Chapter 2

Howard cut in. "Mark, don't blame Linda. It was my idea. If you're angry, take it out on me."

I turned to him with a short laugh. "Don't worry. I'll deal with you in a minute."

Linda immediately stepped between us. "If you're mad, be mad at me. Leave him out of it."

Watching her rush to protect him, I suddenly found the whole thing absurd. After six years of marriage, I was starting to wonder if I knew my wife at all.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

It was a notification from the bank. The business had unexpectedly taken off today, bringing in tens of thousands in profit.

I'd come home excited, planning to surprise Linda with the good news.

Now the notification felt like some kind of sick joke.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket and looked at her. "Linda, whose name is on the deed to that house?"

Her expression turned wary. She said nothing.

Howard answered instead. "Mine. Linda gave me the money, so obviously the house is in my name."

"Good." I nodded. "Since we're all family, Linda and I can move in with you. We're renting anyway. Might as well save ourselves the rent."

Howard's expression changed. "What? No. It's my house. You can't just move in."

I looked straight at him. "And whose money did you use to buy it?"

Howard faltered for a second. "Linda gave me that money. Once she gave it to me, it became mine."

Linda quickly backed him up. "Mark, come on. Howard finally has a place of his own. How could we move in with him?"

"Why couldn't we?" I turned to her. "You paid for the house, and you and I are married. Why shouldn't we live there?"

Linda's expression grew uncomfortable. "Howard's going to get married someday. He needs the house for when he starts a family. It wouldn't be appropriate for us to live there."

I let out a humorless laugh. "So what would be appropriate? We keep throwing money away on rent while you keep sneaking our savings to your brother behind my back?"

Linda's face darkened. "Sneaking? Don't make it sound like I stole something. That's our family's money. What's wrong with me spending some of it on my own brother? Mark, you don't have to make it sound so ugly."

"Our family's money?" I finally lost my grip on my temper. "Half of that money came from me driving Uber until two or three in the morning for the last six years. While you were home asleep, I was out there taking ride after ride just to put money into the account.

"And now you're standing there telling me that money was yours to give away?"

Linda took a step back at my outburst. But she recovered quickly, lifting her chin as she stared me down. "Why are you yelling? The money's already gone. The house has already been bought. What good is making a scene now? It's done, Mark. What are you going to do about it?"

She sounded remarkably confident. Because as far as she was concerned, those were the facts.

The money was gone. The house had been purchased. The papers had been signed. There was no undoing any of it.

In Linda's mind, there was nothing I could do.

She probably thought I'd react the same way I always had. Stay angry for a few days, then eventually let it go.

It had happened plenty of times before. She would slip Howard three thousand dollars here and five thousand dollars there. I would find out, we would argue, and in the end, I was always the one who gave in.

She clearly expected this time to be no different.

The money was already spent.

I couldn't possibly do anything about it now.

I looked at the certainty on her face and felt exhausted. "Linda, I want a divorce."