When His Family Pretended to Be Poor, I Pretended to Be Broke and Learned the Truth

“Did you really think I didn’t know who you were?” I asked, my voice harder now.

“I did my research the day after Adrien and I first met. I knew you were testing me from the moment we pulled up to this rental house.”

Diane actually gasped.

“How did you—?” Richard asked weakly.

“How did you know it was a rental?” Property records are public, Richard. This house is owned by Select Property Management and has been rented on a month-to-month basis since six weeks ago, right around when Adrien probably told you he was getting serious with someone.

I turned to Diane.

“Nice touch with the Hermes scarf, by the way. You almost pulled off the struggling mom look, but you couldn’t quite commit to hiding all your designer pieces.”

Veronica found her voice first, probably because she was a lawyer and trained to recover quickly.

“If you knew we were testing you, why did you play along?”

I smiled, and it wasn’t friendly.

“Because I wanted to see how far you’d go. I wanted to see if you’d really try to pay me off to leave your son. And you did.”

“So now I know exactly who you are.” I took a photo of the cash on the counter and the envelope.

“That’s evidence, by the way. Offering money to break up a relationship could be considered coercion, depending on how a good lawyer spins it.”

“Lucky for you, I don’t need your money and I’m not interested in suing you. I’m just interested in watching you explain this to Adrien.”

As if on cue, Adrien walked into the kitchen looking for me. He saw the cash on the counter, saw his family’s faces, and saw my expression.

“What’s going on?” he asked slowly.

I turned to him and spoke.

“Your family just offered me $5,000 to break up with you because they think I’m a gold digger who’s only with you for money.”

Adrien’s face went white.

“What, Mom?”

Diane started to stammer something, but I cut her off.

“They’ve been testing me, Adrien. This whole house, the struggling family act, all of it. They wanted to see if I’d stick around even if they were poor.”

“And when I passed that test, they decided I was actually too poor for you and tried to pay me off.” I showed him my phone with the banking app still open.

“For the record, I make more in interest per month than they offered me to leave you.”

Adrien stared at the screen, then at his family, then back at me.

“You’re rich?” he asked, sounding dazed.

I shrugged. I sold my company last year and I’ve been taking time off to figure out what’s next.

“I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to know me as me, not as someone with money.” I gestured to his family.

“Apparently, we had the same idea, except their version came with a payoff scheme at the end.”

Richard tried to speak.

“Adrien, we were just trying to protect you from—”

Adrien held up his hand.

“You pretended to be poor. You rented a house and bought cheap furniture and created this whole elaborate lie to test my girlfriend.”

Mitchell appeared in the doorway, probably drawn by the commotion, and took in the scene with wide eyes. Adrien continued, his voice getting louder.

“And then when she passed your little test, when she showed she’d stay with me even if we had nothing, you tried to pay her to leave because she actually didn’t have money.”

Veronica jumped in.

“We were thinking about your future. You deserve someone who can be an equal partner financially.”

Adrien laughed, but it was bitter.

“An equal partner? Like how you were equal partners with Dad when you married him fresh out of law school making nothing while he was building his business? Or should Dad have paid you to leave back then?”

Veronica’s face flushed red. Adrien turned to his mother.

“And you, Mom? Didn’t you tell me about how Grandma tried to break you and Dad up because he was just a car salesman from a working-class family? How you eloped because she couldn’t see past his bank account to who he was as a person?”

Diane’s tears were real now, but not the manipulative kind from earlier. These were tears of shame.

Adrien grabbed my hand.

“We’re leaving. Don’t call me.”

As we walked toward the door, Richard called out.

“Son, please. We made a mistake, but we were trying to look out for you.”

Adrien stopped and turned back.

“You want to look out for me? Then trust me to make my own decisions about my life and who I love.”

“Sloan could have exposed your test the first day. She could have embarrassed all of you. Instead, she played along to see what kind of people you really are. And you showed her.”