Chapter 4 · My Revenge After My Husband's Drama

For the next two days, Jason didn't come home.

I was alone in this 1,300 sq.ft house.

I picked out the sofa in the living room and the curtains myself. I also arranged the spice jars in the kitchen the way I liked. Every inch of this home had my touch.

But my name wasn't on the deed.

I'd had a month to process it. It didn't hurt anymore.

During the two days Jason was away, Alice posted three updates on her social media.

The first was a photo of a bouquet of flowers with the caption: [When you're loved, you can do anything.]

The second was a picture of two cups of coffee with the caption: [No more hiding, finally.]

The third was a photo of two hands holding each other. I recognized the watch on the man's wrist. It was the one I gave Jason for his birthday last year.

Claire sent me screenshots of all three posts, her voice steady when she called. "She's marking her territory," she said.

I replied, "Let her post all she wants. The more, the merrier."

"Why?"

"Every single post is evidence."

Claire was quiet for a few seconds. "Damn. You're colder than I thought," she said.

"It's not that I'm cold. They pushed me to this," I corrected her.

At noon on the third day, I went to Claire's law firm.

It wasn't my first time there. I'd been there four times in the past month. The first three times, I was there for advice. This time, I was there to lay my cards on the table.

Claire slid a folder across the table to me. "Everything you asked for is in here," she said.

I opened the folder and flipped through the pages.

The first thing inside was the property info.

The house was bought after we got married, and the money came from our joint account.

Even though only Jason's name was on the deed, under marriage law, any property bought with our money after tying the knot counts as marital property.

Jason thought having his name on the deed made it his. He was wrong.

The second document was the bank statements.

A full year of transactions from our joint account. Every transfer to Alice was listed, each one with the date and amount, adding up to 40,000 dollars. That was called transferring marital assets.

The third document was Jason's IOU.

That was the hardest thing for me to track down. Alice had an elder brother named James Foster. Last year, Jason lost a bunch of money in a business deal and borrowed 133,000 dollars from James.

He signed an IOU, with interest included. He never breathed a word about it to me.

So how did I figure all this out? One night, Jason stumbled home drunk and tossed his jacket on the couch. When I went to hang it up, a slip of paper fell out of his pocket.

James's name and a number, 133,000, were scribbled on it.

I took a quick pic and showed it to Claire the next day.

Claire dug into James's court records for me.

It turned out that James wasn't exactly clean. He'd done a bunch of shady private loans and had been dragged to court twice.

That wasn't some friendly loan between buddies. The interest rate was brutal.

Jason was coughing up 4,000 dollars in interest to James every month. That was why he kept whining about being broke lately and where all the money from our joint account was vanishing to.

It wasn't because Jason was being generous or anything. He was robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I closed the folder.

Claire asked, "So, what's your plan now?"

"Wait for him to come to me and sort out the divorce papers," I said.

"He said he's going to the courthouse?" Claire asked.

"Yeah. He'll probably go soon. Alice is on his case. She can't wait," I replied.

Claire leaned back in her chair. "You know what he's gonna find out at the courthouse?" she asked.

"He'll realize he can't split the house."

"And then?"

"Then he'll have to come back and talk to me."

"What card will you play then?"

I paused for a moment. "I'll show him the transfer records first. Let him see I've got dirt on him," I answered.

"And the 133,000 dollars?" Claire asked.

"I won't mention it yet. I'll keep that up my sleeve," I replied.

Claire nodded. "When did you get so good at keeping your cool?" she asked.

I looked out the window. The sunlight was pouring in. "After getting screwed over for three years, you pick up a few tricks," I said.

After leaving Claire's office, I stood by the sidewalk for a moment, collecting myself.

My phone buzzed. Alice had posted another update on her social media. This time, it was a selfie in our car, riding shotgun. The caption read: [A new life starts today.]

I stared at the screen for three seconds, then put my phone away.

A new life. She was right. A new life was definitely on the horizon, but not the kind she was dreaming of.

Chapter 4

For the next two days, Jason didn't come home.

I was alone in this 1,300 sq.ft house.

I picked out the sofa in the living room and the curtains myself. I also arranged the spice jars in the kitchen the way I liked. Every inch of this home had my touch.

But my name wasn't on the deed.

I'd had a month to process it. It didn't hurt anymore.

During the two days Jason was away, Alice posted three updates on her social media.

The first was a photo of a bouquet of flowers with the caption: [When you're loved, you can do anything.]

The second was a picture of two cups of coffee with the caption: [No more hiding, finally.]

The third was a photo of two hands holding each other. I recognized the watch on the man's wrist. It was the one I gave Jason for his birthday last year.

Claire sent me screenshots of all three posts, her voice steady when she called. "She's marking her territory," she said.

I replied, "Let her post all she wants. The more, the merrier."

"Why?"

"Every single post is evidence."

Claire was quiet for a few seconds. "Damn. You're colder than I thought," she said.

"It's not that I'm cold. They pushed me to this," I corrected her.

At noon on the third day, I went to Claire's law firm.

It wasn't my first time there. I'd been there four times in the past month. The first three times, I was there for advice. This time, I was there to lay my cards on the table.

Claire slid a folder across the table to me. "Everything you asked for is in here," she said.

I opened the folder and flipped through the pages.

The first thing inside was the property info.

The house was bought after we got married, and the money came from our joint account.

Even though only Jason's name was on the deed, under marriage law, any property bought with our money after tying the knot counts as marital property.

Jason thought having his name on the deed made it his. He was wrong.

The second document was the bank statements.

A full year of transactions from our joint account. Every transfer to Alice was listed, each one with the date and amount, adding up to 40,000 dollars. That was called transferring marital assets.

The third document was Jason's IOU.

That was the hardest thing for me to track down. Alice had an elder brother named James Foster. Last year, Jason lost a bunch of money in a business deal and borrowed 133,000 dollars from James.

He signed an IOU, with interest included. He never breathed a word about it to me.

So how did I figure all this out? One night, Jason stumbled home drunk and tossed his jacket on the couch. When I went to hang it up, a slip of paper fell out of his pocket.

James's name and a number, 133,000, were scribbled on it.

I took a quick pic and showed it to Claire the next day.

Claire dug into James's court records for me.

It turned out that James wasn't exactly clean. He'd done a bunch of shady private loans and had been dragged to court twice.

That wasn't some friendly loan between buddies. The interest rate was brutal.

Jason was coughing up 4,000 dollars in interest to James every month. That was why he kept whining about being broke lately and where all the money from our joint account was vanishing to.

It wasn't because Jason was being generous or anything. He was robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I closed the folder.

Claire asked, "So, what's your plan now?"

"Wait for him to come to me and sort out the divorce papers," I said.

"He said he's going to the courthouse?" Claire asked.

"Yeah. He'll probably go soon. Alice is on his case. She can't wait," I replied.

Claire leaned back in her chair. "You know what he's gonna find out at the courthouse?" she asked.

"He'll realize he can't split the house."

"And then?"

"Then he'll have to come back and talk to me."

"What card will you play then?"

I paused for a moment. "I'll show him the transfer records first. Let him see I've got dirt on him," I answered.

"And the 133,000 dollars?" Claire asked.

"I won't mention it yet. I'll keep that up my sleeve," I replied.

Claire nodded. "When did you get so good at keeping your cool?" she asked.

I looked out the window. The sunlight was pouring in. "After getting screwed over for three years, you pick up a few tricks," I said.

After leaving Claire's office, I stood by the sidewalk for a moment, collecting myself.

My phone buzzed. Alice had posted another update on her social media. This time, it was a selfie in our car, riding shotgun. The caption read: [A new life starts today.]

I stared at the screen for three seconds, then put my phone away.

A new life. She was right. A new life was definitely on the horizon, but not the kind she was dreaming of.