Back then, she smiled and tugged my hand. "Maya's always been the most thoughtful—puts those two grown men to shame."
To make shopping easier for her, I set her up with a linked payment account on my card. Two-thousand-dollar monthly limit.
I figured an elderly woman buying groceries and household basics wouldn't need more than that.
But it wasn't just the card.
I pulled up my own order history.
Peanut oil, two jugs—shipped to my in-laws' place.
Premium rice, two fifty-pound bags—same address.
Toilet paper, laundry detergent, even the medicated patches for her rheumatism.
Every single item ordered through my account, delivered straight to their door.
On regular days, the moment a package arrived, she'd send a voice message to the family group chat, loud and cheerful: "Oh my, Maya's spoiling me again! I really shouldn't accept this—don't waste your money next time!"
Then I kept failing to get pregnant.
And day by day, I became invisible to her.
Now this.
So I spend my own money, and I still need her approval? Need her to decide if it was spent "properly"?
She wanted control over my finances too.
The more I thought about it, the more suffocated I felt. I called Alex.
Seven, eight rings before he picked up.
Keyboard clacking in the background. His tone already impatient: "What? I'm swamped—got a pile of reports due."
"Your mom's losing it in the group chat and you haven't noticed?"
I switched to speaker and tossed the phone on the table. "She wants to audit my annual spending. Said if I don't send it, I must be hiding something. Tell me—all these years, the rice, the flour, the cooking oil in that house—when was any of it not paid for by me?"
Alex sighed. "Come on. I thought it was something serious."
"This isn't serious?"
"You know how Mom is. Menopause might be over, but she still overthinks everything when she's bored. She saw too many of those clickbait videos online and got paranoid you're blowing money. She means well—she's looking out for our family."
Listen to that.
This is what men do.
Masters of smoothing things over.
I laughed coldly. "Looking out for us? Looking out for us means putting me on trial in front of every relative? Alex, I'm telling you right now—I'm not sending that bill. If you think your mom's right, then you can start paying the household expenses."
The typing stopped. "Maya, you're being ridiculous. Mom's old. Her mind doesn't turn corners as fast anymore. You're younger, you're educated—why stoop to arguing with an elderly woman?"
"It's a few hundred bucks. Let her talk. You're not going to die from it. Alright, alright—my boss just walked over. We'll talk when I get home."
Beep.
He hung up.
I stared at the black screen, my head throbbing.
So in her son's eyes, his mom is old and doesn't know better, and I'm petty and don't know better.
Only him—stuck in the middle—the real victim here.
That night, Alex came home with a face longer than a mule's.
He threw his briefcase on the couch and yanked at his tie.
"My phone's been blowing up all day. Second aunt, third uncle, my oldest aunt—everyone taking turns. Mom told them you're hiding something. That you must be funneling money to your parents."
I was at the dining table drinking water. I nearly choked.
"Funneling money to my parents? My mom's a retired teacher—her pension's higher than your salary. You think she needs my pocket change?"
Alex waved his hand, irritated, and dropped onto the couch.
"Stop being stubborn. Mom's just curious—she wants to take a look. We've got nothing to hide, so why act like we do? One look won't kill you. But you keep refusing, and now it looks like—you know—like you're protesting too much."
