Chapter 6 - MAYA’S ULTIMATUM
Trevor returned home different.
Maya noticed immediately.
“How much?”
He put down his bag.
“I don’t know.”
“You flew all the way there and didn’t ask?”
“I asked.”
“And?”
“She didn’t tell me.”
Maya stared.
“That’s insane.”
“No.”
Trevor looked at her.
“It’s hers.”
Maya’s expression hardened.
“What happened to you?”
“My mother happened.”
“She manipulated you.”
“No.”
“She disappeared, made a spectacle at the airport, then revealed she’s secretly wealthy.”
“She didn’t reveal anything.”
“Everyone saw the card.”
Trevor crossed his arms.
“Maya.”
“What?”
“Would you want her back if she had no money?”
Silence.
That answered too much.
Maya became furious.
“How dare you.”
“I’m asking.”
“I loved your mother.”
“You loved her help.”
“So did you!”
“Yes.”
Trevor said it immediately.
“Yes.”
That stopped her.
“I’m trying to fix that.”
Maya stared.
“And what about us?”
There it was.
The bigger issue.
Without Evelyn, their marriage had changed.
Every unpaid task became visible.
Trevor believed chores should be shared.
Maya believed childcare costs should come from his income because he earned more.
Trevor believed both careers mattered.
Maya reminded him she had sacrificed too.
All true.
All unresolved because Evelyn had absorbed the friction for years.
They hired a nanny.
$4,800 per month.
Trevor nearly choked when he saw the invoice.
Maya said:
“Now do you understand what your mother was worth?”
He looked at the number.
“No.”
“What?”
“I understand what childcare costs.”
He thought about Evelyn.
“That still doesn’t price my mother.”
For once, Maya had no response.
They entered couples counseling.
Not because Evelyn demanded it.
May you like
Because when the unpaid woman left, the marriage finally had to carry its own weight.
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