Chapter 5

On the fifth night, I was in the living room watching TV.

Sophie came out of the master bedroom, holding the baby, and sat down next to me.

"Nora, I need to talk to you about something," she said.

"Go ahead," I said.

"Now that you're back from your training, shouldn't you be handing your paycheck over to me?" Sophie demanded with utter entitlement. "After all, I'm the one running this household now, and the babies are expensive."

I just stared at her.

"How much money did you waste on that training year anyway? You haven't contributed half as much as I did by giving him children," she went on. "Mark doesn't earn much to begin with. If you keep hoarding your paycheck, how is this family supposed to survive?"

Mark sat beside her staring down at his phone, not uttering a single word.

I set the remote down and stood up.

"Okay," I said.

Sophie blinked, surprised. "You're actually agreeing?"

"I said okay," I smiled. "But not because I'm agreeing with you—it's just so you can finally see how things really are."

"What are you getting at?" Sophie snapped.

"This house," I said, locking eyes with her, "has never belonged to you."

Sophie's face changed. "What are you trying to say?"

"You'll find out tomorrow," I said.

I turned and walked into the guest room.

Mark hurried after me. "Nora, what are you trying to do?"

I glanced back at him.

"Just doing what needs to be done," I said.

The next morning at ten, the doorbell rang.

Sophie went to answer it, her voice turning shrill. "Who are you?"

"Is Mr. Mark Carter in? I have a lawyer's letter here for him to sign."

I stepped out of the guest room and saw Sophie standing stunned in the doorway.

The courier handed her the document and turned to leave. Holding the paperwork, Sophie's face went pale.

"Nora, what is this?" Sophie snapped, her voice shaking.

Without a word, I took the letter right out of her hand.

"This is for Mark. There's no need for you to read it," I said.

Mark burst out of the bedroom. "What's this lawyer's letter?"

I handed him the envelope. "Read it yourself."

He unfolded the letter, and the more he read, the more his face fell.

"Nora, have you lost your mind? You're actually taking me to court?" Mark demanded.

"Not suing you—just filing for divorce," I said, my tone icy. "And I'm also taking back everything you moved out of our joint account while we were married."

"What concealed assets? I never transferred anything!" Mark protested, his voice rising.

"125,000 dollars," I said, my voice icy. "Every dollar you sent to Sophie from our joint account—I have it all documented. And that apartment in the suburbs? The 80,000 dollar deposit came straight out of our account too."

Mark just stood there, completely stunned.

Sophie's face went ghostly pale, her voice trembling. "How did you find out?"

"I know even more," I said, locking eyes with her. "Like all those things you bragged about in your girlfriends' group chat. 'Snagged myself a sucker,' 'Assets transferred,' 'Just waiting to take over'—want me to read them out for everyone?"

Sophie took a step back, her voice shaky. "You... you went through my WhatsApp?"

"Not spying—just retrieving evidence," I replied, her tone icy. "My best friend's a lawyer, so everything was done by the book."

Mark finally snapped out of it, his face darkening. "Nora, what's this supposed to mean? Everything was fine, and now you're making a scene?"

"Fine?" I snorted. "Mark, I was gone for a year, and you cheated on me and had twins with someone else. Is that your idea of 'fine'?"

"That was I just wasn't thinking straight," Mark stammered, barely able to get the words out.

"Not thinking straight?" I cut him off, my tone cold. "From last March to now, that's a year and four months. 125,000 dollars, plus an 80,000 dollar deposit—almost 160,000 dollars. You call that just a momentary lapse?"

Mark just stood there, completely speechless.

"It's all spelled out in the lawyer's letter," I said, my voice cold. "You have seven days. Either sign the divorce agreement and split the assets according to the terms, or we'll settle this in court."

"What's in the agreement?" Mark asked, his voice trembling.

"The house goes to me—I paid for the down payment and renovations. As for the money you moved out, the law says you have to pay back double. Everything else gets split according to the law," I said, my tone icy.

"So what do I get? Nothing?" Mark asked, his voice shaking.

I looked at him. "You've got Sophie, and you've got two kids. Isn't that exactly what you wanted?"

Sophie suddenly screamed, "Nora, don't think you've won! This place is Mark's, the house is Mark's—what makes you think you can just take it?"

"On the property deed," I said. "On the bank records for my 200,000-dollar down payment. On the signed contracts and invoices for my 90,000 dollars in renovations. Do you want me to pull them out and show you?"

Sophie was stunned. "You paid for the down payment?"

I glanced at Mark. "Seriously? He never told you?"

Mark just looked down, not saying a word.

Sophie's face shifted through a dozen different emotions before she finally turned to Mark. "Mark, is what she said true?"

Mark stayed silent.

"Is that true?" Sophie's voice went sharp. "You told me the house was yours, that your parents paid the down payment. You lied to me?"

"I didn't lie, I—"

"Then who paid the down payment?"

Mark was quiet for a few seconds, then finally said, "It was Nora. But we agreed I'd pay her back little by little."

"Did you?"

He didn't answer.

Sophie glanced at him, then at me, her expression was all over the place.

"Nora," she suddenly switched gears, her voice softening. "We're both women, so why make things so ugly? I can bow out and let the two of you stay together, okay?"

I laughed. "Sophie, you really don't get it, do you?"

"What?" he asked.

"It's not about you leaving," I said. "I just don't want him anymore."