PART 1
“Starting this month, I am going to give my entire paycheck to my mom because you already make enough money to pay for everything,” Keaton said while putting more stew on his plate, acting like he had just said it might rain tomorrow.
I sat there with my spoon in midair, completely shocked by what he had just said.
That exact afternoon, I got promoted to regional finance director at work. After seven long years of working late on weekends, finishing audits late at night, and working even when I was sick, my monthly pay was raised to twelve thousand dollars.
I came home so happy. I stopped by the store to buy steak, fresh bread, and Keaton’s favorite cake. I wanted to celebrate and tell him we could finally pay extra on our house loan and save up for a baby.
Instead of being happy for me, he immediately started planning how to spend my money on his family.
“Your whole salary?” I asked. “Then who is going to pay the house loan, the electric bill, the gas, and the groceries?“
“You can pay for all of that,” he said with a simple shrug. “My mom knows how to manage money better than us. Besides, it is for the family.“
His mother, Bernice, was sitting right next to him. She had been eating dinner at our place almost every night for months, and she often stayed over, saying she felt lonely at her house.
“A wife who makes good money should be happy to help her husband’s family,” Bernice said with a smile. “Don’t let a pay raise make you arrogant.“
For two years, I had been paying almost all our rent, buying all the food, paying the power bills, buying Bernice’s heart medicine, and even buying gifts for her relatives. Keaton helped a little at first, but then he kept saying his job was not safe and that he had too many costs, promising he would pay me back later.
He never gave me back a single cent.
Even so, that night they called me greedy and selfish.
The next day after work, I did not go to the nice grocery store. I went to a small corner shop and bought two cheap packs of instant noodles.
When Keaton and Bernice walked in that evening, they saw two bowls of noodles on the table.
“Where is the real food?” Keaton yelled. “I come home tired and you give me this?“
I looked at him and smiled. “You don’t pay a single dollar, but you expect a big dinner every night. From now on, if you want good food, pay for it yourself.“
Bernice hit the table hard with her hand. “You make twelve thousand dollars a month and you disrespect your husband with cheap noodles!“
I walked into the office, picked up a blue folder, and brought it out. Inside were bank statements, receipts, and transfer proofs from the past eighteen months.
“The house loan is three thousand a month. Groceries cost fifteen hundred. Utilities and medicine take another thousand. I paid for every bit of it,” I said clearly.
Then I showed Bernice receipts for over thirty thousand dollars that I had sent directly to her bank account for her supposed doctor visits, house repairs, and treatments.
Her face went pale as she looked at the papers.
“I needed that money for other important things,” she said, trying to defend herself.
“What important things?” I asked.
Before she could answer, her phone buzzed on the table. The screen showed the name of Keaton’s younger brother, Austin. I saw his text message before she grabbed her phone away: Mom, answer me, they are coming for us.
Keaton went completely pale. Bernice put her phone in her bag with shaking hands and told me to stop asking questions.
“I needed that money for other important things,” she said, trying to defend herself.
“What important things?” I asked.
Before she could answer, her phone buzzed on the table. The screen showed the name of Keaton’s younger brother, Austin. I saw his text message before she grabbed her phone away: Mom, answer me, they are coming for us.
Keaton went completely pale. Bernice put her phone in her bag with shaking hands and told me to stop asking questions.
I stood behind the kitchen door, staying quiet so she wouldn’t hear me.
Austin was twenty-nine years old and had failed at many small businesses: a coffee shop that lasted three months, a phone shop that ended with angry customers, and a bar that never got real permits. Every time he asked for money, Bernice said he just needed one more chance. Keaton always took his side, so I ended up paying just to keep the peace.
When I checked my bank records again, I saw a clear pattern. The ten thousand dollars for Bernice’s medical test went out the same week Austin bought a new motorcycle. The fifteen thousand dollars for her roof repair went out right when he opened his bar.
The next morning, I called my best friend, Erinwho works as a risk expert at a bank.
I stood behind the kitchen door, staying quiet so she wouldn’t hear me.
Austin was twenty-nine years old and had failed at many small businesses: a coffee shop that lasted three months, a phone shop that ended with angry customers, and a bar that never got real permits. Every time he asked for money, Bernice said he just needed one more chance. Keaton always took his side, so I ended up paying just to keep the peace.
When I checked my bank records again, I saw a clear pattern. The ten thousand dollars for Bernice’s medical test went out the same week Austin bought a new motorcycle. The fifteen thousand dollars for her roof repair went out right when he opened his bar.
The next morning, I called my best friend, Erinwho works as a risk expert at a bank.
“We are husband and wife, you can trust me,” he told me back then.
I ran to check our property file. The paper was still there, but it gave him much more power than I had thought.
I called Keaton right away. “How much money does Austin owe?“
He stayed quiet for a moment. “It is not that bad. We can fix it together.“
“Did you use my legal paper to back his debt?” I asked.
He hung up the phone.
Two days later on Saturday, the doorbell rang. Bernice jumped up in fear.
“Don’t open it!” she cried.
On the door camera, I saw three men in suits and a woman with a black file. They looked like professional debt collectors. That scared me even more.
Keaton came out of the bathroom, looked at the screen, and said, “How did they find this address?“
I opened the door.
The woman spoke politely. “We are here for Austin Miller’s unpaid loan. The total amount with interest is eight hundred thousand dollars.“
I felt like the ground was shaking.
Bernice immediately pointed at me. “Talk to Jennifer! She makes a lot of money and handles all the funds here.“
