Chapter 2 - THE MONEY THAT NEVER PAID TUITION
For several seconds, I couldn’t speak.
Daniel bent down, picked up the divorce papers, and handed them back to me.
“I’m sorry.”
I barely heard him.
Three months before I dropped out.
I remembered that period perfectly.
Nathan had been devastated.
Or at least I thought he had been.
He would sit at our tiny kitchen table surrounded by tuition notices, rubbing both hands over his face while saying things like, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
That was when I had made my choice.
I withdrew from medical school.
Two weeks later, I began working mornings at a dental office and nights at a twenty-four-hour pharmacy.
I told myself it was temporary.
One year.
Maybe two.
Nathan cried when I told him.
He held me and said, “I swear I’ll spend the rest of my life making this up to you.”
Now I wondered whether those tears had been real.
“Why would he take my money if his tuition was covered?” I whispered.
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“I don’t know.”
But I could tell that wasn’t completely true.
“You know something.”
He hesitated.
“Only rumors.”
“Tell me.”
Daniel looked toward the parking lot.
“Nathan always seemed to have more money than the rest of us. Nice restaurants. Weekend trips. Expensive watches. He said his wife was doing well.”
I almost choked.
Doing well?
For four years, I had lived on instant noodles and grocery-store sandwiches.
I had repaired the same winter coat twice.
I had skipped dental work because the copay was too expensive.
Nathan had told me every extra dollar needed to go toward school.
Then I remembered something.
Last year, Nathan had opened a separate checking account.
He said it was for residency application expenses.
I had never questioned him.
Not once.
Daniel must have seen something change in my face.
“What?”
I looked down at the divorce papers.
“There’s an account.”
“What account?”
“I don’t know.”
But suddenly I knew exactly where I needed to go.
Our apartment.
Before Nathan got there.
I thanked Daniel and walked quickly toward the parking garage.
Halfway there, my phone buzzed.
A text from Nathan.
PLEASE DON’T MAKE THIS HARDER THAN IT HAS TO BE.
I stopped walking.
Then another message appeared.
I’LL BE AT THE APARTMENT TONIGHT TO GET MY THINGS.
I stared at the screen.
Nathan believed the only surprise waiting for him tonight would be an angry wife.
He had no idea that I was already going home to search for the money.
May you like
And when I opened the locked drawer inside his desk thirty minutes later, I didn’t find bank statements.
I found a photograph of Nathan kissing another woman.
