Episode: 02

I've always loved cooking. In high school, I attended a trade school and I took pastry arts to become a baker as my skill. And I worked part-time at Panera Bread during high school and college. I received a full scholarship to Walnut Hill College. I focused on fine dining and luxury hospitality. Then, I received dual Bachelor's degrees in baking and pastries arts/ pastry chef training as well as restaurant and hotel management.

During my college years, I cut ties with family. I lived with a roommate and my best friend Claire. I made a lot of great contacts while attending college in Philadelphia, PA. It was literally the best time of my life. I was drama-free. I didn't have anyone blaming me for anything. They tried to send me to jail instead of throwing me a graduation party and that was enough for me.

Nevertheless, the last two years in college for me, my family and I still weren't speaking to each other. I met and dated Jared Brooks. He was from a wealthy old family in Philadelphia. They owned a chain of jewelry stores in the Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia area. In addition, they own and operate a very successful construction company in the DMV area.

He had movie star looks. The girls were chasing after him, but he wanted me. He was a fine **** white boy. He looked like Brad Pitt and could definitely give Brad Pitt a run for his money.

I never dated in high school due to my sisters and cousins bullying me. Besides, I was more focused on not ending up a pregnant high school drop-out like they told me I would be. I was more focused on studying and getting the hell out of that house.

Therefore, he was my first date and my first kiss. And I love the attention he showered on me. However, I refuse to accept any expenses gifts from him. I never wanted him to think I was after his money. Plus, I never wanted him to think because he gave me stuff he was entitled to my virginity. I knew he had a reputation for being a player. Besides, I just wanted to be able to say I was dating, I was having fun and living my life. I knew he was not the one, but he was fun and cool.

Besides, I am a people pleaser and I have a hard time saying no. Plus, I still have a hard time dealing with confrontations and with confrontational people.

Furthermore, I thought I was just a way for him to rebel against his vanilla and strict Catholic upbringing. He was from an Anglo-Saxon Catholic background with Lily White parents. So I never really trusted him with my heart.

Besides, I could tell his parents tolerated me but didn't really like me too. And I didn't want that coming from my family situation. I wanted in - laws that loved and adored me. I am not good at speaking up for myself. So, I decided to keep dating him because he was safe and predictable. He never pressured me for sex. He always said we could go at my pace.

Then, he posted us on social media around town. My family found out and wanted to make amends, of course. They wanted me to forgive them. Not wanting the drama, I forgave my family. So I had a big meeting and warned my new friends and my new boyfriend about my family. I was very clear with them about all their past behaviors and what not to fall for with them. They even threw me a graduation party from college to stay on my good side. They even bought me gifts. Something I rarely got from them, especially never got any kind of celebration party.

So, when my roommate and Claire told me, my cousin Keisha, my sister Tiffany, and my brother J.R. tried to borrow money, saying it was for me. They knew not to give it to them whatsoever. Somehow, they found out that Claire's family owned a chain of gas stations and convenience stores all over the U.S.A. and Canada.

After graduating, I was set to relocate to New York City when I found out my father had stage four lung cancer. Stage four lung cancer is a late-stage disease where cancer has spread from the lungs to other parts of the body. And I got sucked right back into the family drama and back into the family that quickly.

My mom needed to work to pay the bills. My sister Tiffany was still in a halfway house. My oldest sister Sharon and my eldest brother William were in the military, deployed overseas. And my brother J.R. was on drugs. So I became the de facto caregiver.

I gave up my highly sought-after job in an upscale New York restaurant and a gorgeous one-bedroom apartment to stay in Philly to care for my father. I felt like, regardless of how he treated me, he was still my father. I owed him that much since he did take care of me.

Therefore, I took a job working in a nearby elementary school's cafeteria and became the cafeteria aide. Only because I could balance it around his care and Doc's appointment. So, for the next two full years, I was his main caregiver. I washed him. I fed him. I took care of him. I cooked and cleaned the whole house. No one thanked me. They just demanded and expected.

Jared was happy I stayed to care for my father at first. Especially since his parents and family were forcing him to start running the family business here in Philadelphia. And Jared hated the idea of a long-distance relationship for us. After a year of caring for my dad and working, he proposed to me. In front of all my family and friends, I felt pressured and trapped, so not wanting to make waves like always, I accepted his proposal.

I did express that it needed to be a very long, long engagement. I could tell that's not what he wanted because he thought that would give him access to my panties now rather than later.

Jared was tired of having a sexless relationship with me, and I was ready to end it. However, I wanted him to break up with me. I was a coward and that is my biggest regret if I am being honest. I could maybe have saved myself and him a lot of pain and heartache.

Therefore, after two years of being his personal maid and dropping off pastries every other morning along with caring for my ailing father and all my other family responsibilities. The shit hit the fan.