Two months after our wedding, my husband Lucas suggested we split all our bills equally. Living expenses, supporting our parents, social obligations, raising children – everything was to be split 50/50. I accepted. Later, he couldn’t handle it himself. He begged me to support him! I kicked him out. “Get lost, you jerk!” My dad fell ill. The doctor informed me that after deducting the health insurance coverage, we still needed to pay over $15,000 for the surgery. I regretted buying a new car just last month. I called my husband, Lucas. “Honey, can you lend me $15,000? My dad needs surgery.” “We agreed to split our expenses equally, remember? We’re each responsible for our own families,” Lucas replied, his tone colder than that of a casual acquaintance. I gritted my teeth, trying to stay calm. “I said ‘lend.’ I’ll pay you back!” “I don’t have it. Figure it out yourself.” He hung up without even a word of concern. Furious, I threw my bag onto the chair. What a piece of trash I had chosen! “Amelia, did you manage to borrow the money?” My mom asked, having heard the commotion. “Yes, don’t worry!” I lied. Left with no choice, I called my boss at work. “Boss, I have about $10,000 in commissions from last quarter that haven’t been paid out yet. I was wondering if I could get an advance.” “What happened?” he asked. I explained my dad’s situation. “Alright, I’ll make an exception. If you need more, I can lend you some personally.” Seeing $15,000 deposited into my account, I covered my face and cried. What had marriage given me? Nothing but a mess. The respect and trust I earned through my own hard work and perseverance were worth so much more.
Four years ago, I married Lucas. I was blinded by love, captivated by his good looks since college. Even though my parents objected, thinking Lucas wasn’t reliable enough. Even though Lucas’s family didn’t offer a bride price, I thought love was priceless. Even though I had to bring a house as a dowry, I was willing. But after the wedding, he proposed splitting all our expenses equally. Living expenses, supporting parents, social obligations, raising children – everything was to be split 50/50. I was shocked and didn’t understand. Although we both worked and had our own incomes, I had never asked him for living expenses. We just lived casually. Occasionally, I would pay for utilities, he would pay for gas. I would buy groceries, he would buy daily necessities. I didn’t like to fuss over details and never calculated who paid more. But Lucas kept a little notebook, recording every expense. After two months, I guess he felt he was losing out. But aren’t couples supposed to weather storms together? Did we need to be so calculative? Lucas, however, had his arguments to convince me. “Many people in Western countries do this. It’s progressive and can reduce conflicts.” “But it feels like we’re business partners, not a married couple,” I protested. “Marriage is about choosing the most suitable partner. Besides love, we need to think long-term.” I started to reflect on our dating process, realizing I might have spent more. But I had never calculated it. Since that was the case, I decided to give it a try. From then on, Lucas recorded every bill, and we split them equally, accurate to two decimal places.
A year later, I got pregnant. I had severe morning sickness and had to stay at home after six months of pregnancy. I applied for unpaid leave from work, as my maternity leave hadn’t started yet. Lucas’s face was very dark during that period. I thought he was worried about my health, but it turned out he was concerned about my income. “We agreed to split expenses, remember? You haven’t been paid for months, and I can’t help you,” he said. I frowned. This was even harsher than settling accounts between siblings. Seeing that I didn’t respond, Lucas hurriedly explained. “You still have some savings, right? It should be enough for a few months.” I made a list including formula, diapers, baby clothes, bottles, strollers, and more. “We need to buy all these. It’s a significant expense. You buy them first, and I’ll pay you back later.” Lucas’s frown deepened. He clearly hadn’t planned for this. “It’s so expensive. I don’t have money either.” “Where did your money go?” I asked. Lucas glared at me, displeased. “We agreed to split expenses, remember? We don’t interfere with each other’s spending.” “Split, split! So for having a baby, should I be pregnant for 5 months, then hand it over to you for the next 5 months? I had to take unpaid leave to have this baby, and you don’t consider me at all. You just keep talking about splitting!” Lucas looked at me incredulously. “I can’t help you with childbirth. It’s not that I don’t want to.” “But you can help with the expenses, and you won’t?” “We agreed to split, didn’t we?” I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. “Get out! If you won’t cover it, I’ll just starve. We can all starve together!” Lucas muttered dissatisfaction as he slowly left the room. I heard him making a phone call in the next room. “Mom, can you transfer me $5,000?” “Isn’t my salary card with you?” “Amelia has severe morning sickness, and I need to cover some expenses. She’ll pay me back later.” “She’ll definitely pay back. Once she starts working again, I won’t cover anymore. I’ll make her pay.” As I listened, my heart grew colder. Lucas had given his salary card to his mother. No wonder he never said where his money went. Now he needed $5,000 and had to ask his mother’s permission. What a calculation! He treated me like an outsider. What if we had a conflict that led to divorce? Our marital property would be divided, but he wouldn’t have any money!
I turned and contacted my mom, giving her my salary card too. My mom didn’t want to take it at first, but I insisted. “Did you have a fight with Lucas? You two should get along, especially now that you’re pregnant.” “No, nothing like that. He’s very filial, and he taught me to be filial too. Just take it, I know what I’m doing.” My parents kept my card but used it to buy me lots of nutritional supplements, a crib, and baby blankets. I also sold my stocks and funds at an opportune time and opened a new account under my mom’s name. I could be carefree when I didn’t care, but I could also be meticulous when I did. Lucas finally noticed that I had changed my account and password. “You changed your bank card password?” “Yes, why are you trying to log into my bank account? Aren’t we splitting everything?” Although we had been splitting expenses, we knew each other’s account numbers and passwords. I was cautious, worried that if one of us suddenly died or had an accident, the other wouldn’t know how much money was left or which bank it was in. “No reason, just wanted to plan. Thinking of buying a bigger car. It’ll be convenient when we have a child.” I nodded. I actually had the same plan. “Let’s wait until I start working again. I’m worried about money these few months.” Lucas keenly noticed my issue. “Did you sell all your stocks?” “Yes, I ran out of money.” “What about your salary card?” “It’s with my mom.” Lucas’s face changed immediately. “Why did you give your card to your mom? How are we going to live? I’ve already covered so much, I can’t cover anymore.” “I learned from you. Didn’t you give your card to your mom? For several months before, I covered a lot for you too.” Lucas paced back and forth, grabbing his hair, very anxious. He clearly hadn’t planned for this. After pacing for a while, he finally thought of a solution. “How about this, from now on, we’ll settle accounts every month. No more covering for each other.” See, this is my husband. Even credit cards are paid off the next month, but my husband wants to settle immediately.
I finally gave birth to a big, healthy boy. It was a natural birth, which saved quite a bit of money. Lucas was very happy. His parents also came to the hospital to see me and their grandson. “Good, very good. Take good care of Amelia, she’s been through a lot,” my mother-in-law said, then ran off faster than a rabbit, afraid I’d ask her to help with my postpartum recovery. Lucas didn’t react immediately. “Your parents will help with your postpartum recovery, right?” “Let’s hire a postpartum nanny. We’ll split the cost.” “I don’t have money for a nanny. Isn’t your mom retired? She’s free anyway.” “What about your mom? Isn’t she free at home too? Why did she run away?” Lucas sighed reluctantly. “She’s not in good health. It wasn’t easy for her to raise me. Besides, my sister-in-law is also pregnant with twins. My mom needs to cook for her.” “Your mom never cooked a single meal for me when I was pregnant.” “Why bother about that? You wouldn’t have liked her cooking anyway.” Lucas stopped arguing with me and went out to take a call. I actually really didn’t like my mother-in-law’s cooking, but I just wanted to make a point. When I’m generous, you nitpick with me. When I nitpick, you talk about being generous. Hmph, such double standards. In the end, my mom compromised. She moved in with me to take care of me and her grandson. Lucas was quite happy about it. He moved into the study, living just like before he became a father. When I asked him to change diapers, he frowned and said he didn’t know how. My mom quickly came over. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it!” When I asked him to prepare postpartum meals, he again claimed he didn’t know how. My mom looked up recipes online herself. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it!” “Mom, we agreed to split expenses. You’re helping me, not him. He should be doing these things!” My mom glared at me, her eyes conveying many meanings. “We’re all family.” Lucas found an excuse to back down and hurried out to buy groceries. “Mom, if you spoil him like this, when my recovery is over and you go back, this child will be left to me alone.” My mom sighed. “You should have opened your eyes before marriage. After marriage, you make do with what you have. You’ve got it backwards.” I was choked up by my mom’s words, unable to argue back. “I really want to get a divorce!” “Don’t think like that. You’re in postpartum recovery now, your hormones are dropping, it’s easy to get depressed. Wait until you can take care of yourself and feel better, then you’ll be able to handle things. We can’t let Tommy be born into a family without a father.” I looked at the sleeping baby. He was so cute. Ah, I couldn’t bear it.
Days dragged on, and finally Tommy was 3 years old and started preschool. I finally got some relief, bought a new car, and everything seemed to be back on track. But then my dad fell seriously ill. When life is smooth sailing, you can’t see the good and bad in people around you, whether they’re human or beast. But once you encounter storms, the ugliness of human nature appears. I never expected Lucas wouldn’t help at all. “My mom and I don’t have time to take Tommy to preschool. We need to go to the hospital. You take him.” “It’s not my month, remember? You figure it out. Next month is my turn.” I really wanted to curse. Even my colleagues were willing to switch shifts to help, but he completely ignored the situation. Even if he were just a relative, just a friend, he would at least offer money or effort, or some words of comfort. But he completely distanced himself, as if my dad were a stranger. This time, I truly saw through him. Since you’re heartless, I’ll be ruthless too. What goes around comes around. Don’t let it come back to me.
Unexpectedly, this karma came back quickly. Three months after my dad was discharged, my mother-in-law fell. Lucas called me urgently. “Amelia, my mom is in the hospital. Go there quickly.” “Why should I go to the hospital? I’m at work.” “I’m busy, about to board a high-speed train. Go to the hospital to pay the bills. My mom fell.” “We split expenses, remember? Handle it yourself.” I hung up the phone. Lucas kept calling back, but I kept hanging up. Lucas sent me voice messages on WhatsApp. “Amelia, that’s my mom. You can’t be like this. You’re her daughter-in-law. Can’t you go take care of her?” “Three months ago, how did you treat my dad? That’s how I’ll treat your mom.” I quickly replied and then muted my phone. After a while, my father-in-law called. “Amelia, your mother-in-law is in the hospital. We need to pay the bills.” “Why don’t you ask your son? Why are you calling me?” “He’s on a business trip.” “I’m busy too. We split expenses, remember? We agreed I don’t take care of your family, and he doesn’t take care of my parents.” “What split expenses? Nonsense. I don’t understand that. Come pay the bills quickly, or if something happens to your mother-in-law, it’s on you.” I hung up the phone directly. I took time off work, feeling that if I stayed at the company, I might get cornered. Sure enough, after work, my colleague called me.
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “296006”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #重生Reborn #浪漫Romance #励志Inspiring #惊悚Thriller #魔幻Magic #后宫Harem
Leave a Reply