The apology collapsed.
I exhaled.
“How did I humiliate you?”
“You mocked me.”
“I said no.”
“You treated the entire conversation like a joke.”
“Because three people had prepared a plan for my salary before I entered the room.”
“They were supporting me.”
“Then support should have ended when I walked in.”
Brooke tried to speak.
I held up one hand.
“Please. I’m talking to my wife.”
Lauren immediately bristled.
“Don’t talk to her like that.”
I looked at Melissa and Brooke.
Then back at Lauren.
“Do you see what is happening?”
“What?”
“Thursday, they were part of a decision about my paycheck. Today, they’re part of the argument about our marriage.”
“They’re my friends.”
“I know.”
“They care about me.”
“I hope they do.”
“Then why are you acting like that’s a problem?”
“Because I married one person.”
Silence.
Melissa looked away.
Lauren folded her arms.
“I needed support.”
“Support is not the same as authority.”
She stared at me.
I asked the question that mattered most.
“Do you still think my paycheck and savings should go into an account you control?”
Lauren hesitated.
That hesitation answered me before she spoke.
“I think the way we handle money needs to change.”
“How?”
“We need one system.”
“Controlled by?”
“Why do you keep using that word?”
“Because it’s the issue.”
She shook her head.