I heard him exhale — a specific exhale that I know from years of phone calls, the one that means he is processing something uncomfortable. He said: “I’ve been telling you to keep the peace.”
I said: “I know.”
He said: “And I didn’t actually know what the peace I was asking you to keep was going to cost you.”
I said: “No. You didn’t.”
Another pause. Then, quietly: “I’m sorry, Erin. I think I’ve been really unfair to you.”
I didn’t know what to do with that immediately, so I just said: “Thank you.”
He said: “What can I do?”
I said: “Right now, nothing. I just need you to understand what’s actually happening, not the version you’ve been getting.”
He said: “I understand it.”
I think he did. I think he was also beginning to understand something more uncomfortable — that the peace he had been protecting was not a neutral thing, that it had been built partly on my willingness to absorb costs that he hadn’t known I was absorbing. That is a hard thing to understand about yourself, and I respected that he was trying.
## The Lender’s Investigation Continues
At the three-month mark, I received a written update from the lender. They were still investigating. The case was not closed. They had received the documentation I had submitted and were conducting their review.
I wrote back acknowledging receipt, confirming my continued dispute, and noting the additional documentation I had submitted through the FTC process. I asked, in writing, whether there was any additional information they needed from me. They wrote back that they would contact me if so.