I was shocked by Kyler's shamelessness.
How dare he say such things?
He only gave my mother 5,000 dollars, but she didn't take a penny and even gave us 11,000 dollars. So, I got 16,000 dollars in total for my future emergencies.
We'd only been married for over a month, and he was asking me for my dowry.
I sat on the sofa with a poker face.
I threw my hands open.
"Some of the dowry money is a fixed deposit, and the rest was used to pay household expenses."
"You know, I've already overspent this month."
His face darkened.
"I've been telling you to spend less, but you just don't listen!"
With a long sigh, he reached out his hand.
"Then you take out the remaining money and give it to Mom for her medical treatment!"
"If things continue on this path, you'll run out of money sooner or later!"
After a while, I didn't move.
Kyler stared at me.
"Which is more important, Mom's illness or your money?"
I sneered.
"It's still more than ten days until payday. If I give it to you, I have no money left."
Kyler looked annoyed.
"You're not gonna spend much on your food, right?"
I laughed furiously.
I asked him back.
"What about your money? You don't pay household expenses, the mortgage, or the car loan. After these few months, you haven't saved a penny?"
Kyler raised the medical bill in his hand.
"Didn't I pay 160 dollars for Mom's checkup today?"
Look how shameless he was!
I decided to act pitiful.
"Then what should we do?"
"How about we go Dutch from now on?"
He was a little surprised.
"Go Dutch?"
I nodded.
"Yes, in this way, I can control my spending."
"In the future, we'll go Dutch on any expenses including Dora's medical bills."
Kyler glanced at the seven or eight items of clothing I just bought on the bed.
He was hesitating.
"What about your personal expenses?"
I quickly replied, "I will pay it on my own."
...
Kyler nodded without hesitation.
I found the triumphant look on his face ridiculous!
It seemed that he didn't know the trivial matters in marriage were the invisible huge expenses.
...
After discussing with Kyler, we agreed to split the bill equally.
At first, he was still complacent.
After all, I had to pay half of his mother's medical expenses in the future.
He regretted it after less than a week.
After work that day, Kyler sat on the sofa and watched TV with Dora.
I came home with a bag of apples.
Kyler naturally assumed that I would wash them and put them all on the table.
But to his surprise, I only washed one for myself.
Dora's face dropped.
Kyler also looked annoyed.
He glared at me and said, "Bella, why don't you wash one for Mom?"
I looked innocently at him.
"But I bought the apples myself. You didn't pay."
"How about this? You transfer me 3 dollars and I'll go wash one for you."
I made Kyler furious.
He couldn't say a word.
Finally, he angrily salvaged the situation.
"The apples are kept frozen. It's not good for health. You know nothing!"
A few more days passed.
Kyler told me that his mom was a bit cold at night and asked me to get her a new blanket.
I agreed and sent her the comforter I had used for several years.
Then I bought myself a brand new silk quilt.
It was light and comfortable.
Kyler still wanted to be a good son and ordered me to give the new quilt to his mother.
I opened the QR code. "This quilt cost me 200 dollars. You gotta transfer me 100 dollars since I've used it for some time."
Things like that happened again and again.
When I refused to buy something for Kyler's mother again, he became furious.
And he tried to take my things away.
"Why do you keep our boundaries so clear? We're husband and wife."
"I'm still your husband."
I threw the credit card bills at him.
"How about we split the bills?"
"I'm still your wife."