Chapter 5 - The Severance
The air inside the bank branch was cool, quiet, and smelled of heavy toner and polished wood.
I sat across from an account manager named Marcus, handing him my identification and the master paperwork for our joint account.
"I need my name removed from this account, and my direct deposit permissions revoked immediately," I said.
Marcus reviewed the documentation on his terminal. "Since this is an 'or' signatory arrangement, Miss Vance, you are fully entitled to withdraw your deposited funds and close your participation."
"Do it," I instructed.
Within ten minutes, twelve thousand dollars—the entirety of my personal savings contributions and tax refund deposits that Ryan had not yet managed to funnel away—was moved into a brand-new, private checking account in my name alone.
Next, I drove to the registrar’s office at the university.
I walked up to the cashier's window and handed over my debit card to pay the tuition balance for my final two fall semester classes in full.
Holding that receipt in my hands felt better than any diamond ring Ryan had ever placed on my finger. For four years, I had clawed my way toward this degree, sacrifice by sacrifice.
I was not going to let a dishonest man and his entitled ex-girlfriend reduce my degree to a question mark on a scratch piece of paper.
When I arrived back at the apartment at seven o'clock, Ryan was sitting on the living room sofa with his duffel bag open on the floor.
He looked up, his face pale and eyes bloodshot. "My bank card was declined at the grocery store."
"I closed the joint account," I said, setting my purse on the entryway table. "And I transferred my funds to a private account."
He stood up, walking toward me with disbelief written across his features. "We have bills due on the fifteenth, Lena! The electric, the internet, the catering balance!"
"The catering balance was already cancelled when you gave the deposit away in March," I said calmly. "And the utilities are in your name. You can use your remaining balance to pay them."
"I don't have enough to pay them and cover Paige's rent!" he shouted, throwing his hands up.
"Then Paige will have to get a job," I replied, looking him dead in the eye. "Or you can move into her apartment and share the burden together."
Ryan stared at me as if he were seeing me for the very first time. The compliant, exhausted woman who used to cry over accounting textbooks had vanished, replaced by someone who refused to bleed for his comfort.
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"You're really throwing our whole life away over this?" he whispered, his voice trembling with anger.
"No, Ryan," I said, opening the front door and gesturing toward the hallway. "You threw it away the moment you decided my exhaustion was cheaper than Paige's accountability."
