He Counted Every Cent, Except the Cost of Losing Me - Chapter 3: Chapter 3
You are reading He Counted Every Cent, Except the Cost of Losing Me, Chapter 3: Chapter 3. Read more chapters of He Counted Every Cent, Except the Cost of Losing Me.
If we're splitting everything, then let's split everything.
That night, I logged into our joint account and transferred out the remaining $800,000.
The second I finished, my phone rang. Grayson.
"Why the hell did you clean out our joint account?!"
My voice stayed perfectly calm. "Oh, my buddy Jake is buying a house. Lent him eight hundred grand."
He was clearly trying to control his temper. "Don't you think you should've discussed this with me first?"
I actually laughed. "You can lend money to your childhood bestie Raven, but I can't help out my oldest friend?"
He went quiet for a couple seconds, then snapped back: "Raven had an emergency, and you were right there when it happened."
"Jake's situation is urgent too." I said innocently.
That shut him up.
Finally, he managed: "Whatever."
Then he hung up.
We'd been in a cold war ever since.
Or rather, I'd stopped wanting to communicate with him entirely.
But I still followed his precious fifty-fifty rule to the letter, paying every itemized bill he sent me immediately.
What I didn't expect was for Raven to crack first.
She blew up my phone with messages.
"Tessa, I think there's been some misunderstanding."
"Gray was just being nice and helping me out. Please don't read into it."
"If you're upset, I'll stop asking him for favors..."
The last message came with a pouty emoji.
I laughed coldly, screenshot the whole conversation, and posted it to Instagram with the caption:
"Some people are real pros at playing victim while cashing checks. Oscar-worthy performance."
Set to visible only to Grayson.
Three seconds later, I heard him pounding on my room door.
Before I even answered, his voice was already booming:
"Tessa! What the fuck is that post supposed to mean? Delete it right now!"
I took my sweet time opening the door, then drawled lazily: "Aw, did I hit a nerve?"
He glared at me, practically snarling: "Raven isn't like that! Stop making shit up about her!"
I smirked. "Really? Did you also pay the two hundred grand for her daughter's private school tuition?"
Hearing this, he suddenly went dead silent, refusing to meet my eyes.
"Grayson, you make me split a $19.80 lunch but you can drop two hundred thousand on her kid's education without blinking?"
His breathing got heavy. After a long pause, he forced out: "Raven's a single mom. It's tough for her. You're different—you have me."
I laughed bitterly. "Oh right, I have a husband but I'm worse off than she is without one. Yeah, real different."
Grayson's face went through about five shades of red.
"Grayson, you always talk about fairness, but that scale of fairness in your heart has been tilted for a long time."
He opened his mouth like he wanted to argue, but nothing came out.
So he thought what I said was irrefutable too, right?
I suddenly realized how exhausting this whole charade had become.
I could handle him controlling our life with his fifty-fifty obsession.
But I couldn't handle him holding me to impossible standards while having zero boundaries with everyone else.
"I'll send you divorce papers tomorrow. Just sign them."
At those words, Grayson's head snapped up.
His eyes went wide and bloodshot, his expression twisted with rage.
"Divorce?! You actually want to divorce me?"
"Tessa! Don't say I didn't warn you! Without me, who else is gonna give you this good of a life?"
"If you want to play games, I'll play along! But I'm not giving you one extra cent!"
His voice was ice-cold, every word designed to cut deep.
I looked at him for a long moment, then suddenly smiled.
Grayson must have thought his threats were working, because he reached out to grab my hand.
"Okay, let's just pretend you never mentioned divorce."
I yanked my hand away coldly.
Right in front of him, I called my friend Jake.
"Hey, how much profit did that eighty grand I invested make?"
"Perfect. Cash it all out for me."
Shock flashed across Grayson's face.
"Investment? What investment?"
I took a deep breath, my voice steady and determined:
"If you agree to the divorce, I'll make sure you get more than your fair share."
Then, right in front of him, I transferred him a million dollars.
His expression changed instantly, his voice shooting up: "Tessa! Where the hell did you get that kind of money?"
I looked at him with complete calm. "Grayson, didn't you say I couldn't survive without you?"
"Well, now I'm telling you—"
"I'll be way better off without you."
That night, I logged into our joint account and transferred out the remaining $800,000.
The second I finished, my phone rang. Grayson.
"Why the hell did you clean out our joint account?!"
My voice stayed perfectly calm. "Oh, my buddy Jake is buying a house. Lent him eight hundred grand."
He was clearly trying to control his temper. "Don't you think you should've discussed this with me first?"
I actually laughed. "You can lend money to your childhood bestie Raven, but I can't help out my oldest friend?"
He went quiet for a couple seconds, then snapped back: "Raven had an emergency, and you were right there when it happened."
"Jake's situation is urgent too." I said innocently.
That shut him up.
Finally, he managed: "Whatever."
Then he hung up.
We'd been in a cold war ever since.
Or rather, I'd stopped wanting to communicate with him entirely.
But I still followed his precious fifty-fifty rule to the letter, paying every itemized bill he sent me immediately.
What I didn't expect was for Raven to crack first.
She blew up my phone with messages.
"Tessa, I think there's been some misunderstanding."
"Gray was just being nice and helping me out. Please don't read into it."
"If you're upset, I'll stop asking him for favors..."
The last message came with a pouty emoji.
I laughed coldly, screenshot the whole conversation, and posted it to Instagram with the caption:
"Some people are real pros at playing victim while cashing checks. Oscar-worthy performance."
Set to visible only to Grayson.
Three seconds later, I heard him pounding on my room door.
Before I even answered, his voice was already booming:
"Tessa! What the fuck is that post supposed to mean? Delete it right now!"
I took my sweet time opening the door, then drawled lazily: "Aw, did I hit a nerve?"
He glared at me, practically snarling: "Raven isn't like that! Stop making shit up about her!"
I smirked. "Really? Did you also pay the two hundred grand for her daughter's private school tuition?"
Hearing this, he suddenly went dead silent, refusing to meet my eyes.
"Grayson, you make me split a $19.80 lunch but you can drop two hundred thousand on her kid's education without blinking?"
His breathing got heavy. After a long pause, he forced out: "Raven's a single mom. It's tough for her. You're different—you have me."
I laughed bitterly. "Oh right, I have a husband but I'm worse off than she is without one. Yeah, real different."
Grayson's face went through about five shades of red.
"Grayson, you always talk about fairness, but that scale of fairness in your heart has been tilted for a long time."
He opened his mouth like he wanted to argue, but nothing came out.
So he thought what I said was irrefutable too, right?
I suddenly realized how exhausting this whole charade had become.
I could handle him controlling our life with his fifty-fifty obsession.
But I couldn't handle him holding me to impossible standards while having zero boundaries with everyone else.
"I'll send you divorce papers tomorrow. Just sign them."
At those words, Grayson's head snapped up.
His eyes went wide and bloodshot, his expression twisted with rage.
"Divorce?! You actually want to divorce me?"
"Tessa! Don't say I didn't warn you! Without me, who else is gonna give you this good of a life?"
"If you want to play games, I'll play along! But I'm not giving you one extra cent!"
His voice was ice-cold, every word designed to cut deep.
I looked at him for a long moment, then suddenly smiled.
Grayson must have thought his threats were working, because he reached out to grab my hand.
"Okay, let's just pretend you never mentioned divorce."
I yanked my hand away coldly.
Right in front of him, I called my friend Jake.
"Hey, how much profit did that eighty grand I invested make?"
"Perfect. Cash it all out for me."
Shock flashed across Grayson's face.
"Investment? What investment?"
I took a deep breath, my voice steady and determined:
"If you agree to the divorce, I'll make sure you get more than your fair share."
Then, right in front of him, I transferred him a million dollars.
His expression changed instantly, his voice shooting up: "Tessa! Where the hell did you get that kind of money?"
I looked at him with complete calm. "Grayson, didn't you say I couldn't survive without you?"
"Well, now I'm telling you—"
"I'll be way better off without you."
End of He Counted Every Cent, Except the Cost of Losing Me Chapter 3. Continue reading Chapter 4 or return to He Counted Every Cent, Except the Cost of Losing Me book page.