Chapter 2

2

The train reached her stop all too quickly.

It was the first time I felt annoyed by how fast modern travel was. Watching her pack up, I felt a strange sense of loss.

I helped her with her bags and waved goodbye as the train began to pull away.

She smiled and gave a polite wave. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she fumbled for her phone and shouted, "Let's exchange numbers!"

My hand was shaking when I scanned her contact info.

A few minutes after the train started moving again, I got a text: "So glad I met you!"

Our relationship moved fast and smooth.

From dating to getting engaged, it took a little over a year. Both sets of parents seemed happy.

But during that time, something bizarre happened.

Annie's mother, who was forty-eight, got pregnant. She insisted on keeping the baby despite the high risks of a geriatric pregnancy.

It was her family's business, so I didn't say much. What surprised me was how much Annie supported the idea.

Her father worked on long-term construction projects out of state, often gone eleven months a year. Naturally, the burden of care fell on Annie.

A few months later, we were planning the wedding.

Her parents suddenly demanded a fifty-thousand-dollar "family contribution" fee. They wouldn't budge on the price.

Before this, they hadn't mentioned money. Annie had told me their traditions were flexible and to just prepare what we could.

My parents had already helped me buy the house and the car. We only had twenty thousand set aside for the wedding. This sudden demand caught us off guard.

I asked Annie if we could lower it. I didn't want to make my parents take out a loan just for a wedding gift.

But my normally gentle fiancé turned into a different person. She snapped, saying if the money wasn't there, there would be no wedding.

I ended up borrowing from every friend I had. My parents hit up my aunts and uncles. Finally, we scraped the money together.

The shock came on the wedding day.

Her family's contribution to our new home consisted of three sets of cheap bedsheets―one for winter, one for spring, and one for summer.

My relatives were stunned, but they stayed quiet to save my parents' dignity.

During the family reception, when it was time to acknowledge the parents, my parents handed Annie a check for ten thousand dollars.

In return, her parents handed me a card with exactly sixty-six dollars in it.

At the time, I didn't know.

That was only the beginning.

As soon as her family got the money, her mother sent Annie to the city where I lived.

Since graduation, she hadn't held a real job. She'd only worked a few months as an intern to get her diploma signed.

Annie had a degree in International Trade. It just so happened that a company I worked with was hiring. I knew the HR manager well and pulled some strings.

She was inexperienced and struggled at first.

I even paid an older colleague of hers under the table to mentor her.

I worked in the travel industry.

I spent my entire year's bonus on two luxury European tour packages for her and her mentor just to secure her position.

She kept that job for less than a year.

Right after our honeymoon, she handed in her resignation. She didn't even talk to me about it.

I only found out because the HR manager called me to complain. I was mortified.

She hadn't just embarrassed the person who gave her the job. she had also collected wedding gifts from every single person in that office before quitting.