“A person only lives once—someday your time will come. How could you saddle the younger generation with a mountain of debt just to save yourself? If it were me, I’d never drag my children down.”
The Carter family group chat fell silent for a few seconds, then someone chimed in, “That’s right, Helen sure knows how to see things clearly…”
My fingers trembled slightly around my phone—not from anger, but from how absurd it all was.
Just as the sky was starting to lighten, Helen showed up in her pajamas, blocking the entrance to my office building.
Michael stood behind her, head hanging.
“Grace Miller, you and Michael are going down to the County Clerk’s Office today!”
“This marriage is over! Your heart’s never been with the Carter family—you’re always thinking about funneling money to that sickly mother of yours! Let’s get this over with so we don’t keep dragging each other down!”
Emily took a bite of her bagel and added with a sarcastic lilt, “Exactly, sis-in-law—you and my brother were never on the same path. You’re so obsessed with being some saint for your own family, but we Carters can’t afford to ‘serve’ you. A divorce will be better for you and even better for us.”
I didn’t even lift my eyelids. “A divorce? Fine.”
Helen froze, clearly not expecting me to agree so quickly. Then her face broke into a counterfeit smile. “That’s more like it—let’s part ways on good terms.”
“But on one condition,” I cut in. “I’m taking all the cash in the house.”
“In your dreams!” Helen’s fake smile cracked instantly.
“Don’t want to? That’s fine—then we split the house. It’s marital property, and by law, I own half.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Helen jumped up, jabbing a finger at my face. “We paid the down payment! That was me and your father-in-law’s life savings! It’s already generous we put your name on it, and you still want to take half? You’ve got a heart of stone, Grace Miller!”
“Life savings?” I gave a short laugh and pulled out the property deed, waving it in front of her. “Funny, I don’t see the words ‘Carter Family Life Savings’ written anywhere on this. A down payment made after the wedding—no matter whose money it was—without a notarized agreement, is marital property. And I’ve paid my share of the mortgage for years. Why wouldn’t I get half?”
Emily lunged to grab the deed, but I sidestepped. She stomped her foot in frustration. “That’s my brother’s house! You’re about to be divorced—how can you take our family’s home?”
“Because I’m Michael Carter’s legal wife, and that means half of this house is mine.” I slipped the deed into my bag and zipped it shut. “Either give me all the cash, or sell the house and split the proceeds. Decide now, and we’ll head straight to the County Clerk’s Office. If you don’t choose…”
“Well, that works too—the loan I applied for yesterday should be approved any moment now. I can use the house as collateral.”
Helen’s face went ashen, and she stumbled back a step. “This is a curse! We Carters haven’t treated you badly—how can you do this to us…”
At the County Clerk’s Office entrance, Michael shot me a furious glare. “The money’s been transferred to you.”
Helen took over, “From now on, you walk your road, we walk ours. No more crossing paths.”
She lifted her chin high as she said it, as if tossing off a “burden” would let the Carter family soar to new heights.
Emily crossed her arms, her mouth curling into a sneer. “Finally, some peace and quiet. Michael, don’t ever go for a woman who sides with her own family again.”
“Don’t worry,” I said, meeting all three of their eyes with a calm gaze. “We won’t cross paths again.”
I turned to leave, but Helen’s phone suddenly rang. She pulled it out with an impatient huff, frowning at the caller ID before answering sharply, “Hello? What is it? I’m busy!”
Whatever the caller said drained the irritation from her face, replacing it with shock, then dawning panic.
“…Retest? Why do you need a retest?”
