Chapter 4The Price of My Life: Billing My Mother-In-Law

I didn't confront David immediately.

Nor did I go looking for Martha.

I called my best friend, Jen.

Jen is a CPA working at a major accounting firm.

After I told her everything, she was silent for five seconds.

"Screenshot all the bank statements and send them to me right now."

I did.

She reviewed them for twenty minutes before calling me back.

"Mia, this two hundred thousand for Sarah's down payment—is the house in her name?"

"I assume so."

"The hundred and fifty thousand 'loan repayment'—do you know whose debt that was?"

"No idea."

"The eighty thousand investment—did David ever discuss that with you?"

"No."

"Your entire four hundred and eighty thousand dollar dowry has been drained. Did you have any idea before today?"

"None."

Jen fell silent again.

"Look up the deed for Sarah's house. And get me the name of that investment firm, I'll run a background check on them."

"Okay."

"Mia."

"Yeah."

"Don't let them know you know."

"I know."

Checking the deed was easy. While David was at work, I took a trip down to the county clerk's office.

With my marriage license and ID, I pulled the property records for Sarah's new place.

Purchased entirely in cash. Two hundred thousand dollars.

Owner: Sarah Hayes.

It had absolutely nothing to do with me.

My two hundred thousand dollar dowry bought a house with my sister-in-law's name on it.

Jen got back to me, too.

That investment firm—David was listed as one of the partners. The eighty thousand went in, but the company had filed for bankruptcy and dissolved six months ago.

Dissolved.

Eighty thousand dollars, gone.

And that hundred and fifty thousand dollar "loan repayment"?

Jen did some digging. It was money Martha's brother had borrowed a decade ago. He defaulted, and Martha used my dowry to pay off his old debt.

My dowry paid off my mother-in-law's brother's ten-year-old debt.

I sat in Jen's office.

Spread out in front of me were three printed stacks of bank statements, a property record printout, and a corporate dissolution notice.

"Four hundred and eighty thousand dollars," Jen said.

"Yeah."

"Does David know?"

"I'm not sure."

Actually, I was sure. But I didn't want to say it out loud.

Because if he knew...

That would destroy me far more than losing the four hundred and eighty thousand dollars.

I went home. Evening.

David got back from work.

I was cooking dinner. He took off his shoes, walked to the kitchen doorway, and asked, "What's for dinner tonight?"

"Braised short ribs."

"Sounds good." He turned to leave.

"David."

"Yeah?"

"The money for Sarah's house... did we pay for that?"

His back stiffened.

Just for a moment.

Maybe a second.

Then he turned around.

"Yeah, Mom said to let her borrow it for now, she'll pay us back eventually."

Borrow.

He used the word "borrow."

"How much was it?" I asked.

"...About a hundred grand or so."

A hundred grand or so.

It was two hundred thousand. He cut the number in half.

"When did this happen?"

"Sometime last year, while you were pregnant. Mom said not to tell you, she didn't want you to stress over it."

Didn't want me to stress over it.

When I was eight months pregnant, I cut my finger while chopping vegetables in the kitchen. I had to find and put on a band-aid myself.

Nobody stressed over that.

But spending two hundred thousand dollars of my money? That, they didn't want me to stress over.

I didn't ask any more questions.

I turned back around and kept chopping vegetables.

He left.

The sound of the TV drifted in from the living room.

I put the ribs in the pot and put the lid on.

Then I leaned against the counter and closed my eyes.

Not out of exhaustion.

But because I had just confirmed a fact.

He knew.

He had known the entire time.