How Much Do I Owe You Again?

My husband Ben Miller gave me a grand a month for household expenses, while claiming to everyone it was ten grand. Not wanting to hurt his pride, I kept my silence. Came New Year’s Eve dinner when Mary, my mom-in-law, went so far as to blurt out in front of everyone: “My boy works himself to the bone out there every day, only for my precious daughter-in-law to drain every last cent. “Who knows how much of his money she’s given to her own parents?” Ben pretended not to hear a thing, downing drinks with the guests. A chill settled in my heart. All my years of saving every penny, frugally managing the household, and slaving away for their extended family came to nothing. In their eyes, I was nothing more than a leach bleeding them dry. I unclasped the apron from around my waist, not wanting to spend another second with this family. To my surprise, Mary led a large crowd of relatives into the kitchen, cornering me inside. “Come clean now. How much of Ben’s money have you pocketed over the years? “Today, you’re spitting every single cent back out.” Chapter 1 I was backed into a corner by the crowd in an instant. My mother-in-law, Mary Johnson, stood at the front of the pack. She narrowed her eyes, looking at me with cold contempt: “Ben gives you ten grand every month for household expenses. What do you even spend on to need that much? “I’m not being unreasonable here. Half of that should cover it, and the Millers are not ungenerous. “The rest, you gotta spit it back up.” Spit it back up? That was her idea of being generous? Ben Miller’s little sister Chloe chimed in from the side: “You’ve been married to Ben for a decade. That’ll be six hundred grand. “You pocketed that extra for years. Time to give it back now.” I was almost struck dumb by their sheer, shameless effrontery. My gaze was fixed on Ben. Through gritted teeth, I demanded: “Ben, do you share the same sentiment?” A flicker of awkwardness crossed his face. He stammered, “Mom, these are the household funds I give Sylvia. Why are you all interfering?” Mary assumed he was standing up for me. Her fury flared even higher. Pointing a finger at my nose, she began spouting insults: “You wretch, look how you bewitched my boy. “It’s his hard-earned money you’re after, no? We should’ve never agreed to let him marry you!” Her mouth opened and closed rapidly, spewing forth all kinds of abuse. Seeing his mother hurl accusations at me, Ben didn’t show a shred of guilt. He stood off to the side, not saying a word, completely indifferent. My repressed rage broke loose. Looking at him, I said coldly: “Listen Ben, your mom says a five grand a month should cover our expenses. That’s four grand short you’re giving me each month.” Ben exploded on the spot like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “Sylvia, what kinda nonsense are you spouting?” He barked at me, attempting to drown out my words with sheer volume. “I’ve always known you were lavish and wasteful with money, but I always turned a blind eye, for peace’s sake. “And yet look what you did! You emptied out our entire family savings! ”We gotta talk later tonight.” Ben’s face flushed bright red as he kept throwing frantic glances at me. I knew he was terrified that I would expose him. Then, softening his tone, he said to Mary: “Mom, this is between us. Give is some space. “Mason, calm Granny down, would you?” My son obediently walked over, hugging Mary cooingly: “Granny, please don’t be mad.” I knew what Ben was trying to do. He wasn’t just using Mason to soothe Mary. He was using our son to pressure me into shutting up. The raging fire in my chest burned all the way to the back of my throat. Yet looking at my boy’s innocent face, I slowly lowered my head. Little did Ben expect that his tried-and-true trick would fail miserably today. “No! Talk now, in front of us! “We have relatives and friends here as witnesses. “This way, she can’t accuse us of ganging up on her later!” Chapter 2 The guests quickly stepped up to show their support for Mary. “Ben, you men are just too easily fooled by women like her. “Your mother is doing this for your sake.” That came from one of Ben’s aunt. “You’re out working all day. Who knows where your wife’s spending all your money? “We’re all here to support you. “If she runs off with your money and another man, you’ll be left with nothing.” Another aunt chimed in. Everyone was talking at once, all speaking with utter conviction. Listening to his relatives, Ben’s face turned from pale to flush. The whole thing was downright laughable. Right at that moment, Chloe’s sharp eyes spotted my phone sitting on the shelf. She snatched it right up. “Mom, stop wasting time on her. “The money was ours in the first place. Taking it back is only natural!” With that, she smugly unlocked my phone to check my account balance. The surrounding relatives crowded around to get a piece of the drama. The second she caught glimpse of the balance, Chloe froze dead in her tracks. She let out an incredulous shriek: “Fifty cents?” Mary could not believe what she heard. She grabbed the phone and frantically searched through every single app on it. Ultimately failing to find any trace of money, Mary turned to me in a fit of rage and demanded: “Sylvia, where’s the money? There’s no way you haven’t saved a single penny after all these years! “Where did you transfer all the money to?” What was she screaming about? What money did she imagine I had saved up? Ben only gave me one grand a month. I had to pinch every penny of that one grand to cater to their household. How could there possibly be any savings left? A sudden, calculating glint flashed through Mary’s eyes. “I knew it. You were plotting against us all along! “Did you transfer all the money to your parents? Ha, we caught you!” At that, Ben’s relatives looked at me with even deeper disdain. “We gotta settle this mess of a situation today. “Ben, call her parents. Tell them to come over at once.” Ben stood rooted to the spot, caught in a terrible dilemma. He was terrified that once they came, the situation would prove even harder to handle. I stared intently at him. “Ben, you know perfectly well this has nothing to do with my parents. “Don’t you dare call them and drag them into this.” I couldn’t let him make that call. Not wanting to burden my parents with any concern, I’d been telling them how well his family was treating me. The second that call went through, every single lie I had told my parents would be exposed. My parents were in poor health. I couldn’t let them take that kind of shock. Seeing my strong reaction, Mary became even more convinced of her theory. As Ben was hesitating, she took matters into her own hands and dialed the number herself. “Hi, it’s Mary. Been a while since you last saw Sylvia, no? “We’re hosting New Year’s Eve at our place. Why don’t you come over and join us? “The more, the merrier!” Mary’s voice was dripping with warmth and hospitality, so my mother bought her act entirely. The moment she hung up the phone, however, her expression flipped at once. She glared at me darkly: “Let’s see how your parents talk their way out of this once they get here. “You’re paying back every cent you stole from us. That or not a single one of you gets to leave!” Chapter 3 My parents arrived shortly after, carrying an assortment of bags and gifts in their hands. Smiling warmly, they said, “Sorry, we didn’t have much time for gifts.” Mary glanced at the gift boxes, then started in a mocking tone: “Not much time for gifts, huh? “Must be easy spending money that isn’t yours, am I right?” My parents listened, completely baffled. The looks on all the faces in the room made them realize something was going wrong. Frowning, my dad asked, “What do you mean by that, Mary?” Mary puffed up her chest arrogantly: “I mean you people have no shame spending my son’s hard-earned money! “Your daughter pocketed my boy’s money to send over to you. “Stop playing dumb already!” At that, my parents grew even more bewildered. They turned to me, utterly at a loss. I looked up, scanning the faces of the Millers one by one. Finally, my eyes stopped on Ben. Guilt-ridden, he avoided my gaze. My heart went numb in that instant. He had zero intention of explaining or defending me. To him, his precious pride was worth more than the world itself. I lowered my eyes and spoke slowly: “In the ten years we’ve been married, every single cent Ben gave me was spent on the Millers. “My parents never asked me for a penny. “In fact, every holiday, they would secretly slip me some cash, to help us out.” Hearing this, Chloe let out a sarcastic sneer: “Who are you trying to fool with that story? “Your whole family is a bunch of leeches clinging to us!” My eyelashes fluttered slightly, but I ignored her insult. I continued: “In all these years, what Ben’s given me each month has always been a mere thousand.” Ben’s expression turned instantly pale. “What kinda nonsense are you making up? Everyone knows I give you ten grand every month!” The rest of the crowd joined in, heckling and stirring the pot. “Exactly, we all know about it!” “Yeah, you and your good luck, getting that much from your husband!” I let out a bitter chuckle. “Ten grand a month? Where would he even get that? “Everything’s gone up in price in these ten years. Not his salary, though. “It’s been the same five grand since the day I married this man. “And even for that one thousand, I had to beg and nag him repeatedly every month just to get it out of his hands.” My words hit Mary like a train. She roared at me: “Bullshit! Ben’s a high earner! “Twenty grand a month! Who doesn’t know that? “It’s all because of you, you wasteful wretch, that we gotta live so frugally!” I lifted my eyes to look over. Ben was hiding behind his mom, letting her lead the charge and fight his battle for him. I said nonchalantly: “About his salary, can’t you all just check and see for yourselves? “See if it’s the twenty grand you claim, or the five grand I say.” Chapter 4 Ben’s expression turned pitch dark instantly. He barked at me: “What sorta idea are you having? “You want people coming to me asking for handouts?” Mary chimed right in: “Payslips have to be kept confidential nowadays. “You never had a real job. That’s why you’re so ignorant.” A relative of his piped up from the side: “We believe what Ben says. “If he says twenty grand, then twenty grand it is. He has no reason to lie to us.” I almost laughed out loud. And what reason would I have to lie? Anyone with eyes could see what kind of life I’d been living these years. I hadn’t bought a new outfit in years, and the socks on my feet had holes in them. This crowd of people were blind as bats. Either that or they chose what they wanted to see. “If he won’t do it, I will. “I have every single transfer right here on my phone. “Take a look yourselves at how much money he actually gives me each month.” Mary grabbed my phone, eager to take a look, but Ben snatched the phone away before she could. He smashed it hard against the floor, where it shattered to pieces. He turned to glare at me, then, leaning close, he lowered his voice and said: “Come on, it’s New Year’s Eve. Do you really have to make a spectacle of us now? “Just admit you were wrong, and apologize to Mom. “I’ll explain to her after everyone leaves. “You won’t have to pay back a cent.” At that, I burst out laughing. I couldn’t stop till tears streamed down my face. Sure enough, nothing in the world mattered more to Ben Miller than his precious pride. To think of the disdain and cold shoulder I had suffered from his mom all these years, all because of his fabricated ten grand a month. But he didn’t care about any of that. Every time he came up short on cash, he pushed the blame onto me, claiming I was wasteful and blew it all on myself, just to protect his pathetic self-esteem. These ten years, I had covered for his lies in front of others time and time again. But today, I was finally done with it all. I had pocketed none of his so-called hard-earned money. Neither did I owe the Millers any. With Mary’s temperament, there was no telling when she’d storm over to my parents’ place with a mob to demand this nonexistent six hundred grand. My parents had led honest lives all their days. I couldn’t let them be smeared and disgraced in their old age. I raised my head and fixed my eyes on Ben. “I have everything on record. “These are the spendings from the past few months.” I pulled a worn-out notebook out from the kitchen cabinet. “Ben only gives me a thousand a month. You tell me how that’s supposed to be enough to support an entire household? “Food, utilities, gas. What doesn’t cost money? “His dad’s blood pressure medication, his mom’s health tonics, Mason’s supplements—none of these can run out. “I have to stretch that thousand dollars like a piece of dough. “When I get vegetables, I always pick through the rotting leaves nobody else wants.” Ben’s relatives exchanged awkward glances. Chloe let out a weird, cynical laugh: “Who knows if you just faked all of this?” My gaze swept across the faces of the Millers one by one. I demanded of them: “You claim I spend money recklessly, to pamper myself, yes? “And how many years have I been wearing this exact outfit? “I’m thirty-two this year, but wherever I go, people say would take me to be in my forties or fifties. “Does this look like a life of luxury to you?” Not a single person uttered a sound. My mom stood beside the crowd, watching me with reddened eyes. I let out a self-deprecating scoff. “All the receipts are kept in this notebook. “You can cross-reference them one by one.” Hearing that, Ben’s complexion shifted drastically, his eyes turning bloodshot. “Sylvia, have you lost your damn mind?” He lunged forward, trying to rip the notebook out of my hands. Before he could reach me, my dad charged in and pinned him flat to the ground. “You beast!” I laid out the notebook across the tabletop. The Millers glanced at one another, then squeezed in close. When they saw the crystal-clear records written inside, the way Ben’s relatives looked at him changed in an instant.