All Chapters of They Robbed Me, so I Made Them Homeless: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Three days after my son, Ryan Pratt, brought me to live at his house, I found a decent nursing home. By the time I finished paying the fees and signing the contract, it was already past 6:00 pm.When I returned home, my daughter-in-law, Emily Freeman, was sprawled on the couch watching TV. The remnants of her pizza sat abandoned on the coffee table.She shot me an irritated glance as I walked through the door. "Where have you been? You didn't come back to cook dinner. I had to pick up Mason myself and put him to sleep."I did my best to ignore the dissatisfaction dripping from her voice as I began clearing the messy table. "I told you this morning that I had something to take care of and couldn't pick Mason up. I spent the afternoon finding a nursing home. I'll be moving there next week."Emily's eyes, which had been glazed over with boredom, suddenly lit up. She twisted around to face me."A nursing home? We just brought you here to live with us, and now you want to leave? Which

"Ryan and I found you a different nursing home. It's called Harmony House. A lot of people from our neighborhood go there. It's close by too, so we can visit you easily."The way Emily put on this dutiful act made my stomach turn.Harmony House sat right next to our complex. It was basically a retirement community where a bed cost ten dollars. Dirt cheap, sure, but it didn't come close to Everglade Manor.Before I could refuse, Ryan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Mom, Emily and I spent half the night researching places before we picked this one. You'll love it there."A bitter smile crossed my face as I looked at him. "Love it? Does what I want even matter? This is about what you two want, isn't it?"Ryan's expression stiffened. He reached for my hand, his tone turning coaxing."Mom, what are you saying? Emily and I respect you so much. You know that, don't you? Why else would we have you move in with us?"I pulled my hand away coldly, bitterness flooding through me.Respect? Did

The first thing I did after getting off the train was drag my suitcase home and dig out the property deed. Then I went to the real estate agency and had them take down the listing for my old house. Only then did I feel at ease enough to go back home.After sitting empty for several days, the house had collected a layer of dust. I didn't turn on the lights. Using the faint glow filtering in from outside, I made my way to Peter's portrait.In the photo, his smile was as gentle as ever. I reached out and gently wiped the dust from the frame. Tears finally slid down my face without a sound.Everything came flooding back. Ryan's coldness, Emily's cruelty, the nursing home reservation they'd canceled, the bank card they'd stolen, the lies they'd told about my house.Beyond the heartache, a strength I'd never felt before began quietly taking root.The next morning, I woke to the familiar sounds of the morning market. I hadn't slept this soundly since Peter had passed away.After washing

Ryan tried to calm Emily down, then turned on me with irritation in his voice. "Mom, you've really crossed the line this time."How can you accuse us of taking your money! Besides, Emily was trying to do something nice for you. Instead of being grateful, you attacked her like this!"Hearing my son's resentful voice, I responded coldly, "If you two didn't take the money, then I need to report my missing bank card to the police. There was quite a bit in there. I can't let someone drain it!"I started to hang up. In the split second before my finger hit the button, panicked shouts erupted from both of them."Wait!""Don't!"I smiled, the phone already recording everything. "What's wrong?"Ryan's voice strained to sound calm. "Mom, Emily just checked her bag and found your card in there. She must have put it in when we were canceling the nursing home."Don't call the police. The card is with us. We're about to board our flight. We'll come see you at the nursing home when we get bac

Ryan stared at the document in shock when he saw that I was the plaintiff and he was the defendant. The lawsuit accused him of unauthorized use of my bank card. His face turned red with rage.When the buyers saw what was happening, they threw all of Ryan and Emily's belongings out onto the street and called the police. The officers ordered Ryan to leave immediately and not cause any more trouble.Ryan had no choice but to take Emily and Mason to a hotel.Then he started calling me, but I hung up every time. When that didn't work, he switched to sending me messages nonstop.At first they were filled with profanity, calling me heartless and cruel.When I ignored him, he switched tactics and started begging me to drop the lawsuit. He said if people found out he was being sued over this, his life would be over.I calmly read through every message, then replied, "If you want me to drop the lawsuit, pay back every cent you took from that bank card."He went silent. I knew he didn't ha