Chapter 3
I didn't reply.
She sent another message: [Honestly, David's a really good guy. Everyone at the office loves asking him for help. Don't take it the wrong way, Mrs. Turner~]
She even threw in that little tilde at the end.
I typed out a reply, then deleted it.
Tried again, deleted it again.
Finally, I sent a short reply: [Got it.]
She didn't reply.
But ten minutes later, she posted something on her social media.
It was a photo of her lying in bed at the recovery suite, with a bouquet of flowers next to her.
The caption said: [Thanks to someone for visiting and bringing me flowers every day. It feels so good to be loved~]
She obviously wanted me to see it.
Otherwise, what's the point of adding me?
I took a screenshot and saved it.
Then I called Sophie.
"She added me. She's already starting to stir things up," I said.
Sophie asked, "What are you going to do?"
"She wants me to make a scene. But I refuse to play along," I replied.
"So what are you going to do?" she asked.
"I'm going to check David's bank statements. I have the supplementary card for his salary account," I said.
Sophie asked, "You're going to check the transfer records?"
"Yeah. His take-home pay is about 6,300 dollars a month. He transfers about 2,700 dollars to me for household expenses. He claims the rest goes to car payments, gas, and business expenses.
"But the car payment is about 1,100 dollars a month, and 300 dollars for gas is plenty. So where's the remaining roughly 2,300 dollars going?" I explained.
"About 2,300 dollars a month, starting from last October..." Sophie said.
"That's ten months. About 23,000 dollars," I replied.
Sophie was quiet for a moment.
"And that's what I can see," I said. "I don't even know if he's taken cash advances on his credit cards or taken out any loans."
"You need a lawyer," she said.
"I know. Can you get me in touch with Ms. Cole?" I asked.
"How about tomorrow?" she asked.
"Sure," I replied.
After hanging up, I glanced at my daughter, who was fast asleep.
She rolled over, her tiny fist clutching the corner of the blanket.
Outside the door, I could hear my mom washing the dishes.
The next morning, I had a forty-minute call with Ms. Cole.
She asked, "What evidence do you have?"
I sent her the screenshots I'd saved.
"Screenshots from her social media, location info, the messages from when Jessica added me, and the suggestive stuff she posted. Is this enough to prove he's cheating?" I asked.
Ms. Cole said, "That's all circumstantial evidence. It's not enough. You need direct proof, transfer records, hotel records, chat logs."
"I'm already checking the transfer records," I replied.
"Can you get access to his hotel records?" she asked.
"I have his ID number," I said.
Ms. Cole paused. "Only information you got through legal means is admissible."
"I get it," I said.
"There's another angle," she said. "If that child is David's, a paternity test would settle it once and for all."
"The child is at the recovery suite," I said.
"Once they're out of there, there'll be opportunities," she said.
I made a mental note of that.
Ms. Cole asked, "What outcome are you hoping for?"
"Divorce, maximum share of the assets, and custody of my child," I replied.
"So don't rush things. Don't let him get suspicious. Build up a full set of evidence," Ms. Cole said.
"Alright," I answered.
After hanging up, I started digging through David's transaction history.
With the secondary card linked to his payroll account, I could track every purchase he made.
Ever since last October...
On October 17th, he spent 2,900 dollars at a jewelry store.
He never gave me any jewelry.
On November 3rd, he spent 430 dollars at a hotel.
That night, he told me he was working late.
On November 15th, he transferred 1,700 dollars through a payment app with the note [Living expenses].
Whose living expenses was he paying for?
I kept scrolling, my hands growing colder with every transaction.
December, January, February, March...
Every month, there was a regular transfer of 1,700 dollars.
On March 8th, he sent an extra 670 dollars with the note [Happy Women's Day].
That was International Women's Day.
He sent me a digital cash gift worth 3 dollars with a note that said, "Thanks for all your hard work, honey."
And like that, he wired her 670 dollars.
I took screenshots of every transaction, created a folder, and named it "2024".
My husband was using our marital funds to support another woman and another child.