"I'm sorry. But I already promised Mom... I can't go back on it now."
"So my mother just dies? We stand here and watch her die?"
He winced. "Maybe you could... borrow from your relatives?"
His voice shrank to almost nothing.
"Or use your savings..."
"What savings?!"
I lost it.
"You pay the mortgage—that's it. The car payments? Me. Groceries, utilities, everything we need to live? Me. Rosemary's tuition, her classes, her everything? All me!" My voice cracked. "If I had savings, do you think I'd be begging for what's rightfully mine?!"
I stared at him.
"You make twenty thousand a month. After the mortgage, you have twelve thousand left. Where does it go, Abner?"
He opened his mouth. Glanced at his mother.
Said nothing.
"Right here." My mother-in-law stepped forward, chin high, triumph dripping from every word. "It comes to me."
"All of Abner's money is with me. I've been keeping it safe—from certain people who might get ideas."
Certain people.
Meaning me.
His wife of seven years.
The last flicker of hope in my chest guttered out.
"So that's it, Abner?" My voice came out hollow. "You're done with this marriage?"
"No—that's not—"
He grabbed my arm, desperate.
"Honey, I just asked Mom to hold onto it for me. That's all."
I shook him off.
"Fine. Then right now—when we need that money to save my mother's life—are you willing to use it?"
He hesitated. But to his credit, he tried.
"Mom, my savings—"
"What are you afraid of her for?!"
His mother cut him off like a guillotine.
"She's got your child. You think she'll actually leave? She wouldn't dare."
Her face hardened into stone.
"Your money's locked in fixed-term deposits. You're not touching a cent until next year."
Abner's head dropped. Defeated. Silent.
"Cass..." He couldn't even look at me. "Maybe you could ask your relatives? See if they can help?"
His tone was flat. Not a trace of grief. Not a hint of urgency.
He pulled out his phone and transferred twenty thousand dollars.
"This is everything I have left. My entire personal stash. It's yours."
I laughed—a bitter, broken sound—as tears blurred my vision.
"Abner. We've been married for seven years. And this whole time, you've been secretly funneling your salary to your mother." I steadied my voice. "That's concealment of marital assets. It's illegal. Did you know that?"
His jaw went slack.
"That's... that can't be..."
"A son taking care of his parents is only right and proper!"