“Dinner was great, Olivia,” David said, his voice like ice. He pulled the receipts out and laid them on the table. “But I’m curious. Why do you lie about the small things? And why do you lie about the big things?”
Olivia’s smile didn’t falter at first. “I just didn’t have time to cook, David. I wanted the night to be special.”
“And your mother? Was it ‘special’ when you took her rent money while you were buying designer handbags?”
The mask finally slipped. Olivia’s face hardened, her eyes turning cold and sharp. “So, you went there. You went to that pathetic little shack.”
“She’s your mother, Olivia. She’s starving herself to send you money you don’t even need.”
“She owes me!” Olivia screamed, her voice echoing in the high ceilings. “She brought me into a world of nothing! I spent my childhood in hand-me-downs while other girls had everything. I was the ‘charity case’ at school. Do you have any idea what that does to a person?”
“She gave you everything she had!”
“It wasn’t enough! She was an embarrassment. A tired, old librarian who couldn’t even afford a decent car. I made myself, David. I studied while she slept. I learned how to talk, how to dress, how to be someone you would actually want to marry. I did the work. She was just the baggage I had to carry.”
“You’re a monster,” David said quietly.
“I’m a survivor,” she spat. “And don’t act so holier-than-thou. You were born with a silver spoon. You didn’t ‘earn’ anything. You just got lucky. I’m the one who actually knows the value of what you have.”
“The wedding is off, Olivia. Get your things. I’ll have my lawyer send over a severance for the time you ‘invested’ in me, but I want you out by morning.”
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