Chapter 3

I confronted Chloe immediately.

But she just dug her heels in and started shouting.

"A laptop is a household expense, isn't it? Shouldn't a married couple share major expenses like this?"

"I’m just trying to manage our family budget, Luke! Why do you always have to be so incredibly petty?!"

Chloe started tearing up, playing the victim before I could even get angry.

Her "I’m doing this for your own good, why can't you see that?" act completely speechless.

For a moment, I felt a suffocating anger rising in my chest.

I couldn't even find the words to argue.

And before she walked away, she didn't forget to remind me to PayPal her my "half" of the money.

"Besides, the old laptop was completely broken anyway. It was useless, so I sold it to a junk recycler for a few bucks," Chloe added casually when I asked what happened to my old device.

"Where is the money from selling it?" I demanded, my voice shaking with anger.

I had paid for that original laptop entirely with my own savings.

Chloe hadn't contributed a single cent to it.

Since she sold it, that money belonged to me.

She couldn't expect me to pay for the new one while she pocketed the cash from my old one!

Hearing this, Chloe's face twisted in anger.

"The junk guy barely gave me anything for it! I put that cash straight into our grocery budget anyway."

"Seriously, Luke? You're a man. Do you really have to be this pathetic over a few dollars?"