Deborah was the first to react.
She smiled and said, “Oh, Riley, you’re back? Why didn’t you knock? You scared me.”
“I went to the bank today.
“When we got married, you gave me a twenty-thousand-dollar cash wedding gift. I took it out today. The bank said only two thousand dollars of it was real. The other eighteen thousand dollars were all counterfeit.”
The living room fell completely silent upon hearing my words.
The smile on Deborah’s face disappeared.
“How could our family’s cash gift possibly be fake? Are you trying to scam us?”
I stared at Deborah.
“The bank ran it through verification twice. It’s undeniably fake.”
“The cash gift we gave you was a real twenty thousand dollars. How did it turn fake once it’s in your hands? You two have been married for a whole year. Who’s to say your family didn’t swap it out?”
I clenched my fists.
“The money came from you. I never touched it. Today was the first time I took it out. That’s when I found out it was fake.”
Deborah stood up and raised her voice, “Once the money is given to you, it’s yours. Now you’re blaming us? That doesn’t make any sense.”
I took a deep breath. I did not want to argue with her.
“When is Peter coming back?”
“Talking to him won’t do you any good anyway. He doesn’t handle the money.”
“I want a divorce.”
The living room went quiet again. It then turned chaotic.
“You think you can just say divorce and that’s it? You’ve been married into our family for a year. You ate our food. You lived under our roof, and now you’re asking for a divorce?”
“You’ve been married for a whole year and haven’t even had a single kid. Now you want a divorce. Are you trying to scam us out of the cash gift?”
Tracy pointed and yelled at me, “One year of marriage with no baby. Now a divorce. Are you giving back the cash gift or not? Your family sure knows how to nickel and dime people.”
Deborah rushed to the edge of the living room and ripped down the family portrait I had hung on the wall.
She stuck out her foot and stomped repeatedly on my father’s face in the photo.
“Your father deserves to be sick. Your mother won’t last long either. Your whole family was just born to die young.
“Here I was, being nice enough to help you check out crematoriums. You broke, worthless piece of trash. After your parents die, just throw their bodies in a ditch and let the coyotes have them.
“Instead of a tombstone, you can just visit the coyotes instead. After all, they handled your father’s funeral arrangements for you. Not you.”
I snapped when I heard that.
I lunged forward, but Priscilla blocked me.
“Riley, don’t get upset. My mom didn’t mean it like that.”
I pushed her aside and stared at Deborah.
“I dare you to say it again.”
Seeing my sharp gaze, she took a step back.
She put on a bold expression and said, “Fine, I’ll say it again. Your parents were born to die young. Why bother treating liver cancer? It’s such a waste of money.
“If you’re such a good daughter, go die along with your parents, then.”
I raised my hand and was about to slap her, but someone grabbed my hand from behind.
It was Peter.
“What are you doing?”
He let go of my hand and glanced at the people in the living room.
“What’s all the yelling about?”
“Remember the twenty thousand dollars cash gift you gave me? Only two thousand of it was real. The other eighteen thousand was all counterfeit.
“Peter, are you aware of that?”
He avoided my gaze for a moment.
It was quick, but I noticed it.
“My parents gave you that money. How could they possibly hand out fake cash?”
“Your mother just said I tricked you into marriage and that my dad deserved to be sick. Did you hear that?”
He was silent for a few seconds.
“You know my mother has a temper. Don’t take what she says to heart.”
Do not take what she said to heart?
She had cursed my father to die, and he was telling me not to take it to heart?
I looked at him. For a moment, Peter felt frighteningly unfamiliar.
“I want a divorce. We’ll settle the cash gift later.”
His expression changed.
“Fine, we can divorce. But you have to return the money.”
“Return what? Your family gave me fake money. What am I supposed to return it with?”
“Back when I gave it to you, you said it was real. Now you’re calling it fake. Who knows if your own family swapped it out?
“You want a divorce? I don’t have a problem with that. But you have to return the full amount exactly as given. Twenty thousand dollars. Not one cent less.”
“What you gave me was counterfeit. Eighteen thousand dollars of fake money! And you expect me to pay back twenty thousand dollars?”
“That’s your problem.”
He looked at me and added, “I know your dad is sick and you’re desperate for money. But so what? That’s your dad, not mine. If you want to save him, then use your money. That cash gift is my family’s money. If you don’t have the money, then your dad deserves to die.”
How could he say what he said like it was nothing?
I stared at him as tears fell from my eyes.
When he saw me crying, he did not feel a thing.
“You want a divorce? Fine. Give the money back. Every single cent. When I go to the bank to count it, if there’s even one fake bill, then you have to have a child for my family as compensation.”
My heart sank when I heard that.
Did he think I was a baby-making machine?
“Dream on.”
I picked up my bag and turned to walk away.
Just then, Deborah spoke.
“Where do you think you’re going? I finally see that you checked out of this marriage a long time ago after going into your bedroom. A cheating woman like you deserves to walk away with nothing.”
I turned to look at her. She had gone to my bedroom to take a few pieces of my nightgowns.
She unfolded them one by one mockingly.
“My son has been away on a business trip for a whole month. But you bought all these revealing nightclothes to wear at home. Who are you trying to seduce?
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. This nightgown doesn’t even cover your thighs. I just can’t figure it out. Who are you dressing up for at home?
“You said you’re a loyal daughter. Take a look at your mom. She looks old and worn-out.
“You wouldn’t be dressing up for your dad, would you?”
The aunts and other female relatives around, even Peter, started looking at me with disgust.
I slammed the door shut. When I went downstairs, my legs felt weak. I held the railing and moved down step by step.
When I reached the bottom, I squatted by the flower bed and cried. I cried so hard that my whole body shook.
