A Short Sad Story*

My sister “Ann-Erica” became infatuated with a charismatic multi-millionaire real estate tycoon named DJ Crump. Bewitched by his phony charm and swept her off her feet, she was lured into his world of glamor and fame.

Everyone in our family and circle of friends saw beneath Crump’s seductive mask. His persona was fake and his character non-existent. All our efforts to dissuade her from this palpably toxic man were fruitless. Her love-sickness and the allure of “the good life” he promised obscured her usual good judgment.

Though we begged her not to, in no time at all, to match his flamboyant personality, Crump put a gaudy ring on her finger. Having baited and bagged the trophy wife he had coveted; the wedding was a garish spectacle equal to his narcissism. As always, he got what he wanted––only to subject it to his self-serving whims.

She moved into his 58-bedroom mansion estate in Palm Beach, complete with servants and butlers who catered to her every need. He gifted her several cars, bought her lavish jewelry and beautiful clothes. He introduced her to the highlife to which he was accustomed.

Overnight she morphed into a different person, a socialite, one that none of us recognized. When she gave birth to two beautiful children, DJ insisted on naming them after his business partner: JD and Vance.

In time, his misogyny eked out the shadows and his serial philandering became the subject of the newsreels. The prenup she’d signed pinned her down until she had had all she could take and divorced him. Shielded by his wealth and power he sued for full custody of the children. He won. He always wins. Even if he doesn’t, he does.

Ann-Erica got a minimum wage job at an all-night diner and moved into a tiny apartment in a bad neighborhood in the southside of town. She can only stay in touch with her children through a computer screen, and every few months when she’s allowed supervised visits.

Though we had seen the writing on the wall years before, we had no need or desire to gloat. We just wanted her to be safe and back to her beautiful self again.

After years of therapy, she has begun to enjoy a degree of normalcy. She met a good man who cherishes her. They married and live in a small house in the suburbs, with two children: Peace and Prudence.

She was damaged but not destroyed. We have hopes for her to make a full recovery to be what God intended her to be.

“Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts. Their malice may be concealed by deception, but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.” (Proverbs 26:25-26)

——————————-

*If you didn’t already realize it, this story is a fictional version something all too real.