“Just understand the message.”
Eleanor smiled.
That smile told me everything.
She had not acted alone.
Maybe Daniel had not known exactly what she planned.
But she knew he would protect her.
That was enough.
“Tomorrow morning, you hand in your resignation.”
Eleanor pointed toward me.
“Then you wake up at five.”
I said nothing.
“You go buy groceries.”
Nothing.
“You make Daniel a proper breakfast.”
Daniel did not stop her.
She lifted her chin.
“In this house, your husband comes first.”
I looked at both of them.
No guilt.
No shock.
No shame.
Just authority.
Fake authority.
The kind built entirely on the assumption that I would keep paying for it.
They had made one enormous mistake.
They thought money was the thing keeping me trapped.
They did not understand that money was the one thing giving me an exit.
My hands trembled.
But my voice became cold.
I stood.
I picked up the clippers.
Daniel frowned.
“What are you doing?”
I walked into the bathroom.
