Chapter 1 — The Agreement

“Read it carefully,” my new mother-in-law said, sliding a sheet of paper across the glass table with two manicured fingers.

I read the bold header at the top. Financial Responsibility Agreement. Less than twenty-four hours ago I had stood at an altar and listened to a handsome man promise me the world.

Now I sat in his mother’s morning room while she explained the terms of my welcome.

“This family isn’t a charity,” Imelda went on.

“My son earns his money through blood and sweat, and you are a corporate assistant.

Living in a neighborhood like this means paying your share.

Three thousand dollars a month.

Rent and living expenses.

If you can’t manage it, pack your bags.”

To the woman she thought I was — Adaeze the PR assistant, a facade I had spent two years building — three thousand dollars was a punch to the stomach.

To the woman I actually was, it was less than I spent on a dinner.

But she didn’t know that yet.

Nobody in this house did.