Chapter 3 · 72 Hours To Destroy His Plans

Chapter 3

I set the phone down and walked out onto the balcony, taking a deep breath.

At two in the morning, the city was as quiet as a tomb.

Standing on the eighteenth-floor balcony, the wind chilled me to the bone.

But my mind had never been this clear.

I went back to the study and kept searching through everything.

It was not like I enjoyed seeing how my husband cheated on me. I was after evidence.

I needed evidence.

I had no idea what was coming next, but my instincts screamed that I needed evidence.

Then I came across a conversation that made my blood run cold.

The date was five days ago.

David: [The lawyer told me that if she doesn't agree to the divorce, I have to prove that we've been living apart continuously for a year, and that we both intended to end the marriage permanently. Then the court will grant the divorce.]

Olivia: [So we have to wait a year? That's way too long, babe.]

David: [No need to wait that long. I'm already working on it. I'm figuring out how to get the house under my mom's name, same with the car. I'm moving the money out bit by bit.

[She won't notice a thing. Once all the assets are gone, I'll file for divorce. She's a stay-at-home mom with no job or income. She'd get nothing.]

Olivia: [What about your daughter?]

David: [I'm taking Daphne too. Rebecca can't support herself. The court will never give her custody.]

Olivia: [You're amazing. So, when can we finally live together?]

David: [Soon, baby. Give it a month, tops.]

He'd set himself a deadline of one month, and this message was sent five days ago.

That meant I had at most twenty-five days left.

No, judging by how quickly he was moving the money, the deadline might be sooner.

I took screenshots of each message and sent them to my own phone.

Then I put his old phone back in the drawer, so nothing seemed out of place.

I sat in the study, staring up at the ceiling.

My thoughts were all over the place, but one idea was coming into sharp focus.

I couldn't sit back and let myself be destroyed.

He wanted to transfer the assets and steal my kid, huh?

In his dreams.

At three in the morning, I started searching on my phone about "What to do if your spouse is transferring assets during a divorce?" "How can a stay-at-home mom get custody in a divorce?" and "How to gather evidence of a cheating husband?"

I went through each result one by one, jotting down notes.

I'd never cared about any of this before.

I always thought that even if my marriage wasn't perfect, at least it was safe.

I believed that by giving up my job, my social life, and sacrificing who I was, I'd at least get a stable home out of it.

But now I realized I ended up with nothing.

I'd turned myself into a lonely island.

And David was about to destroy the last bridge that kept my lonely island connected to anything at all.

By four-thirty in the morning, I'd made a list.

First, the house. We owned a house, but it was under David's name. When we bought it, my mom put down 67,000 dollars for the down payment, but there was no documentation.

David said, "We're family. Why make things so complicated?"

My mom believed him, so did I.

Now that I thought about it, I honestly wished I could slap myself silly.

Second, the money. Other than the authorized card David gave me, I had no clue if he had any other accounts. I only had a vague idea of what he made, and I had zero idea if he had any other money coming in.

Seven years married, and I was totally clueless about our finances.

Third, my daughter. Daphne was four now, and I'd been raising her all by myself since she was born. David hardly ever lifted a finger when it came to parenting.

But he'd got a point. I didn't have a job, and I didn't bring in any money. If it came down to a custody fight, he could easily claim I was not able to provide for Daphne.

Just thinking about it made my hands start trembling all over again.

It wasn't fear. It was rage.

How was that fair?

How could I give up five years of my youth, my freedom, my career, only for him to say, "She'd get nothing," and toss me aside like yesterday's trash?

Why the hell should it be this way?

Chapter 3

I set the phone down and walked out onto the balcony, taking a deep breath.

At two in the morning, the city was as quiet as a tomb.

Standing on the eighteenth-floor balcony, the wind chilled me to the bone.

But my mind had never been this clear.

I went back to the study and kept searching through everything.

It was not like I enjoyed seeing how my husband cheated on me. I was after evidence.

I needed evidence.

I had no idea what was coming next, but my instincts screamed that I needed evidence.

Then I came across a conversation that made my blood run cold.

The date was five days ago.

Olivia: [So we have to wait a year? That's way too long, babe.]

David: [No need to wait that long. I'm already working on it. I'm figuring out how to get the house under my mom's name, same with the car. I'm moving the money out bit by bit.

[She won't notice a thing. Once all the assets are gone, I'll file for divorce. She's a stay-at-home mom with no job or income. She'd get nothing.]

Olivia: [What about your daughter?]

David: [I'm taking Daphne too. Rebecca can't support herself. The court will never give her custody.]

Olivia: [You're amazing. So, when can we finally live together?]

David: [Soon, baby. Give it a month, tops.]

He'd set himself a deadline of one month, and this message was sent five days ago.

That meant I had at most twenty-five days left.

No, judging by how quickly he was moving the money, the deadline might be sooner.

I took screenshots of each message and sent them to my own phone.

Then I put his old phone back in the drawer, so nothing seemed out of place.

I sat in the study, staring up at the ceiling.

My thoughts were all over the place, but one idea was coming into sharp focus.

I couldn't sit back and let myself be destroyed.

He wanted to transfer the assets and steal my kid, huh?

In his dreams.

I went through each result one by one, jotting down notes.

I'd never cared about any of this before.

I always thought that even if my marriage wasn't perfect, at least it was safe.

I believed that by giving up my job, my social life, and sacrificing who I was, I'd at least get a stable home out of it.

But now I realized I ended up with nothing.

I'd turned myself into a lonely island.

And David was about to destroy the last bridge that kept my lonely island connected to anything at all.

By four-thirty in the morning, I'd made a list.

First, the house. We owned a house, but it was under David's name. When we bought it, my mom put down 67,000 dollars for the down payment, but there was no documentation.

David said, "We're family. Why make things so complicated?"

My mom believed him, so did I.

Now that I thought about it, I honestly wished I could slap myself silly.

Seven years married, and I was totally clueless about our finances.

Third, my daughter. Daphne was four now, and I'd been raising her all by myself since she was born. David hardly ever lifted a finger when it came to parenting.

But he'd got a point. I didn't have a job, and I didn't bring in any money. If it came down to a custody fight, he could easily claim I was not able to provide for Daphne.

Just thinking about it made my hands start trembling all over again.

It wasn't fear. It was rage.

How was that fair?

How could I give up five years of my youth, my freedom, my career, only for him to say, "She'd get nothing," and toss me aside like yesterday's trash?

Why the hell should it be this way?