The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Steven felt a sharp pang in his chest. Then, he said honestly, "Jessica lied. I never increased Annalise's allowance."

Upon hearing that, Chloe was stunned. She hurriedly asked, "You must've given her mother money, right?"

"I did not," Steven said, feeling his heart ache even more. "When we first got married, you told me numerous times not to pamper them. I never forgot about that."

Chloe was at a loss for words. She always called Annalise a gold digger, yet Steven only gave her so little every month. Suddenly, she felt extremely embarrassed.

Amidst their silence, I chimed in and said, "First of all, what you need to know is that in the first year we were married, he couldn't even give me 3,000 dollars. Between the second and the fourth year, he gave me 3,000 dollars every month.

"But in the last two years, he never gave me a single cent. That means in the six years we were together, he only gave me 108,000 dollars in total."

After calmly narrating my calculations, I added, "On average, he's only given me 1,500 dollars every month. With that money, I had to pay for groceries, cook all the meals, and do all the house chores. I also gave birth to a son and had to care for him.

"Even with that, you called my mother and I parasites who were leeching money off you. What a joke."

I stared at Chloe, who shifted awkwardly and asked, "Why? Is 1,500 dollars too little for you? You're so ungrateful.

"It's good that he even bothered to give you an allowance. Why are you being so fussy?"

Then, Chloe immediately turned to Zane and said, "Look! She's so ungrateful."

However, I was unfazed by her words. I chuckled and asked, "Why don't you ask Steven if that much money was sufficient for his meals in a month?"

Chloe knew Steven was a lavish spender. She knew very well that 1,500 dollars wouldn't even cover one of Steven's meals-but Chloe couldn't say that to Annalise.

Chloe said, "Having enough is one matter, but his willingness to give is a separate matter. If it weren't for

the money he gave you, where would you have gotten the money for your expenses over the years? What did you survive on?"

Chloe glanced at me and said, "It was with the money that Steven gave you!"

"Oh, please. Don't pretend the measly amount was a great blessing. Over the years, I managed to maintain my standard of living because I found myself a part-time job that paid enough to cover my expenses," I explained calmly.

T

Upon hearing that, Chloe sneered and asked, "How much can you make from a part-time job?"

"Enough to cover the expenses for

your son's lavish meals. Do you think 50 dollars a day was enough for me to prepare three meals a day, with every meal having at least three different dishes that came withnoveldrama

poultry or red meat?" I asked bluntly.

I continued, "But since you're putting so much importance on the money he gave me, I don't want to explain so much. Let's compare our transaction histories."

I pulled up my transaction history that detailed every single expense that I ever made for Steven over the years.

"Here: these are the things that Steven spent his money on. You should tally the amount and have him pay me back," I said as I handed Chloe my phone.