Chapter 3
For the next few days, I played my role, just like an actress on stage.
Every morning, I poured Michael a glass of milk and told him to be careful heading out to work.
Every night, I listened to him talk about his job, nodding along sometimes.
When he mentioned all those business dinners, I said, "Try not to drink too much."
When he said he had to work overtime on the weekends, I told him, "Don't push yourself too hard."
He said, "You're the one I've let down the most in this life."
I just smiled.
What he didn't know was that every day, after he left, I'd drive straight to Rachel's law firm.
Rachel was helping me with three things.
First, she was filing for a property preservation order with the court.
That covered all the assets we acquired during our marriage, including the two properties that had been transferred out of our names.
Rachel said, "Transferring them to his mom's name won't help. The law doesn't recognize malicious asset transfers during a marriage."
Second, she was gathering evidence of bigamy.
Rachel had someone look into Michael and Tina's marriage registration.
"It's true. They registered at Southside City Hall on March 15th this year," Rachel said.
She handed me a screenshot of the registration record.
She continued, "Here, it said that Michael's spouse was Tina.
"So, legally, that means he's got two wives now.
"According to the Criminal Law, that's bigamy.
"He'll have to face detention or even a sentence in prison."
Third, Rachel was helping me dig into something else.
"Susan, do you know where the apartment he bought for Tina is?" Rachel asked.
"Southside. Southside Emerald Bay Apartments, 960 square feet, paid in full," I replied.
"Guess where the down payment came from?"
I stared at the transfer record for 127 thousand dollars. "Our joint account."
Rachel nodded. "The money your parents gave you for your wedding was in that joint account too.
"90 thousand dollars, from your parents, back in 2016.
"Do the math."
I did the math.
In September 2022, he transferred 127 thousand dollars to buy that apartment.
And in August 2022, our joint account had a balance of 137 thousand dollars.
Among them, 90 thousand dollars was my wedding gift.
He used my wedding gift to buy an apartment for his mistress.
Rachel said, "We can get that money back."
"I know," I replied.
Rachel glanced at me. "You're calmer than I expected."
I said, "It's not about being calm. I just refuse to shed another tear for him."
*****
During those two weeks, something else happened.
Michael's mother, Jane Carter, called me.
"Susan, did Mike have a good birthday?" she asked.
"Yeah, he did," I replied.
"That's good," Jane said, pausing for a moment. "By the way, has Mike been feeling stressed lately? Maybe you should cut him some slack."
"Okay."
She continued, "Women need to be generous and forgiving. Men have it rough out there, working hard every day.
"If you keep holding onto every little thing, men just get annoyed.
"Look at your sister-in-law. Her husband is out drinking and schmoozing until midnight, and she never says a word."
I said nothing.
"Did you hear me?" she asked.
"Yeah, Mom," I replied.
"Men can be a bit careless sometimes. Don't make a big deal out of it," she said.
I hung up.
Why was she suddenly saying all this?
Did she know about Tina?
I went through Michael's bank statements.
I spotted a new transaction.
In December 2024.
That was the month after the property was transferred.
Michael sent Jane some money.
67 thousand dollars.
The note said: [Filial gift for Mom.]
The property was transferred to Jane's name.
And right after that, he sent her two 67 thousand dollars.
This wasn't about being a good son.
This was hush money.
Jane definitely knew it.
She'd known all along.
She knew her son was cheating the whole time.
And she was covering for her son the whole time.
I remembered that on Thanksgiving last year, Jane commented right in front of the whole extended family, "Mike is such a catch. Not just anyone is worthy of him."
Everyone turned to stare at me.
Michael kept eating, acting like he didn't hear a thing.
I just smiled and kept quiet.
I thought she was running her mouth.
Now it turned out that I was wrong.
She was dropping hints to Michael that he could find someone better than me.
She was egging her son on.
I took a screenshot of that 67 thousand dollars transfer.
My evidence album had one more screenshot.
Rachel said two weeks would be enough.
Twelve days had already passed.
Just two days left.
Two days later, Michael's mom was hosting a family gathering.
She said it was "just a get-together for the family."
Michael told me, "My mom wants you to come over for dinner this Saturday. My uncles and their families are coming too."
"Okay," I said.
What a coincidence.
Rachel said the court's property freeze order could come through as early as Friday.
The family gathering was on Saturday.
The whole family would be under one roof.
It was just the right time.
I texted Rachel: [Saturday.]
Rachel replied: [Got it.]
Then I opened up my "Evidence" album.
I scrolled through everything one more time, making sure I hadn't missed a thing.
GPS screenshots.
Photos outside the city hall.
Bank statements.
The prenatal checkup records from the day I lost the baby.
Property transfer records.
Wedding gift tracing records.
The hush money for his mom.
Over the four years, that was 413 thousand dollars.
Every single piece was all right here in this album.
So you all want a family reunion on Saturday, right?
Alright, let's do this.
And let's settle all of this once and for all.