Chapter 1 <fn5a21> Content originallyes from Find★Novel</fn5a21>
I wanted to give my mother $2,000 monthly for living expenses, but my husband Dn rejected it as “non essential spending.”
Five years into our marriage, my husband had always controlled our family finances under the guise of his “financial expertise.”
So even though I was worth hundreds of billions, I still had to consult with him before making any transfers.
But I never expected him to be so resolute and cold-blooded over such a small amount.
When I tried to ess hisputer to handle it myself, a message that popped up on the interface left me stunned:
The $3,000,000 Swiss vi you purchased for your mother is ready for upancy.]
So spending $2,000 on my mother was “non-essential,” but spending $3,000,000 on his mother didn’t make him bat an eye!
I returned to my room and pulled out a business card, dialing the number:
Hello, is this the famous financial detective Rex? I want you to help me get back all the money that belongs to me… Yeah! Everyst cent!”
Mom’s pension got cut off.
Thepany notice was politely worded: “Policy restructuring, unified suspension, no further disbursements starting next month.”
The olddy’s sixty-five now, and aside from that small pension, she had no other ie.
When she called me, her voice was barely above a whisper: “Ste honey, I know things are tough for you too. If money’s tight, I’ll just borrow some from m old friends…”
It felt like someone had wrapped a rope around my chest and pulled tight.
Tough? I’m the freaking CFO of StarMed Medical Group with a seven-figure sry-what’s tough about that!
The real problem is my husband-the VP, and the sole manager of every single one of our bank ounts.
pushed through the front door at eleven PM to find the living room lit by a single cold spotlight.
Dn sat behind the kitchen ind, theptop screen casting an icy glow across his face.
Dn,” I kept my voice steady, “Mom’s pension got cut. Starting next month, let’s give her two grand for living expenses, okay?”
His fingers paused for a second.
Two thousand? That’s twenty-four K annually, not counting intion.”
She’s my MOTHER.” I emphasized.
He looked up with that warm yet distant smile: “Ste, ording to our annual family budget, elder care falls under Category C expenditures-non-essential
djustable. Company cash flow’s tight this year. The budget’s locked.”
froze.
Two years ago, he’d bundled all the Parker and Morrison family assets into an offshore trust with himself as the trustee. Every penny required his electroni signature.
“Dn, it’s not like I’m buying random stuff. Mom needs to eat.”
He closed theptop, voice still soft but cutting like a dull de: “Ste, emotions don’t solve problems. Off-budget expenditures require written consent fro
the trust protector-that’s at least a month-long process. Let’s table this for now. Didn’t we just buy rice, flour, and oil for herst time? Tell the olddy to b more frugal.”
I didn’t sleep all night.
All bonuses, dividends, and stock options automatically transferred monthly into “StarMed-Ster Trust Fund No. 1,” and Dn was the sole approver for any outbound payments.
I poured myself ice water and noticed even the ice cubes were portioned and bagged-he’d applied performance management to every household expense.
At lunch, I headed back to the office, avoided Dn’s floor entirely, and met my bestie Zara at the coffee shop downstairs.
After hearing everything, she clicked her tongue: “Your husband’s running your home like a publicpany! Don’t you have any money stashed away?”
I smiled bitterly: “My equity’s all in the trust too. He even holds proxy voting rights for my stock options.”
Zara lowered her voice: “Then you gotta y hardball-audit his ounts, find the loopholes, force him to give up control.”
I shook my head.
Dn held both CPA and CFA certifications.
The man was airtight.
Zara thought for a moment and slid me a business card:
“This is Rex Hartwell, former financial crimes detective, now does anti-moneyundering consulting. He says behind every perfect budget lies imperfect
desires.”