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What Do You Mean We’re Getting a Divorce? The Husband Asked in Shock. Over the Money You Gave to Your Mother?
“What do you mean, were finished?” the man asked his wife, bewildered. “Because I gave money to my mother?”
“Nineteen thousand pounds!” Inessa flung the bank statement onto the table, watching the white sheets scatter across the surface. “Rodney, wheres the money?!”
Her husband didnt even bother to look up from the television, still flipping through channels.
“What money?” he muttered indifferently.
“The money we spent three years saving for the deposit! Yesterday there were twenty-five thousand, today theres thirty-five hundred!”
Rodney finally glanced up, shrugging as if it were nothing.
“Oh, that Mum and Joanna needed help. Was I supposed to say no?”
“Did you even ask me?! That was our shared savings!”
“Stop making a fuss. Ill pay it back.”
“When? In how many years?” Inessa braced her hands on the table, leaning toward him. “Rodney, we agreedno spending from that account without discussing it first. None!”
“We agreed, we agreed But when your own mother asks, what am I supposed to do, refuse her?”
“And when your wife works twelve hours a day for three years, thats nothing? Thats MY money!”
Rodney scowled and turned back to the screen.
“Stop exaggerating. Its just a job.”
Six months earlier, Inessa had been at her desk in the travel agency, meticulously calculating commission from her latest holiday package sale. The numbers pleased herthe group had been large and well-paying.
Her colleague, Tamara, peered over the monitor.
“Still tapping away at that calculator? Still saving for your dream flat?”
“Another year, maybe eighteen months, and well have our own place,” Inessa smiled, setting her pen down. “Rodneys doing his part too, taking extra shifts at the garage on weekends.”
“Youre lucky with him. Mine just makes promises that never happen.”
“I suppose I am,” Inessa agreed, though something uneasy nagged at her.
Tamara pulled her chair closer.
“How much have you saved, if its not a secret?”
“Twenty-one thousand. Not far from the twenty-five thousand we need.”
“Brilliant! Where are you keeping it?”
“In a savings account, of course. The interest isnt much, but its something.”
“Smart. Just dont go spending it on nonsense.”
Inessa nodded but didnt mention how Rodney had lately been complaining of exhaustion and taking fewer extra jobs.
That same evening, she found him sprawled on the sofa in front of the telly, some action film flashing across the screen.
“Rod, werent you supposed to go to the garage today?” she asked, slipping off her shoes in the hallway.
“Ill go tomorrow. My backs playing up.”
“Maybe see a doctor?”
“Stop fussing. Itll pass.” Rodney changed the channel. “Mum called, by the way. Joanna needs money for her makeup course.”
Inessa froze, her bag still in hand.
“How much?”
“Fifteen hundred, tops. Barely anything.”
“Barely anything?! Rodney, thats my monthly bonus!”
“Dont shout. Im not taking it from the savings. Ill cover it from next months wages.”
“And if your wages arent enough?”
“They will be. Stop worrying.”
Inessa went to heat dinner, but her appetite was gone. Her mind churned with the times Rodneys family had made similar requests.
Two weeks later, it happened again with crushing predictability. Claudia Petrovna, Rodneys mother, called during supper.
“Hello, Mum?” Rodney put the phone on speaker, still eating. “Yeah, go on Leaking? Badly? Seven-fifty? Fine, Ill drop it off tomorrow.”
Inessa slowly set down her fork and stared at him.
“Rodney, we agreedmortgage first, everything else after.”
“What, youd rather let the neighbours complain about Mums leaky radiator? Heartless!”
“Im not heartless,” Inessa said, forcing calm. “But your brother Paul lives next door. Why cant he help?”
“Pauls unemployed, you know that.”
“How? Everywheres hiring!”
Rodney finally looked up from his plate.
“Dont start. Shes my mother. Ill help her, full stop.”
“And Im your wife,” Inessa said quietly. “Does that mean anything?”
“Of course it does. But Mums radiator”
“What about our future?”
“The futurell still happen. We wont starve over seven hundred quid.”
A month later, Inessas boss, Leonard Markovich, called her into his office. He sat behind his heavy desk, sorting through papers.
“Inessa, take a seat. You handled that Chinese tour group brilliantly. The bonus will be substantialtwenty-five hundred.”
“Thank you,” she said, genuinely pleased.
“But Ive noticed a patternyoure taking every overtime shift, working weekends. Are you burning out?”
“No, Im fine. Rodney and I are saving for a flat. Every penny counts.”
“Admirable, but healths worth more than any property.”
Inessa nodded but privately thought that without her extra shifts, theyd never save enoughRodney kept “lending” money to his family.
“Leonard, any extra tasks going? Maybe someone wants holiday cover?”
He studied her.
“There is, but youre stretched thin already.”
“Ill manage.”
At home, she found Rodney with his mate Victor. They were at the kitchen table with beers, laughing loudly at some joke.
“Oh, Inessas back!” Victor raised his bottle in greeting. “Join us!”
“Thanks, Im tired,” she said, heading to the fridge for water.
“Rodney was just telling me about your flat savings. Proper dedicated, you two! I never get round to it.”
“Thats because you keep dumping cash into crypto,” Rodney chuckled. “Hoping to strike it rich overnight.”
“Long-term investment! In a year or two, Ill be loaded!”
“Yeah, right. How many times have you struck it rich already?”
Inessa left for the bedroom, unable to stomach their talk of easy money. An hour later, Victor finally left, and Rodney came in.
“Whats the face for?”
“I worked twelve hours today, Rodney. Youre drinking with a mate.”
“Sorry my friend dropped by. Not allowed to relax now?”
“You can. Id just prefer if you relaxed after work, not instead of it.”
“Here we go again.”
“When was the last time you went to the garage?”
Rodney turned to the window.
“Last week.”
“Last week you were hungover after Pauls birthday.”
“Listen, stop monitoring me! Dont like it? Get divorced!”
A week later, Joanna, Rodneys sister, turned up unannounced. Inessa was cooking when she barged in.
“Hi, sis-in-law! Rod home?”
“On the sofa,” Inessa said flatly, not turning from the stove.
“Rod!” Joanna flopped beside him. “I need money, urgent!”
“Again? Jo, I gave you cash for those courses last week.”
“Different thing! Theres a massive discount on pro makeup kits! Cant miss this chance!”
“How much?” Rodney sighed.
“Just twenty-five hundred! Its an investment!”
“Twenty-five hundred?!” Inessa burst out. “Joanna, thats insane!”
“Nobody asked you!” Joanna snapped. “Rod, please! Ill get clients and pay you back with interest!”
“Jo, were strapped right now”
“Youre always strapped! Saving like misers while family suffers!”
“Were not misers,” Inessa tried. “Weve scrimped for three years.”
“Spare me! You both earn well but wont share!”
After she left, silence settled heavily. Rodney went to smoke on the balcony while Inessa returned to dinner.
An hour later, Claudia Petrovna called.
“Rodney, how could you refuse your own sister? Shes trying to better herself!”
“Mum, were really tight right now.”
“Tight? For family? Inessas turning you against us!”
“Mum, its not”
“Married that girl and now she bosses you! Forgotten who raised you?”
From the kitchen, Inessa listened. Shed poured her soul into those savings, worked herself raggedonly to be painted as a greedy villain.
The next morning, she ran into Edward, their neighbour, in the stairwell. Fresh from a jog, his athletic frame evident even in middle age.
“Morning, Inessa! Hows things?” he greeted warmly, checking his post.
“Fine, thanks,” she said, adjusting her bag.
“Heard youre saving for a flat. Smartprices keep climbing. Took me ages to upsize.”
“Yes, were trying. Three years of every
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