He smiled, but it was a sharp, humorless grin. «When your daughter marries into our family, she’ll learn her place too. Curtis will teach her how to behave. He’ll make sure of it.»
Curtis stood frozen beside him, silent. And then he nodded, a tiny, almost imperceptible movement. But I saw it. We all saw it. And in that moment, something in Natalie’s eyes changed.
Thomas stared at the Millers, completely dumbfounded. In all his years, he had never met a family so brazen, so shameless. I couldn’t hold back any longer. The rage rose to my head, and I let it explode. «How we raise our daughter is none of your business. And you? You have the nerve to lecture us?»
I stepped closer, my voice steady and firm. «You couldn’t contribute a single penny to the wedding. You have no house. You have no car. You brought absolutely nothing to this marriage. And now you have the gall to act like this house is yours?»
I glared at Curtis. «Your son? What exactly does he bring to the table besides obedience? He depends on us for everything. So you tell me, where does he get the right to demand anything?»
The Millers stood there, momentarily stunned, as if no one had ever dared to put them in their place before. Then, after a beat, Mr. Miller lost his composure. «Enough! Are you done talking? So what if we don’t have money? Your daughter wasn’t exactly a hard catch, was she? She practically threw herself at Curtis.»
His tone turned mocking, his smile sharp and mean. «You think we don’t know why? She’s past her prime. If she was really worth anything, you wouldn’t have to bribe a man to marry her with a house and gifts. Let’s be honest. You knew she didn’t have any better options.»
Natalie’s whole body went rigid. Her hands clenched into fists, her chest rising and falling with rapid breaths. I knew what she was thinking. For years, she had been so careful of Curtis’s insecurities. She never flaunted her family’s wealth. She never bought herself luxury items around him.
Every dinner, every movie date, she was the one paying, pretending it was nothing. And yet, here they were, twisting her kindness into desperation.
Natalie took a deep, shaky breath. Then, her voice rang out in the room, quiet and firm. «Mom. Dad. I’m not marrying him.»
Thomas and I both turned to her. Her gaze was clear, and her voice was steady. «I mean it.» She looked at Curtis, then back at us. «You were right. We come from completely different worlds, and this was never going to work.»
I knew it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. She had seen the truth, the real truth, not the illusion of love she had been clinging to. We had sensed it, too, how the relationship between them had been deteriorating for months. But today, this moment, had been the final straw.
Mrs. Miller wasn’t about to give up. She let out a cold laugh. «Oh, please, don’t play the victim. Even if you call off the wedding, my son would never take you back now.»
Natalie didn’t even look at her. She turned to Curtis, her voice as harsh as ice. «Take your parents and leave. We’re done.»
Curtis panicked, grabbing her wrist. «Nat, come on. Don’t do this. Don’t be so stubborn.»
She wrenched her arm away as if his touch burned her. «Don’t. Touch. Me.»
Mr. Miller let out a sneering laugh. «Look at you, Curtis. Pathetic. She’s not even your wife yet, and you can’t control her. You let this slide, and she’ll walk all over you for the rest of your life.» His voice turned taunting. «Are you even a man?»
And that was it. I was done with words. I took the glass from the table and slammed it onto the floor. The crash echoed through the house, leaving a ringing, eerie silence in its wake.
Then, Thomas moved. With a roar of pure fury, he lunged forward and threw a solid punch into Mr. Miller’s face. The impact sent Mr. Miller staggering backward, crashing into the wall before slumping to the floor, choking on his own breath. A dark red bruise was already blooming on his cheek.
Mrs. Miller shrieked, «You’re insane! That was assault!»
Thomas stood over him, his voice low and threatening. «Say one more word, and you’re not walking out of this house.»
Curtis froze, his face ashen. He didn’t dare move. I stepped forward, and for the first time, Curtis looked afraid. His voice trembled. «I only said that because you were disrespecting my parents. If you apologize, maybe we can just forget this whole…»
Before he could finish, Thomas’s palm struck Curtis across the face, the force sending him stumbling back to the floor. A bright red handprint flowered on his cheek. He clutched it, stunned, his eyes wide with disbelief. «You bastard,» Thomas growled. «That was for Natalie. That was for every word you let them say about her.»
Curtis scrambled backward, breathing in short, ragged gasps like a cornered rat. Mr. Miller, still dazed, began to push himself up when Thomas turned back to him. Mr. Miller paled. «If you lay another hand on me, I’ll call the police. You’ll go to jail for this.»
Thomas grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up, lifting him clean off the floor. «Shut up.»
Mr. Miller struggled, his legs kicking wildly, his shoes falling off. «Let me go, you psycho!»
Thomas leaned in, his voice sharp. «I see you for what you are now. Even if Natalie wanted to marry into your family, I would never allow it.» Mr. Miller was trembling now, his bravado completely shattered. Thomas’s grip tightened. «My daughter is smart, beautiful, and capable. She doesn’t need your son; in fact, she’s too good for him.»
His voice dropped, more dangerous. «You couldn’t pay for a wedding. You couldn’t buy them a house. And the second you walked in here, you disrespected us. You tracked dirt on our floors, smoked in our rooms, and acted like we owed you something.»
«So let me make this clear.» He shoved Mr. Miller backward, letting him fall to the floor like a discarded rag. «We are giving you nothing. Now get out of my house.»
Mr. Miller, shaking, nodded furiously. Thomas tossed his shoe at him. «Pick it up and go.» Mr. Miller scrambled to his feet, nearly tripping over himself as he ran for the door.
I crossed my arms, smirking. «Look at that! He ran off and left his wife and son behind.»
Mrs. Miller, still in a daze, suddenly grabbed Curtis’s arm and dragged him toward the exit. At the door, she couldn’t resist one last parting shot. «You’ll regret this. Curtis can have any woman he wants. Girls would line up for him. Your daughter will end up all alone.»
I took one step forward, and she bolted. As they scrambled down the stairs, one of them must have tripped. Because suddenly, all three of them went tumbling down the front steps, a mess of flailing arms and legs. Loud thuds echoed across the driveway.
Thomas sighed and shook his head as he watched them groaning on the pavement. «They deserved that.»
I had thought that once Natalie ended things with Curtis, she would finally be free of that family’s nonsense and move on with her life. But, clearly, I had underestimated just how low they were willing to go. That night, when Natalie came home from work, she was visibly upset. She didn’t say a word, just walked in and set her purse down with a heavy sigh.
I frowned. «What’s wrong?»
Without a word, she handed me her phone. An email. From Curtis. Natalie had already blocked him on every platform imaginable—calls, texts, social media—but somehow, he had found a way to wiggle back into her life.
Thomas and I leaned in and looked at the email. The subject line was simple: «Natalie, since we broke up, it’s only fair you pay me what you owe.»
Thomas raised his eyebrows. «You borrowed money from him?»
Natalie let out a dry, humorless laugh. «Check the attachment.»
We clicked on the file. And my blood pressure nearly doubled. It was a spreadsheet. A meticulously organized, itemized list of every single dollar he had ever spent on her throughout their relationship.
Tuesday. Starbucks. Two coffees. $11.80.
Valentine’s Day flowers. $20.00.
Uber ride last weekend. $14.00.
Birthday gift card. $200.00.
Dinners out. Twelve times. Total: $1,770.00. Split evenly: $885.00.
Line after line. Perfectly organized. Tracking a full year of expenses, as if it were some kind of investment he wanted a return on. And at the bottom? In bold: «Total: $2,897.36. I’ll be generous. Just send me $2,897, and we’ll call it even.»
Thomas and I just stared at the screen, utterly speechless. I felt the heat rise in my face. I clenched my fists. This man had no shame. Did he really think we didn’t know the truth?
For nearly every dinner, movie, or trip they had taken, Natalie had been the one to pull out her credit card. Curtis had treated us to dinner once, and it was at a fast-food chain. For his birthday, Natalie had bought him the latest model iPhone, spending over $1,200. On her birthday, she got a $200 gift card. And let’s not forget last year, when his father had a health scare, I was the one who went to the hospital with a gift of $1,500.
But now he wanted to bill her? The audacity. And to top it all off, the email ended with a not-so-subtle threat: «If you don’t pay, I will have no choice but to come to your workplace and settle this in person.» Settle what, exactly? This wasn’t just absurd. It was pathetic.
The moment the elevator doors opened, I knew something was wrong. A crowd had gathered near the lobby, murmuring and pointing toward the entrance. The air was buzzing with anticipation, as if people were witnessing some kind of spectacle. And right in the center of it all were Curtis and his parents.
