazy.
Rachel was weak.
I was absent.
Wade was “the only man teaching them discipline.”
I listened through recorded interview summaries.
Then came the line that explained everything.
Carol said:
“Dan kept sending money, but money doesn’t make him head of the family when he isn’t here.”
There.
Control.
This was never just misused money.
She wanted authority.
My transfers funded the house.
Carol decided who deserved what.
Rachel received a vehicle.
Wade received support.
The pool improved the property.
The children?
Secondhand clothes.
Cheap food.
No dentist.
No doctor.
And one lie repeated until they believed it:
Dad sends nothing.
Why?
Because if Emma and Noah knew I was providing, Carol’s authority weakened.
She needed my absence to look like abandonment.
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That was the cruelty beneath the accounting.
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