Chapter 1

Everyone knew my husband was a devoted son.

The moment his paycheck cleared each month, he transferred every last cent of it to his mother.

Which meant every expense in our home landed on me.

The mortgage came out of my pocket.

His nights out with clients ran a few thousand a pop.

And on top of that, I was expected to buy gifts for his parents and his younger brother every holiday.

Staring at savings that were basically zero, I sighed and asked Alvin James if we could keep some money in the house.

He shook his head before I'd even finished.

"Absolutely not. I send thirty grand every month. If it suddenly drops, people will say I got a wife and forgot my own mother."

"Honoring your parents is a child's duty. You're my wife, so you should be supporting me on this."

"And stop fixating on my money. Take a look at yourself too. Maybe you're the one throwing cash around, spending on things you don't need."

I thought it over, and honestly, it made a lot of sense.

So I transferred my entire salary straight to my mom.

...

My mom called right back, surprise all over her voice.

"Narelle Fox, why did you suddenly send this much? How are you going to get by?"

I didn't explain much, just laughed and reassured her, said I'd finally seen the light and wanted to take good care of her from now on.

I hung up, looked at the few hundred dollars left on my card, and felt strangely light.

After work that evening, I skipped the grocery market. I signed up for a meal card at the office, ate there, then went home.

When we first got married, Alvin had a bad stomach and couldn't handle restaurant food.

I felt for him, so I did all the grocery shopping myself, cooking him something different and delicious every day.

That was how I slowly nursed his health back.

Now that I thought about it, that expense could stand to be cut too.

Alvin came home from work, kicked off his shoes, and headed for the dining room out of habit.

He saw the bare table and frowned, his voice thick with displeasure.

"Why haven't you made dinner yet?"

I was curled up on the couch scrolling my phone, and I didn't even look up.

"No money for groceries."

Alvin froze for a second, then walked over and stared at me.

"Didn't you get paid today? Where's the money?"

I answered in the exact tone he always used, calm and self-righteous.

"I did some reflecting, and I decided you were completely right."

"Honoring my parents is my duty too, so I sent my whole paycheck to my mom, as her retirement money."

"You're my husband, so you'll support me on this, right?"

Alvin's face darkened in an instant.

"Are you crazy? You gave all your money to your mom, so what do we live on?"

"Who pays the mortgage? Who pays for water and power? I'm taking clients out to dinner tomorrow!"

I spread my hands.

"Didn't you say honoring your parents matters most?"

"Now everyone's being a devoted child. Isn't that nice?"

"As for dinner, you make so much. Why not ask your mom for some living expenses?"

Alvin's face went livid.

"Quit being unreasonable! What I do is honoring my mother. What you're doing is picking a fight with me!"

I ignored him and kept scrolling.

Right on cue, Alvin's stomach growled.

He paced the living room a couple of times, then gritted his teeth, picked up his phone, and called his mother.

"Mom, um... could you transfer me two hundred first? I want to get something to eat."

On the other end, her voice shot straight up.

"What? Two hundred? Alvin, do you think money grows on trees around here?"

"Let me tell you, the money I've got saved is for something big. Not a single cent of it gets touched!"

"What did you marry a wife for? Go tell her to make you dinner!"

And with that, she hung up.

The air went quiet.

I looked at Alvin's face, darker than the bottom of a pot, and nearly laughed out loud.

He shot me a hard glare, then had no choice but to dig a pack of instant noodles out of the kitchen, brewing them and eating with a face like a storm cloud.