Finally, after an eternity, he squeezed out the words.
"I'm sorry. But I already promised Mom... I can't go back on it now."
"So my mother just dies? We stand here and watch her die?"
He winced. "Maybe you could... borrow from your relatives?"
His voice shrank to almost nothing.
"Or use your savings..."
"What savings?!"
I lost it.
"You pay the mortgage—that's it. The car payments? Me. Groceries, utilities, everything we need to live? Me. Rosemary's tuition, her classes, her everything? All me!" My voice cracked. "If I had savings, do you think I'd be begging for what's rightfully mine?!"
I stared at him.
"You make twenty thousand a month. After the mortgage, you have twelve thousand left. Where does it go, Abner?"
He opened his mouth. Glanced at his mother.
Said nothing.
"Right here." My mother-in-law stepped forward, chin high, triumph dripping from every word. "It comes to me."
"All of Abner's money is with me. I've been keeping it safe—from certain people who might get ideas."
Certain people.
Meaning me.
His wife of seven years.
The last flicker of hope in my chest guttered out.
"So that's it, Abner?" My voice came out hollow. "You're done with this marriage?"
"No—that's not—"