Sister Wives’ Christine Brown Reveals Friendship with Meri Imploded Over 10 Cents (Exclusive)

It’s no secret to Sister Wives fans that Christine Brown Woolley and Meri Brown aren’t on the best of terms. Now, they finally have a reason for the fallout.

In Christine’s new memoir, Sister Wife, out Sept. 2, the mother of six wrote that she “debated whether to tell this part” since “we’ve all changed so much since those early years.” But, for the first time, she explained that Kody Brown‘s two ex-wives’ friendship fell apart over a disagreement involving their children and 10 cents.

“The dynamics of polygamist parenting can feel like a seesaw, and Meri, even with one child to care for, was the top wife in our polygamy pyramid,” Christine wrote. “We followed her rules when she was around to keep the peace, but her rules felt punitive and unfair. I had to make a decision about what was best for me and my family within a family, and it changed our relationship forever.”

“One day, the kids went to the store. [My daughter] Mykelti, who was about eight, went up to the cash register, and she was maybe ten cents short. It was little-kid stuff—she was probably buying candy. The cashier, who knew us, spotted her the dime,” she continued. “No big deal. But Meri’s Leon, who was also just a little kid—maybe nine—told Meri about it. Meri lost her mind.”

“She was mad that Mykelti had embarrassed her in front of the cashier, and that she had embarrassed Leon. She yelled at Mykelti, who couldn’t understand what she had done wrong. I couldn’t either,” she noted.

As a result, Christine explained how “that was the day, after a series of too many similar experiences, I ended my friendship with Meri.”

‘I’d had enough, and my mama bear came roaring,” she concluded.

“‘Don’t talk to my kids,’ I yelled. ‘I don’t want you near them. I don’t want you to come downstairs anymore. Our relationship is done!'”

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Looking back on that moment, Christine now tells PEOPLE exclusively why she decided to address it all these years later.

“I’m going to hit it as briefly as possible, but just so people can be like, ‘Okay,'” Christine, 53, says.

“I think what people understand more than anything is just because my life is public, it doesn’t mean I have to be public about everything,” she explains. “There’s enough that happened, and we don’t need to dwell on it.”

“Let’s just move on.”

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Despite their broken friendship, Christine and Meri shared a heartfelt moment on the most recently aired season of Sister Wives, which involved the pair embracing in a hug after Meri, 54, revealed her split from Kody.

“I love you,” Meri said, and Christine responded, “I love you too.”

Christine’s new book touches on very personal aspects of her life, from her upbringing in the Mormon faith and her rocky marriage to Kody to her brief addiction to Oxycodone.

“I feel like there’s a rest of the story that wasn’t told before,” she shares. “Even though I really feel like our show did our best to be authentic and everything, I really tried my best to be authentic. I still felt like there was a huge part that I kept hidden just to be a peacemaker, to make everything work.”

For the reality star, it was of the utmost importance that her story not just connected with women but people of various backgrounds.

“I think there’s a lot of people that were in situations like mine, men and women, and people just in general who were in, are in relationships where they feel less than, or they feel like their opinion doesn’t really matter, or they feel mistreated,” she concludes. “I feel like there’s so many people like that, and I think overall, what I would love is for people to realize that you got to find yourself, and you got to make sure that you live life for yourself.”

Sister Wife: A Memoir of Faith, Family, and Finding Freedom is now available for purchase. Additionally, a new season of Sister Wives premieres Sunday, Sept. 28, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on TLC.