Chapter 7
"Elaine's landlord suddenly decided to sell her place out of the blue. She didn't have enough money, so I lent her some to help her out," he said.
"Seriously? You used our joint account for that?" I asked.
"I'll put it back in a few months," he said.
"That money my parents gave Max for his birth is in there too," I said.
He rubbed his temples, looking impatient after a long day.
"It's not like we were using that money for anything else. Elaine needs to get the down payment together by the end of the month, and she can't do it on her own," he said.
"80,000 dollars is just the down payment?" I asked.
"Yeah," he replied.
"What kind of place is she buying?" I asked.
David didn't answer right away.
I took my phone back and pulled up the transaction details. "You wrote 'housing mortgage' in the memo, not 'loan.' And you never discussed it with me before sending the money."
"It's Max's baptism. I don't want to argue with you today," he said.
He walked over to the water dispenser and poured himself a glass.
"If you've got something to say, just say it all at once," he said.
I watched his back. "When did you start setting aside this money?"
"Last week," he replied.
"So you had a whole week to tell me," I said.
"I know you don't like me getting involved with her. If I told you, it would've just started another fight," David said.
"So you just went ahead and took it?" I shot back.
"It's our joint account, so half of it is mine too," he replied.
He took a sip of water, acting like he'd already explained everything. "Even if we go fifty-fifty, I didn't take more than my share."
I stared at him.
Turns out, he'd already worked out the math.
Before he decided to use that money, he probably figured out exactly how much belonged to him and how much belonged to me. But he never thought about the fact that some of it was from my parents for Max.
"What about before?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" he replied.
I kept scrolling through the transaction history.
On the tenth of every month, 4,000 dollars got transferred out.
Same amount, every month, for seventeen months straight, all to Elaine.
Then at the end of last year, there was another 12,000, marked as property and parking fees.
I turned the screen toward him.
"Is this rent?" I asked.
David's face finally fell.
He came over to reach for the phone, but I pulled it back.
"You've been covering her rent this whole time," I said.
"She was struggling after her divorce, and her job was shaky," he replied.
"Seventeen months," I said.
"I owe her, that's on me," David said.
His voice softened. "When she lost the baby back then, I was partly to blame. Her health never really recovered, her marriage ended, and I just couldn't let her go through all that alone."
"And what about me?" I asked.
David looked at me.
"What about you?" he asked.
I suddenly laughed.
He didn't even realize what I was getting at.
After I got pregnant, I was stuck in bed for two months because of complications, and my income stopped. Since giving birth, I've only bought two nursing outfits. Just to keep the joint account untouched for Max, I didn't even get the new laptop I'd been planning on.
But every month, he was covering his ex-wife Elaine's rent, parking fees, and living expenses.
And yesterday, he took the money my parents gave for Max and put it toward her housing mortgage.
"Where's the place she's buying?" I asked.
David was silent for a moment.
"Willow Creek Residences," he finally said.
My grip on the phone tightened.
Willow Creek Residences was barely a mile from our home.
Before I gave birth, we checked out a small apartment there. I wanted to buy it for my parents, so they could stay with us when they came to help with the baby, instead of having to sleep in the guest room.
David said the price was way too high, and since we already had a place, there was no point in getting another loan.
Now Elaine's getting a place there.
The place my parents couldn't even have, he went and paid the down payment for his ex-wife.
My phone suddenly buzzed.
Elaine texted me.
"Sophia, I'm really sorry about today. And thank you for helping with the house. I'll pay you back, bit by bit," she wrote.
She knew the money came from the account David and I shared.
She knew half of it belonged to me.
I looked up at David.