Love Transferred, Account Closed

When Declan Fletcher saw the breakup bill, he did not panic. Instead, he only posted a new table in the group chat.

The words next to my name, 'worth considering', had been changed to 'high-risk gold digger'.

The remarks section strikingly read: [Emotionally unstable. Poor spending habits. Prone to asking for things.]

Rachel Black was the first to jump in.

Rachel: [Sonia, Declan is doing this for your own good too. It's not easy for an ordinary family to make ends meet. If you cause a breakup over a cup of latte, how will you handle the daily necessities in the future?]

Declan sent a voice message with a hint of amusement in his tone. "Sonia, you've learned how to keep score now. That's good. At least you won't get scammed in the future."

He paused, his voice lowering as if to coax me. "But don't pull that stuff on me. It's not that I don't want to spend money on you. I'm just worried you'll get used to it and won't be able to make ends meet later."

In the past, my resolve would crumble whenever he softened his voice like that.

A kind gesture from him, and I would forget the pain he just caused me.

This time, I simply turned on my laptop and exported three years' worth of transfer records. It was the difference in rent, utilities, caregiver fees, and nutritional meals. I included the 15 dollars I paid the tailor to mend a tear in his shirt as well as the 2,000-dollar deposit I had secretly topped up when his mother was hospitalized.

There was also the birthday dinner I had cooked myself because he had not wanted to spend money. However, he later complained that the beef was too expensive. That had left yet another ugly record on my performance review.

All those figures, stacked together, looked even grimmer than I had imagined.

I posted the spreadsheet to the group chat.

Rachel stayed silent for a few seconds before sending an aggrieved-looking emoji.

Rachel: [Sonia, keeping such a careful score in a relationship really does feel a little hurtful.]

Declan replied even faster: [Turning a relationship into an accounting exercise—Sonia, you've really let me down.]

I changed the group chat name from 'Love Points' to 'Debt Collection'.

I changed the group icon too.

It used to be a candid snapshot he had taken of us together—one where I was grinning goofily, clutching a bag of discounted vegetables from the supermarket. Now, I replaced it with an image of a blank bill.

Declan finally called. I did not pick up.

He sent a voice message. His tone was not as calm as usual. "Sonia, pick a better time to throw a tantrum. My mom is still expecting you over for dinner during the Independence Day holiday. Isn't looking after elders your specialty?

"Be there at 6:00 pm sharp tomorrow. You feel like you lost out, right? I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself all over again."

Hearing the words 'prove yourself again', a wave of nausea suddenly rose in my stomach.

For three years, I had been trying to prove I was not after his money. In the end, even half a cup of latte was considered incriminating evidence.

…

The next evening, I went to the Fletcher family's residence. It was not to prove anything but to get back my suitcase, which contained a gold bracelet my mother had left me.

Declan was waiting for me in the hallway. He was wearing that shirt that had faded from too many washes, the cuffs worn and fraying. However, the watch on his wrist was one I had seen just yesterday in the appendix of the prenuptial agreement. It cost six figures.

He followed my gaze and pulled his sleeve down. "Stop staring. Your record is bad enough as it is. Don't go looking for trouble."

I nodded and walked past him.

The place was bustling. Everyone at the table looked up at me, as if I were a housekeeper who had arrived late.

Rachel was sitting next to the head of the table, a new handbag resting beside her.

Declan had said her old bag was torn. He could not allow a young woman to go out with a tattered bag during the holidays.

However, when the zipper on my bag broke, he told me to just sew it up and preached the virtue of frugality.

I did not sit down. "Where's my suitcase?"

Declan frowned. "We'll talk about that after dinner. If you behave yourself today, I might move you back to probation."

He still thought I was here for another chance with him.