6Chapter 3 - When Your Lifestyle Becomes Evidence
20Chapter 14 - Income Is Not the Same as Agency
7Chapter 4 - The Performance of Having Made It
21Chapter 15 - Security Is Not Always Safety
8Part II - The Hidden Math of Status
22Chapter 16 - The Life That Costs Too Much to Be Honest In
9Chapter 5 - Lifestyle Creep Is Not Just Spending
23Part V - A Life You Can Still Choose
10Chapter 6 - Fixed Costs Are Promises Your Future Self Must Keep
24Chapter 17 - Freedom Is the Space Between Income and Obligation
11Chapter 7 - The Monthly Life You Cannot Easily Leave
25Chapter 18 - Quiet Downsizing Without Self-Betrayal
12Chapter 8 - The Small Luxuries That Became Part of You
26Chapter 19 - The New Status Symbol Is Room
13Part III - The Social Price of Stepping Down
27Chapter 20 - Building a Life You Can Still Choose
14Chapter 9 - The Fear of Looking Like You Moved Backward
28Conclusion - You Were Not Meant to Be Owned by the Life You Built
