Theresa arched an eyebrow. “Are you seriously offended?”
“No,” I replied calmly. “I just finally understand.”
I grabbed my purse. Lauren let out a quiet giggle. “Some people have money, but zero manners for polite company.”
I looked at her for a brief second, said nothing, and walked out. I got into my car and drove straight to my condo—a property I had purchased before my marriage and paid off entirely with my own hard work.
I didn’t shed a single tear that night. Instead, I opened my banking app.
Theresa’s mortgage: Auto-pay active. Utility bills: Auto-pay active. Daniel’s credit card: Auto-pay active. Monthly allowance transfer to his mother: Auto-pay active.
One by one, I canceled every single recurring payment.
Then I called my corporate accountant. “Robert, starting tomorrow morning, I want to eliminate every personal payment tied to Daniel’s family.”
“All of them, Mariana?”
I stared at the confirmation screen. “Every single one.”
Two days later, at 8:17 AM, Theresa called me screaming.
“Mariana! The bank says the house payment bounced! Transfer the thirty-two hundred dollars right now!”
I took a slow sip of my morning coffee and repeated her exact words right back to her:
“I’m sorry, Theresa. My budget for you ran out.”
The dead silence on the other end of the line was absolute bliss.
Canceling the cash flow was just the beginning. The truly astounding part was discovering who had actually been draining that family dry while they were busy looking down on me.
PART 2
“You have an obligation to help my mother!” Daniel yelled that same evening, barging into my living room.