Last month, Mom asked to move in, saying she was lonely. I hesitated — I’d just gotten my own place. Then my cousin Darius called: “Don’t let her. She’s hiding from someone.”
He said she owed dangerous people money after a failed crypto scheme. When I confronted her, she admitted it — over $10,000 in debt and desperate for safety. I let her stay for a week.
On day three, a black SUV parked outside. The next day, a man knocked, leaving a card: “Call me. She knows why.”
Terrified, I called the police. She left that night. A week later, Darius called — Mom had turned herself in and helped expose the fraud ring.
Now she’s in a protection program. We exchange brief letters. It’s not closeness, but it’s peace.
Sometimes love means saying no — and that “no” can be the start of someone’s redemption.