Chapter 4 - The Mother-in-Law's Ultimatum
Ryan slammed his open palm onto the table, making the ceramic mugs rattle.
"You had no right to freeze that account!" he hissed, mindful of the other customers glancing over. "I deposit six hundred dollars into that fund every pay period!"
"And you withdraw eight hundred to pay Paige's auto insurance," I countered, leaning in so only they could hear. "I ran the transaction ledger last night, Ryan. You've transferred over twenty-two thousand dollars to her since we moved in together."
Paige looked away, suddenly intensely interested in the street traffic outside the window.
Ryan's jaw clenched so hard I could hear his molars grind. "That was my personal discretion. We aren't married yet."
"You're right," I said, standing up from the booth. "We aren't."
I turned and walked out of the roastery without looking back. Behind me, I heard Ryan shout my name, but I didn't stop until I was inside my sedan with the doors locked.
My phone rang within two minutes of hitting the ignition.
It wasn't Ryan. It was Janet.
I tapped the steering wheel speaker button. "Hello, Janet."
"Lena," her voice came through tight and patronizing. "Ryan just called me from the café in absolute shambles. What on earth is going on with you?"
"Did Ryan tell you he gave our wedding venue deposit to Paige in March?" I asked plainly.
A brief hesitation crackled through the line, confirming what I already suspected: Janet had known about the payments all along.
"Paige is family to us, Lena," Janet said defensively. "She was in Ryan's life for a very long time. Marriage is about grace and compromise. You cannot expect a man to completely sever his loyalties just because you're insecure about his past."
"Loyalty doesn't require me working thirty hours on a graveyard shift to cover his half of the rent."
Janet let out an irritated breath. "You're being incredibly rigid. When you marry into this family, you marry into our responsibilities. If you can't show compassion to someone who helped my son when he was starving, then perhaps you aren't ready for the commitments of holy matrimony."
The sheer hypocrisy took my breath away.
"Is that an ultimatum, Janet?"
"I'm simply saying that an unyielding wife makes for a miserable home," she declared coldly. "Think about your priorities before you destroy your own wedding over a few thousand dollars."
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"My priorities are very clear," I said. "And you can keep your family responsibilities."
I hung up before she could respond, dropped the phone into the cup holder, and drove straight to the bank branch on Fifth Street.
