The words isn't much time left landed, and a flicker of delight crossed her face before she could smother it. She spat on the floor for show. "Bad luck! If you're going to die, hurry up and do it. Don't drag this family's fortune down with you."
She dropped back onto the sofa and crossed her legs. "Since you're on your way out, you should cough up that fifty thousand dollar dowry. I said from the start you weren't worth that price. Now we're losing the money and the wife."
A bitter taste rose in my throat.
Thaddeus had taken that fifty thousand the day after our wedding. Part of it went into his investment account. The rest had been transformed, almost overnight, into the rosewood furniture she was sitting on and the gold bangle glinting on her wrist.
And what had I gotten?
"The money's with Thaddeus," I said, setting my bag down by the shoe rack.
"Liar!" She spat a sunflower shell onto the floor with venom. "Thaddeus says you've been hiding a secret stash. This divorce is happening today, no more stalling! Paulette is carrying a Gilbert heir, so you'd better clear out and make room."
The study door opened.
Thaddeus walked out with a stony expression, still wearing the shirt I'd ironed for him the night before.
He didn't look at me. Just tossed the papers onto the coffee table.
"Sign it."
I walked over and picked them up.
It was a divorce agreement. The house belonged to the husband. The car belonged to the husband. The savings belonged to the husband. The wife would leave with nothing, forfeiting all rights to marital property.
Not a single crumb left for me.
"Thaddeus," I said, looking at the man I'd spent three years of my life with. "I'm leaving. Does that make you feel even a little sorry?"
He let out a contemptuous laugh, then settled onto the couch beside his mother and lit a cigarette. Through the haze of smoke, his face looked warped.