Chapter 4 - EIGHTEEN THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED
I showed Daniel the screen.
“What is this?”
He stared too long.
Then he rubbed his face.
“It’s not what you think.”
I laughed once.
“That sentence should be printed on your family crest.”
“Mom needed money.”
“Eighteen thousand dollars?”
“She had some debt.”
“So you took it while I was at the hospital with our daughter?”
“It’s our money.”
“No. That account is funded by my salary.”
“We’re married.”
“That doesn’t make theft romantic.”
He lowered his voice.
“Don’t start.”
I looked at him and suddenly saw every quiet compromise I had made because I loved him.
His mother staying “for two weeks” that became six months.
Valeria borrowing my car without asking.
Daniel quitting his consulting job because he wanted “time to reset.”
Me paying the mortgage.
Me paying the preschool.
Me paying Carmen’s medical bills.
And apparently now, me paying for lobster while my daughter ate stale bread on a balcony.
I opened my banking app.
Daniel watched me freeze the joint account.
“What are you doing?”
“Stopping the bleeding.”
“You can’t cut me off.”
“I just did.”
His face hardened.
For the first time that night, I saw anger replace embarrassment.
“You think because you make more money, you control everything?”
“No. I think because I earn my money, I get to know where it goes.”
He stepped closer.
“Be careful, Mariana.”
I looked at him.
“Is that a threat?”
His jaw tightened.
Then his phone rang.
He answered, listened, and turned pale.
“What?”
A pause.
“No, don’t call her.”
He hung up.
“Who was that?”
He didn’t answer.
My phone buzzed again.
This time it wasn’t the bank.
It was Valeria.
One message.
I DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT CAMILA. CHECK MY STORY ARCHIVE BEFORE MOM DELETES IT.
Underneath was a cloud link.
I opened it.
The first video showed the seafood.
The second showed Carmen laughing.
The third showed the balcony door behind her.
And through the glass, barely visible in the dark, was Camila.
Standing there.
May you like
Crying.
While Daniel sat ten feet away.
