I lifted my head and looked at David, my voice edged with scorn.
“So when people get old and can’t earn money anymore, they’re nothing but a burden? They can be slandered, and their lives can be bought off with fifty thousand dollars?”
“David, is that what you think about your mom too?”
“Shut up.”
Like a firecracker set off, David shot to his feet and splashed his drink into my face.
“Rachel, how can you be so ungrateful?”
“I’m trying to think of you, and you dare insult my mom? What kind of daughter-in-law does that?”
“You won’t sign the settlement? Fine. Let me tell you this—if we go to court, you won’t get a dime.”
He snatched the agreement from the table and stormed out of the restaurant.
I watched his back until he disappeared through the door.
His answer was obvious.
I wanted to laugh, but all I felt was pathetic.
My parents hadn’t worked in years.
But that was because they’d each put in over twenty years at the same company before being forced into early retirement during a round of corporate downsizing.
Even after leaving, their pensions never stopped.
I’d urged them to travel, to enjoy their lives, but they refused.