"Hey, dollface, wanna go on a date sometime?" Gary asked his new sister-in-law, Miranda one day when they were alone.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I figure, an ugly broad like you doesn't get many offers, so I thought, what the heck."

Miranda stared at him in shock.

Gary shrugged. "Guess not, huh."

Miranda drew herself up to her full height. "How DARE you. For your information, I have a boyfriend."

"Wow, guess there's someone for everyone."

"You're married to my sister, you creep," Miranda said, and slapped him across the face.

Gary laughed. "That the best you got?"

"Oooh!" Miranda stormed out of the room. "MOTHER!"

"What is it, Miranda?' Goneril said, looking alarmed. Running and calling for Mom was Ariel's style, not her older sister's.

"Either he goes, or I do," Miranda said, and started to sob. "He insulted me, and came on to me, and Mom, I just don't feel safe with him around."

Goneril's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.

Ariel came home just then and looked from Goneril to Miranda.

"What's her problem?"

"I want you and your husband out of here," Goneril said. "I've had it with paying for your bad decisions. You may keep the store, but I'll no longer back you. You're on your own, sweet cheeks."

"What? Why? Mommy, this isn't fair."

"Ask your husband," was all Goneril said. "The girls may stay with us, or go with you. Their choice. But I want the two of you gone."

Ariel stood there, mouth open. "Mommy, how can you . . . "

"Leave him, and we'll talk," her mother said. "Now, go upstairs and pack."

Ariel had had to sell more than her jewelry to pay Enrico back. She had emptied her bank account and sold many of the luxuries she had bought for the household: the bubble blower, the guitar, the sportscar. By the time the debt was paid the Capp mansion was looking bare indeed.

Wren and Enrico moved to a nicer house, a modern villa in Stratford, and bought the Chez Verona, one of the nicer restaurants in Veronaville. Wren's cooking was quickly becoming the toast of the town. Ariel was disappointed to hear that Enrico worked right alongside his wife at the restaurant, hosting and waiting tables. Apparently, she hadn't even managed to break them up.

The girls opted to stay with their grandmother and aunt. Ungrateful little brats. But Ariel was secretly relieved. She wasn't sure her new husband liked them all that much.

At least she had Gary, and the store. Who needed Goneril? She was turning into quite the businesswoman.

In an ironic twist of fate, the only house they could afford with what Gary had in his bank account was the very house Enrico and Wren had just vacated. It was tiny, and drafty, but at least it was cute.

"This place is a dump," Gary said. "It needs some sprucing up." And he promptly went out and bought a leopard print shower curtain and matching sheets for the bed. "There. That adds some pizazz, dontcha think?"

No, Ariel didn't think, but she knew better than to say so.

After buying the house and a few bare necessities they were flat broke so Ariel went to the store and sold until her feet ached.

"Give it," was all Gary said when she got home. He counted the money greedily. "Ta, darling, don't wait up," he said, and left Ariel alone to wonder just where her life had gone wrong.

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