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\u201cStarting this month,<\/span>\u00a0I am going to give my entire paycheck to my mom because you already make enough money to pay for everything,<\/span>\u201d Keaton said while putting more stew on his plate,<\/span>\u00a0acting like he had just said it might rain tomorrow.<\/span><\/p>\n I sat there with my spoon in midair,<\/span>\u00a0completely shocked by what he had just said.<\/span><\/p>\n That exact afternoon,<\/span>\u00a0I got promoted to regional finance director at work.<\/span>\u00a0After seven long years of working late on weekends,<\/span>\u00a0finishing audits late at night,<\/span>\u00a0and working even when I was sick,<\/span>\u00a0my monthly pay was raised to twelve thousand dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n I came home so happy.<\/span>\u00a0I stopped by the store to buy steak,<\/span>\u00a0fresh bread,<\/span>\u00a0and Keaton\u2019s favorite cake.<\/span>\u00a0I wanted to celebrate and tell him we could finally pay extra on our house loan and save up for a baby.<\/span><\/p>\n Instead of being happy for me,<\/span>\u00a0he immediately started planning how to spend my money on his family.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYour whole salary?<\/span>\u201d I asked.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cThen who is going to pay the house loan,<\/span>\u00a0the electric bill,<\/span>\u00a0the gas,<\/span>\u00a0and the groceries?<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou can pay for all of that,<\/span>\u201d he said with a simple shrug.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cMy mom knows how to manage money better than us.<\/span>\u00a0Besides,<\/span>\u00a0it is for the family.<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n His mother,<\/span>\u00a0Bernice,<\/span>\u00a0was sitting right next to him.<\/span>\u00a0She had been eating dinner at our place almost every night for months,<\/span>\u00a0and she often stayed over,<\/span>\u00a0saying she felt lonely at her house.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cA wife who makes good money should be happy to help her husband\u2019s family,<\/span>\u201d Bernice said with a smile.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t let a pay raise make you arrogant.<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n For two years,<\/span>\u00a0I had been paying almost all our rent,<\/span>\u00a0buying all the food,<\/span>\u00a0paying the power bills,<\/span>\u00a0buying Bernice\u2019s heart medicine,<\/span>\u00a0and even buying gifts for her relatives.<\/span>\u00a0Keaton helped a little at first,<\/span>\u00a0but then he kept saying his job was not safe and that he had too many costs,<\/span>\u00a0promising he would pay me back later.<\/span><\/p>\n He never gave me back a single cent.<\/span><\/p>\n Even so,<\/span>\u00a0that night they called me greedy and selfish.<\/span><\/p>\n The next day after work,<\/span>\u00a0I did not go to the nice grocery store.<\/span>\u00a0I went to a small corner shop and bought two cheap packs of instant noodles.<\/span><\/p>\n When Keaton and Bernice walked in that evening,<\/span>\u00a0they saw two bowls of noodles on the table.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhere is the real food?<\/span>\u201d Keaton yelled.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cI come home tired and you give me this?<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n I looked at him and smiled.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cYou don\u2019t pay a single dollar,<\/span>\u00a0but you expect a big dinner every night.<\/span>\u00a0From now on,<\/span>\u00a0if you want good food,<\/span>\u00a0pay for it yourself.<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n Bernice hit the table hard with her hand.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cYou make twelve thousand dollars a month and you disrespect your husband with cheap noodles!<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n I walked into the office,<\/span>\u00a0picked up a blue folder,<\/span>\u00a0and brought it out.<\/span>\u00a0Inside were bank statements,<\/span>\u00a0receipts,<\/span>\u00a0and transfer proofs from the past eighteen months.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe house loan is three thousand a month.<\/span>\u00a0Groceries cost fifteen hundred.<\/span>\u00a0Utilities and medicine take another thousand.<\/span>\u00a0I paid for every bit of it,<\/span>\u201d I said clearly.<\/span><\/p>\n Then I showed Bernice receipts for over thirty thousand dollars that I had sent directly to her bank account for her supposed doctor visits,<\/span>\u00a0house repairs,<\/span>\u00a0and treatments.<\/span><\/p>\n Her face went pale as she looked at the papers.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI needed that money for other important things,<\/span>\u201d she said,<\/span>\u00a0trying to defend herself.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat important things?<\/span>\u201d I asked.<\/span><\/p>\n Before she could answer,<\/span>\u00a0her phone buzzed on the table.<\/span>\u00a0The screen showed the name of Keaton\u2019s younger brother,<\/span>\u00a0Austin.<\/span>\u00a0I saw his text message before she grabbed her phone away:<\/span>\u00a0Mom, answer me, they are coming for us.<\/i><\/p>\n Keaton went completely pale.<\/span>\u00a0Bernice put her phone in her bag with shaking hands and told me to stop asking questions.<\/span><\/p>\n I looked at the cold noodles and knew they were hiding something much worse than a few small expenses.<\/span><\/p>\n I had no idea what was about to happen next.<\/span><\/p>\n Later that night,<\/span>\u00a0I heard Bernice talking quietly on the balcony.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAustin,<\/span>\u00a0do not come to your brother\u2019s house,<\/span>\u201d she whispered into her phone.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cHide somewhere.<\/span>\u00a0If Jennifer finds out,<\/span>\u00a0we are all in trouble.<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n I stood behind the kitchen door,<\/span>\u00a0staying quiet so she wouldn\u2019t hear me.<\/span><\/p>\n Austin was twenty-nine years old and had failed at many small businesses:<\/span>\u00a0a coffee shop that lasted three months,<\/span>\u00a0a phone shop that ended with angry customers,<\/span>\u00a0and a bar that never got real permits.<\/span>\u00a0Every time he asked for money,<\/span>\u00a0Bernice said he just needed one more chance.<\/span>\u00a0Keaton always took his side,<\/span>\u00a0so I ended up paying just to keep the peace.<\/span><\/p>\n When I checked my bank records again,<\/span>\u00a0I saw a clear pattern.<\/span>\u00a0The ten thousand dollars for Bernice\u2019s medical test went out the same week Austin bought a new motorcycle.<\/span>\u00a0The fifteen thousand dollars for her roof repair went out right when he opened his bar.<\/span><\/p>\n The next morning,<\/span>\u00a0I called my best friend,<\/span>\u00a0Erin<\/span>who works as a risk expert at a bank.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis is not just helping family,<\/span>\u201d she told me after looking at the numbers.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cThey are taking your money on purpose.<\/span>\u00a0Hide your important papers and make sure they didn\u2019t use your assets to get loans.<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n Her words made me really scared.<\/span><\/p>\n At noon,<\/span>\u00a0an unknown number called my phone.<\/span>\u00a0A man with a cold voice told me that Austin had to pay his debt this week,<\/span>\u00a0adding that my new salary was more than enough to cover it.<\/span>\u00a0They knew my name,<\/span>\u00a0my company,<\/span>\u00a0and even knew about our noodle argument from the night before.<\/span>\u00a0Someone in my house was giving them information.<\/span><\/p>\n Two years ago,<\/span>\u00a0when we bought our house,<\/span>\u00a0Keaton asked me to sign a legal permission paper so he could handle the house paperwork while I was busy at work.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are husband and wife,<\/span>\u00a0you can trust me,<\/span>\u201d he told me back then.<\/span><\/p>\n I ran to check our property file.<\/span>\u00a0The paper was still there,<\/span>\u00a0but it gave him much more power than I had thought.<\/span><\/p>\n I called Keaton right away.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cHow much money does Austin owe?<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n He stayed quiet for a moment.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cIt is not that bad.<\/span>\u00a0We can fix it together.<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDid you use my legal paper to back his debt?<\/span>\u201d I asked.<\/span><\/p>\n He hung up the phone.<\/span><\/p>\n Two days later on Saturday,<\/span>\u00a0the doorbell rang.<\/span>\u00a0Bernice jumped up in fear.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t open it!<\/span>\u201d she cried.<\/span><\/p>\n On the door camera,<\/span>\u00a0I saw three men in suits and a woman with a black file.<\/span>\u00a0They looked like professional debt collectors.<\/span>\u00a0That scared me even more.<\/span><\/p>\n Keaton came out of the bathroom,<\/span>\u00a0looked at the screen,<\/span>\u00a0and said,<\/span>\u00a0\u201cHow did they find this address?<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n I opened the door.<\/span><\/p>\n The woman spoke politely.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cWe are here for Austin Miller\u2019s unpaid loan.<\/span>\u00a0The total amount with interest is eight hundred thousand dollars.<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nPART 2<\/h3>\n