Chapter 2

"The third year, and then the fourth, I worked hard. After necessary expenses, I managed to save about 700 dollars a month.

"But you? The second your paycheck hit your account, you'd send spending money to Ryan or buy supplements for your mother.

"Last October, you knew perfectly well that I'd wanted to take a trip for ages, but you pretended not to notice. Instead, you booked an eight-day, seven-night trip to Sunridge Bay for Ryan and your mother. You even used the itinerary I'd put together myself."

The anger on his face finally faded, replaced by the guilty look of someone who'd just been caught. "Babe—"

I raised my voice and cut him off. "I'm not finished! This New Year, you promised me you wouldn't be foolish with money anymore.

"You said you'd start saving properly and that we'd have a baby by the end of the year. I believed you. And then what?"

I pulled out my phone, opened the banking app, and set it down in front of Marcus. I enunciated each word. "Tell me. Where did my money go?"

Marcus's face went pale.

"The money... The money's all..." Guilt flickered in his eyes, but defiance quickly replaced it. "The money all went to Ryan for the car. He's only got one older brother. If he can't count on me, who's he supposed to count on?"

I let out a bitter laugh.

Marcus rushed to explain. "Babe, just hear me out. Ryan's got two months left before he graduates. He'll be fresh out of college, and the job market's rough right now.

"My mom and I figured we'd get him a car so he'd at least have some confidence when he starts job hunting.

"Don't worry. Ryan was very considerate of us. He didn't even look at the 50,000- or 60,000-dollar cars. He only wanted the 37,000-dollar one.

"I did the math. 10,000 down, five years interest-free. It's a good deal."

"And the loan payments? Who's covering those?" I asked.

He froze for a second, then stammered, "R-Ryan hasn't graduated yet. He doesn't have any money on hand. I'm his older brother. If I can help, I should help.

"Besides, it's not that much. It's only about 450 a month. We can manage."

Manage?

My eyes stung, but I refused to let the tears fall.

Five years. 450 dollars a month.

Between the two of us, after scrimping and saving every month, we only ever had about 700 dollars left over in total.

450 of that would go toward his brother's car payment. What was the remaining 250 supposed to cover?

"What about our baby?" I asked. "Are we even still having one?"

I stared into his eyes. All I could see reflected back at me was my own exhausted face, worn down by years of worrying about money.

"The baby..." He hesitated, conflict flashing across his face.

In the end, he hardened his resolve. "Let's hold off on the baby for now. We're still young. We can have one whenever we want.

"Maybe in a few years, once we're better off financially, we can have one then. There's still time."

"A few years?" I echoed.

I looked down at my belly and gave a scornful laugh. "When we first got married, Ryan was in college, and that needed money.

"Now we're five years in. He's graduating, and buying him a car needs money.

"Give it a few more years, and he'll get a girlfriend. Then he'll get married, and his wife will have a baby.

"Can you promise me that when those things happen, you won't empty our accounts all over again? Can you promise me you won't sacrifice our own little family again just to prop up his?

"Marcus, do I have to wait until Ryan is dead before I'm allowed to have a baby?"

The sharp crack of a slap tore through the living room and rang in my ears.

My cheek burned as if someone had pressed a hot iron against my skin.