Chapter 4

Over the weekend, I took Alex to the amusement park. David said he had some company outing, so he couldn't make it.

I didn't bother asking where. I didn't need to ask anymore.

At the amusement park, Alex was having the time of his life. I sat on a bench, scrolling through my phone.

Ben texted me: [Selena, I found out something else.]

Me: [Go on.]

Ben: [Winona's pregnant.]

I stared at the screen, my fingers frozen in place.

Me: [Wait, what did you say?]

Ben: [She's three months along. Last week she took time off for a prenatal checkup; someone from our department saw her.]

Winona was three months pregnant. I did the math in my head. That would have been September.

Back in September, David said he had to go on a business trip to Betrico for a week. I packed his suitcase, made sure he had snacks for the road.

'Did he really go to Betrico?' I wondered. 'Or was he at Silverbrook Residences?'

Ben: [Selena, you okay?]

Me: [Yeah, I got it. Thanks, Ben.]

Ben: [So, what are you going to do?]

Me: [Honestly, I haven't figured it out yet.]

I set my phone down and watched Alex running around the amusement park.

He was three years old. So innocent. He had no idea his dad was out there, already having another kid with someone else.

"Mommy!" Alex came running over. "Look, Mommy." He had a balloon the staff at the amusement park gave him.

"Wow, that's so pretty," I said, smiling. "What color is it?"

"Red!" Alex called out.

"That's right, red. Good job," I praised him.

Alex held out the balloon to me. "Here, Mommy. This is for you!"

"Thank you, sweetie." I took the balloon and planted a kiss on his forehead.

He giggled and dashed off to play again.

I watched his little figure disappear into the crowd, gripping the balloon string tighter in my hand.

Divorce. The word spun around in my mind. 'Could I really do it?' I wondered.

We bought the house after we got married. I paid 130,000 for the down payment; he paid 70,000. After that, I paid 30,000 on the mortgage; he paid 90,000.

'If we get divorced, how the hell do we split this place?' I wondered. 'And what about Alex?'

Alex was only three, and I was the one who had always been there for him. I should be able to get custody.

I thought, 'But would David agree to that? Would his parents accept it?'

And then there was Winona. She was three months pregnant. If David wanted that baby, would he be the one to ask for a divorce?

I didn't know. But one thing was clear. I couldn't sit back and do nothing.

When I got home that night, David still wasn't back. After tucking Alex in, I turned on the computer.

I googled divorce property split, proof of cheating, and how to deal with hidden assets during an affair. I scrolled through every single result.

Bank transfers, chat logs, hotel bookings, witness statements, I needed everything. I had to save it all.

At eleven, David came home. I pretended to be asleep.

He walked into the bedroom, glanced at me, then went to take a shower.

He left his phone on the nightstand. I didn't move. Not yet.

The next morning, after dropping Alex off, I headed straight to a law firm.

"How can I help you, ma'am?" the receptionist asked.

"I need to talk about a divorce," I said. "My husband's cheating."

The lawyer was a middle-aged woman, sharp, and totally professional.

I told her the whole story, and she kept nodding along as I spoke.

"Evidence is key," she said. "You've got the transfers and chat logs, which is great. But you'll need some hard proof, something that really nails it, like hotel records."

"How can I check hotel booking records?" I asked.

"We can request those for you," she replied. "And if you get him to admit to cheating on tape, that counts as evidence, too."

"How do I actually record that?" I pressed.

"Record your regular conversation," she answered. "As long as you're not secretly bugging him, it'll hold up in court."

I nodded and kept her advice in mind.

"One more thing," the lawyer added. "You mentioned he transferred over two hundred thousand dollars to the other woman?"

"Yes," I replied.

"That money counts as marital property, so you can ask for it back in the divorce," she explained. "And if you can prove he's been moving assets around behind your back, the court could end up giving you a bigger share."

"Moving assets?" I repeated.

"For example, has he ever moved money into his parents' accounts? Or suddenly paid off certain debts out of nowhere? Or maybe withdrawn large amounts of cash from your joint accounts?" she replied.

I paused, thinking. "Honestly, I'm not sure."

"Go home and check," she said. "If you spot anything, make sure to lock it down right away."

After leaving the law firm, I went to the bank and pulled David's latest bank statement for the past month.

I went through it carefully and spotted a big transfer of twenty thousand dollars sent to his dad, with the memo: [Repayment.]

'Repayment?' I thought. 'Since when did he ever borrow money from his dad?'

Looking further back, I found another transfer from three months ago, ten thousand dollars, also sent to his dad.

Two transactions, totaling 30,000 dollars.

I remembered last year he mentioned his parents needed new appliances, so he gave them 10,000 dollars for that. And now another 30,000 dollars.

I took a photo of the transaction records and sent them to my lawyer: [Does this count as an asset transfer?]

The lawyer replied: [We'll need to look into it further, but it's definitely possible. I recommend you get your assets in order right now and make sure to protect anything important.]

[Make sure to protect anything important.] Staring at those words, I made up my mind.

I was going to open a new bank account. One that was only for me, and only I would know about it. From now on, I would deposit my salary there.

That evening, David came home early, unusually early.

"Why are you home so early today?" I asked.

"Nothing much," he said, sitting down on the couch and looking at me. "Selena, my mom wants to come stay with us for a few days."

I froze for a moment."Your mom? For a few days?"

"Yeah, she says she misses Alex," David replied.

"Oh," I asked. "When is she coming?"

"Probably this weekend," he answered.

I nodded, not saying anything. David's mom was coming over. 'Why now?' I wondered. 'Was it a coincidence, or...'

While David was on the phone, I overheard him say, "Mom, don't worry. She doesn't know."

'She doesn't know,' I thought. 'Know about what?'

I pretended not to hear and kept washing the dishes. But deep down, I could sense something was brewing. I had to move quickly.