Chapter 3 - The Check
Vivian lived in the kind of house where you were scared to set your coffee cup down because every surface looked like it belonged in a museum. The entryway alone was bigger than the apartment I'd grown up in.
She led me into the sitting room, closed the door, and didn't even offer me a drink. That's when I knew this wasn't going to be a peace offering.
She sat across from me and studied my face for a few long seconds. I waited. Finally she reached beside her chair, opened a folder, and slid a check across the table.
I looked down. $90,000.
For several seconds my brain just refused to process it. Then I looked up. "What is this?"
She folded her hands in her lap. "It's enough for you to start over somewhere else."
I stared at her. She kept going like she was discussing the weather. "Pay off your loans. Move somewhere nice. Finish school if you want. Travel. Whatever makes you happy."
My stomach turned over.
"Vivian..."
Then she said it plainly. "All you have to do is end things with Bradley."
I genuinely thought I'd misheard her. "You're paying me to leave your son?"
"I'm giving you an opportunity."
"No. You're bribing me."
Her expression didn't move an inch. She looked almost bored by my outrage, like she'd expected exactly this reaction and was simply waiting for me to get past it.
Then she said the line I will never forget.
"Claudia, women like you always say love is enough — right up until somebody puts an actual number in front of you."
I stared at that check for what felt like an hour. Ninety thousand dollars. Enough to wipe out my student loans completely. Enough to change my entire life.
Vivian watched me closely, certain she'd finally found my price.
And then something in me shifted. The anger disappeared, and a thought arrived so suddenly I almost laughed out loud.
I smiled. I reached across the table, picked up the check, folded it once, and slid it into my purse.
Her eyebrows lifted. "That's it?"
"That's it."
For the first time since I'd known her, Vivian looked genuinely pleased with me. "I knew you'd be reasonable."
I stood up. She actually walked me to the door. Before I left, she touched my arm. "It's better this way. Bradley will be upset for a while, but eventually he'll understand."
I looked straight at her. "You're probably right."
Then I got in my car and drove away. I made it three blocks before I had to pull over, my hands shaking too hard to hold the wheel steady.
May you like
The check sat inside my purse.
Of course I would never leave Bradley. But for the first time, I finally knew exactly how to teach my future mother-in-law a lesson.
