He closed the door.
“I don’t want to interfere in your personal life,” he said. “But what happened?”
I stared at my hands.
“My mother-in-law shaved my head while I was sleeping.”
Daniel went completely silent.
“She did what?”
“She wants me to quit.”
“And Nathan?”
I looked at him.
“He agrees with her.”
Daniel leaned back.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he said something I hadn’t expected.
“That’s exactly why I called you in.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
He opened a folder.
“There’s something you need to know.”
He slid a document across the desk.
I picked it up.
It was an internal report.
My name was at the top.
Below it was a list of regional accounts.
“This is your promotion package,” Daniel said.
I looked at him.
“Your new position comes with a significant increase in compensation.”
I nodded.
“I know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You don’t know.”
He pointed to the final page.
“This is your projected compensation for the next twelve months.”
I looked down.
My eyes widened.
The number was much higher than I expected.
Daniel watched my reaction.
“You were about to become the highest-earning person in your household.”
I stared at the page.
Then everything clicked.
Margaret’s anger.
Nathan’s sudden complaints.
The pressure.
The demands.
The shaving.
The insistence that I quit immediately.
They hadn’t been reacting to my promotion.
They were reacting to what my promotion meant.
I looked up.
“Did Nathan know?”
Daniel frowned.
“I don’t know.”
“But he called you.”
“Yes.”
“Did he ask about my compensation?”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“He did.”
My heart sank.
“What exactly did he ask?”
Daniel hesitated.
“He wanted to know whether your promotion was permanent.”
I felt cold.
“What else?”
“He asked when the salary increase would begin.”
I stared at him.
“And?”
“He asked whether the company could revoke the promotion if you stopped working.”
I didn’t move.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“I thought it was strange.”
It wasn’t strange.
Not anymore.
It was terrifyingly clear.
Nathan knew.
Margaret knew.
They had been counting on my income.
Maybe for much longer than I realized.
I stood.
“Can I use your office phone?”
“Of course.”
I called the bank.
After going through the security process, I asked about the mysterious account.
The representative wouldn’t give me much information.
But she confirmed something important.
The account was connected to an authorized user.
Nathan.
I closed my eyes.
There it was.
The answer.
Nathan had opened another account.
Without telling me.
Money from our household had been moving into it.
I thanked the representative and hung up.
Daniel looked at me.
“Do you want me to call someone?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
I picked up my purse.
“I need to go home.”
“Why?”
“Because I think my husband has been lying to me.”
Daniel didn’t try to stop me.
He simply said:
“Be careful.”
I drove home.
The entire way, memories kept coming back.
The times Nathan said he couldn’t afford dinner.
The times he said his account was empty.
The time he asked me to cover his car payment.
The time Margaret told me that “a good wife doesn’t question her husband’s finances.”
I had believed her.
Now I wondered why.
When I pulled into the driveway, Margaret was standing on the front porch.
Waiting.
She crossed her arms.
“You’re back early.”
“I needed to get something.”
“What?”
I walked past her.
“My laptop.”
She followed me.
“You’re not quitting?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You were supposed to resign.”
“I said I’d handle it.”
“You’re playing games.”
I turned.
“No.”
