Every dollar he'd spent on Denise, I spent right back, all in one go.
I'd barely sat down to rest at the coffee shop when my phone started buzzing like mad.
He must have gotten the payment alerts on his end and couldn't wait to confront me.
I didn't pick up a single call. I just caught a cab and went home.
Not long after I got in, Oliver came rushing back too.
His clothes were rumpled, sweat beading along his hairline.
He hadn't even waited for the workday to end. He'd taken time off and come straight home.
The moment he saw the designer shopping bags and jewelry boxes spread across the coffee table, his face went ashen.
His voice shot up, none of his usual composure left.
"Isabel, who gave you permission to touch the money in that account? Who told you to transfer it out? And then you turned around and blew this much of what was left? What the hell has gotten into you?"
I let out a soundless laugh and watched him rage, perfectly calm.
"This is marital property. Part of it is mine too."
"So you get to squander it out there, but I'm not allowed to spend a single cent? Is that it?"
That lit the fuse completely. It was as though I'd struck his deepest nerve, and he lost it entirely.
"You're completely out of your mind!"
He jabbed a finger at me, chest heaving, every word laced with threat.
"I'm telling you one last time. Transfer that money back right now, return every one of these things, and put back every cent you spent, down to the last dollar!"
"If you don't, we're getting divorced. Now."
I raised my eyes to him, and not a flicker of panic stirred inside me.
"Then let's divorce."
Divorced or not, that money is mine by right.
And I wasn't just going to divorce him. I was going to claw back every dollar Oliver had ever given Denise.
He'd never seen me stand my ground like this before. He froze for an instant, then the fury swallowed him whole.
"Isabel, what kind of spell has been put on you? You're just going to throw away a perfectly good family?"
He hurled the glass off the coffee table, and with a shrill shatter, he slammed the door and was gone.
Watching his furious back disappear, I felt strangely more at peace.
This family had fallen apart long ago. He was the one who threw it away first.
After Oliver left, I opened his computer and went through the accounts he followed on social media.
No new follows.
I clicked through them one by one, and found that the very first account he'd followed had recently started posting again.
【New York. Reunited with him. A new beginning in life.】
The photo was a selfie of hers.
Honestly, Denise wasn't young anymore. Fine lines fanned out at the corners of her eyes, the wear of the years plain to see.
But those eyes still shimmered, soft and full of tenderness.
I photographed the picture with my phone, memorized her account, then kept scrolling.
A screenshot of a chat log came into view.
I recognized the profile picture at once. It was Oliver.
【Denise, let me buy you a house.】
My chest tightened, and my breathing slowed for a few seconds.
Denise demurred a few times, but he was insistent.
【When we were together, I couldn't give you a good life. I've saved some money now, enough for you and Mia to buy a small place.】
【You and Mia just got to New York. Living in some cramped old rental isn't right for you.】
Denise asked:
【Oliver, aren't you afraid your wife will find out and give you grief over it?】
It took him a few minutes to reply:
【Most of that money I earned. How I spend it is my business, and she has no say in it.】
【Let's meet this weekend. I'll bring you the bank card.】
My temples throbbed, every drop of blood in me boiling.
We had agreed. That savings was supposed to be Cynthia's tuition, her cushion, her security.
