Mil: “My Son Earns $5k! Divorce Him!” Me: (It’s My Salary…) Did As Told, Mil’s Disaster!! Lol
Reality Checks In
About two months had passed, and I had almost forgotten about my ex-husband and ex-mother-in-law when a call came from an unknown number. Who could that be? Maybe it’s a wrong number? Thinking that, I didn’t answer the call. However, the calls kept coming. Reluctantly, I answered. I heard my ex-husband’s voice.
“Why didn’t you answer the phone sooner?” He seemed quite flustered.
“Well, it’s an unknown number, and besides, we’re not related anymore, so I’m going to hang up.”
As I was about to hang up, he quickly said, “Wait, wait! I can’t connect my smartphone. Why is that?”
He sounded desperate.
“I wouldn’t know. You should check with your phone company.”
As I replied, I realized something.
“Are you by any chance not depositing money into your bank account?”
When we were married, I was depositing money from my salary into the account for paying public utilities. His salary was also transferred there, but it was such a small amount that it wasn’t enough. He was selling health food products, but his basic salary was low because it was a commission system. People who get a lot of orders seem to make a lot of money, but he didn’t do well. He was receiving almost only the basic salary, so only a few hundred dollars was transferred to the account.
I had been depositing money into the payment account at the end of every month, but for the past three months, it was only his salary. The argument about the car and me leaving the house was in the middle of the month. The payment for that new car might have already started. My ex-husband on the other end of the phone fell silent.
“I’ve been managing all this with my own salary. From now on, you’ll have to figure it out on your own,” I told him.
I wanted to say “Serves you right,” but held back and hung up the phone.
The Truth Revealed
My ex-husband probably never told his mother how much he earned. His mother didn’t realize that ever since our marriage, we’d mostly been living off my salary. John must have been too embarrassed to admit that he earned less than his wife. I’ve heard that utilities like electricity and water are not easy to shut off; the first thing that gets cut off is usually the cell phone service. I learned a few days later.
On a quiet weekend morning, the doorbell at my house rang loudly. When my dad answered, he was arguing with someone at the front door.
“We have nothing to do with you anymore, so leave!”
Seeing my normally calm father so angry, I knew something was wrong, and my mom and I headed towards the entrance.
“I just want to see Susan!” a voice demanded.
Hearing my ex-mother-in-law’s voice made my heart pound. Just as my dad had predicted, she’d come all the way to our home. When she saw me, my ex-mother-in-law started yelling at me with a terrifying expression on her face.
“Because you stopped depositing money into the account, the electricity and water got cut off!”
My parents and I were taken aback. What did she mean, the electricity and water got cut off? Just then, my ex-husband arrived, desperately trying to intervene.
“Mom, stop it! This has nothing to do with Susan!”
But my ex-mother-in-law shook off John’s hand and continued her tirade. “John makes five thousand dollars! Why would the electricity and water get cut off?”
“You’re mistaken. I’m the one who makes five thousand dollars,” I corrected her, finally able to share what I hadn’t been able to say before.
My ex-mother-in-law looked surprised at my words, then turned to John.
“That’s right… it wasn’t my salary. It was all Susan’s,” he admitted, his shoulders slumping.
“Huh? How can you earn so much with a part-time job?” My ex-mother-in-law looked at me as if I was a fox who had tricked her.
“I’ve told you before, it’s not a part-time job; it’s a real job,” I replied.
The color drained from my ex-mother-in-law’s face. “How much does John make?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“About five hundred dollars net,” he answered, his voice almost disappearing.
The Aftermath
There was a moment of silence. Then my ex-mother-in-law said something unbelievable.
“Susan, can’t you come back? The whole ‘leave us’ thing was a joke,” she begged with a low posture, reminding me of someone trying to butter me up.
“What are you talking about? I’m divorced; I have nothing to do with you two anymore.”
Even though I firmly declined, my ex-mother-in-law continued to plead in an overly familiar way. “You can just remarry John. If we start the paperwork now, it’ll be fine.”
My dad stepped in when I was too flabbergasted to respond. “We’re done with you. If you don’t leave right now, we’ll call the police.”
At the sound of my dad’s intimidating voice, my ex-husband and ex-mother-in-law hurriedly left.
“If you show up again, I’m calling the cops right away!” my father delivered a final warning as the mother and son wobbled away.
“What a bunch of uncouth people,” my mother was astounded, but my father seemed even more furious.
“I’m glad you got out of that marriage, Susan.”
A while after that incident, I got an update about the ex-family from one of John’s friends. In the end, John had sold his family home and land and moved into an apartment with his mother. The new car he barely used had been sold too, and the proceeds from the land sale had gone to pay off the remaining loan.
He’d cleared his debts, but instead of settling down to work, John had blown all his money on gambling. Having squandered the money from selling his family home, he’d disappeared without a trace. His mother, left behind, had developed dementia and been placed in a care facility.
I’m doing well in my job now and living alone. I’ve recently started dating a man I met through work. He’s understanding about me being divorced and is very dedicated to his job. He’s definitely not the kind of guy who relies on his wife’s money to make expensive purchases like John was. We’re not engaged yet, but we both feel like we could marry each other.
