THE TEMPTATION OF MONEY

Jason and Evelyn have been married for three years. Jason has always been blindly devoted to his mother, handing over his entire monthly salary of $5,800 to her every month, firmly believing that she would set aside money for the couple’s household. He has never asked about household expenses, mistakenly assuming that his wife was lazy and unwilling to manage the household. He often felt dissatisfied that the home lacked a warm, homey atmosphere and that their meals were meager. Little did he know that his mother gave Evelyn only $200 a month for living expenses—barely enough to cover the household’s utilities, groceries, and daily necessities. The prolonged financial hardship left Evelyn suffering from malnutrition and chronic gastritis. For three years, she had no new clothes and no nutritious food, silently enduring all her hardships until she became utterly disillusioned and prepared divorce papers. When the truth came to light, Jason had a sudden epiphany. He investigated where the money had gone and discovered that of his $1 million in salary over the past three years, $800,000 had been given by his mother as an interest-free loan to his sister to buy a house and to his brother-in-law to start a business, while the whereabouts of the remaining funds were unknown. Meanwhile, his sister and brother-in-law had been extravagantly squandering his hard-earned money, yet they accused Evelyn of being incompetent and overly dramatic. Having come to his senses, Jason severed the emotional blackmail from his family of origin, changed his payroll account, took charge of household affairs himself to make amends to his wife, and resolutely pursued accountability to recover the funds. During their peaceful days, Evelyn earned her own income, took care of her health, and slowly emerged from the shadows. It was then that she revealed her hidden identity—as the daughter of Alan Howard, head of a top-tier new energy conglomerate. She had concealed her family background in pursuit of a marriage based on love alone, yet had endured three years of financial hardship. Her mother-in-law visited, deeply moved by her daughter’s plight; she gave Evelyn the confidence she needed and set a three-month probationary period. Eventually, Jason received an invitation to meet with his father-in-law, and an ultimate test concerning their marriage and their very lives quietly loomed on the horizon.