Chapter 3
I didn't waste time explaining myself in the group chat. Instead, I quickly messaged my bestie about what I'd uncovered.
"Jessica and Michael must've started hooking up after I hit that dog," I told her.
My friend got the info from the private investigator and helped me piece together the timeline of Michael's affair.
March 10th, 2025, Michael met Jessica for the first time.
June 23rd, Jessica claimed her water heater was broken, and while I was out, she went upstairs to Michael's place to shower.
August 15th, the two of them slipped into a hotel, one after the other.
By now, nearly seven months in, they'd met up 53 times, and Michael had spent six hundred thousand dollars on her straight from our joint account.
The apartment my parents gave me as a wedding gift had become their secret hookup spot.
My hands were shaking with rage.
Sandra's messages kept flooding the group chat.
Sandra: [Emily loves playing the innocent victim. Having her as a neighbor is pure bad luck.
[Good thing you folks with kids don't live too close to her. Otherwise, if your kids cried at night, she'd probably make up some story about having a heart attack because of the noise.
[Not like me. I've spent twenty years raising my daughter. She's so sweet and innocent, still blushes when she sees people kissing, and now she has to listen to that woman upstairs making a racket every single night.
[If my pure daughter gets corrupted by this, I swear I'll die.]
The word "pure" stung like hell.
I fired off a screenshot from my home camera to the group chat. In the picture, Michael was holding a woman, both of them fast asleep.
But the image was blurry.
Sandra couldn't tell it was Jessica, so she started yelling at me.
Sandra: [Emily, you really have no shame. Why are you posting a photo of you and your husband in bed in the group chat?
[Do you realize there might be minors in this group?]
I shot a quick video of myself on the highway and sent it to the group chat.
"I'm on the highway right now, forty minutes from home. The camera feed is live. How many times do I have to say it? The woman making noise in my house isn't me."
Seeing how pissed I was, the other neighbors started trying to calm Sandra down, saying maybe it was all a misunderstanding.
But Sandra dug in her heels.
Sandra: [With Emily always playing the innocent victim, if I really wronged her, she'd have already called the cops in tears.
[I'm not trying to push her too hard. As long as she promises to keep it down from now on and pays me a hundred thousand dollars for my daughter's emotional distress, I'll let it go.]
Seeing the messages in the group chat, I couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.
No wonder she's blowing up the group chat. She thinks she's finally caught me and can squeeze some money out of me.
She tried to get 30 thousand dollars out of me during the renovation, and then sixty thousand when I hit her dog.
She acts like I'm some pampered wife living off my husband, but all she really cares about is my money.
I couldn't hold back my anger anymore and sent a voice message in the group chat. "Sandra, not only is the woman upstairs not me, but even if it were, what you're doing right now is straight-up extortion!"
Sandra wasn't about to back down.
Sandra: [Me, spreading rumors about you? You screamed your throat raw and still have the nerve to talk back?
[Answer me. Are you going to pay for the emotional distress or not?]
I shot back, "I know you're jealous of my money, but I worked my ass off for every penny. I'd give it all away before I handed a single cent to someone who spreads lies about me."
"And I'm the victim here too."
Sandra: [Please. My daughter is the real victim here.
[Since you won't take the hint, don't blame me for making you pay for what you did to my daughter.]