Chapter 4 · Turning Her Betrayal Into a Viral Reckoning

Chapter 4

Callie stood there. Her mouth opened, but no words came out.

I walked past her, went into the bedroom, and closed the door behind me.

Changing the locks could wait. First, I needed to grab what I needed.

I opened the second drawer of the nightstand. The marriage certificate was inside.

I took it out and glanced at the wedding photo on the nightstand.

We were smiling sweetly in the picture.

I slipped the certificate into my bag.

Then I opened the closet, grabbed a few changes of clothes, and stuffed them into my duffel bag.

Callie was banging on the door outside.

"Sarah, what are you doing with the marriage certificate? Don't do anything stupid," she shouted.

I ignored her.

I gathered my charger, driver license, and bank cards one by one.

When I opened the door, Callie was blocking the hallway.

"Give me the marriage certificate," she demanded.

"Mom, the certificate has my name and Daniel's, not yours," I replied.

"You—" she stammered.

"I'm going to stay somewhere else for a few days. I'll get someone to change the locks later. In the meantime, please don't let anyone who's not family into the house," I said.

Callie knew exactly who I was talking about.

Her face turned red, but she didn't try to stop me.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked out the door.

Once I was outside the apartment complex, I hailed a cab and headed to a chain hotel.

I checked in, dropped my bag, and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Once things quieted down, I went onto the next thing.

I opened my mobile banking app and checked the joint account Daniel and I shared.

The balance was over 40,000 dollars.

Last month, it was 50,000 dollars.

Nearly 10,000 dollars had vanished.

I scrolled back through the transaction history.

There were three big withdrawals.

The first one was on last Wednesday, 2,000 dollars, with a note: [Flight and hotel.]

The money didn't go to Daniel's own account.

The second was on last Friday, a 3,000-dollar charge at a jewelry store.

The third was on last Sunday, a 5,000-dollar transfer to Emily.

I stared at that name for a long time.

5000 dollars were transferred to Emily. There was no note.

I took a screenshot, saved it in a separate folder, exported the transaction history, and backed it up.

Then I kept scrolling.

Over the past three months, I found four more transfers to Emily.

The amounts were 750 dollars, 1,250 dollars, 500 dollars, and 1,500 dollars.

That added up to 4,000 dollars.

In other words, over the past three months, Daniel had sent a total of 9,000 dollars from our joint account to Emily.

I set my phone down, got up, and went to stand by the window.

Outside, the street was nothing special. Just cars passing by.

I sent my mom a quick text: [Mom, I'm staying at a hotel. Don't worry.]

She texted back right away: [Okay. If you need money, let me know.]

I replied with an [Okay,] opened my notes app, and started listing out all the dates and amounts of those transfers.

Then I realized something.

The first transfer to Emily was three months ago, on March 12th.

March 12th was Emily's birthday.

That night, the three of us had dinner together. Emily said Daniel gave her a scarf for her birthday. "Daniel, you're so thoughtful," she teased.

I laughed and said Daniel was being unusually generous.

A scarf that cost 750 dollars.

It hit me that the money for that scarf came straight out of our joint account.

I closed my notes app and opened WhatsApp.

I pulled up Daniel's chat window.

Daniel's latest message popped up, sent half an hour ago: [Where did you go? Did you take the marriage certificates?]

I didn't reply.

I opened his Instagram feed.

He'd already tried to bury my post. Well, he couldn't actually hide what I posted, so he just put up something new to cover it.

Sure enough, he'd posted something.

[It was a misunderstanding. It's all cleared up now. Don't let the gossip get out of hand.] Daniel posted.

Some of his colleagues had already hit like.

I took a screenshot.

Then I checked Emily's Instagram feed.

She'd posted something too, at 3 AM.

[Not everything is as it seems. The truth will come out.] Emily wrote.

Someone commented: [What's going on?]

Emily replied: [It's nothing. Just a misunderstanding.]

I took another screenshot.

The truth would come out, huh?

Let's see what kind of story she tried to sell.

I organized all the screenshots and transaction records, saved them to my cloud drive, and backed them up to my email.

After I finished, I lay down on the hotel bed, staring up at the ceiling.

My phone rang again.

It was an unknown number.

I picked up.

"Sarah? It's Daniel's dad, Thomas Reed," came the voice over the phone.

Thomas's voice was calmer than Callie's, but he was saying the same thing.

"Sarah, this is getting messy. Just delete the post for now. We can talk about it when you get home," he said.

"Dad, I can't delete it. The screenshots are already out there," Sarah replied.

"Maybe, but you can't walk away. You took the marriage certificate with you. What are you planning?" Thomas asked.

"I want a divorce," I said.

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"Don't do anything drastic. Daniel said there's nothing between him and that woman. You're blowing things out of proportion," Thomas said.

"He transferred 9,000 dollars from our joint account to her. Do you seriously think that's nothing?" I shot back.

There was another silence.

This time, it lasted longer.

"How much?" Thomas asked.

"9,000 dollars. I have the transaction records," Sarah replied.

Someone was talking in the background, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. It sounded like Callie.

Thomas didn't say anything else and just hung up.

I set my phone down.

About twenty minutes later, Daniel called.

I picked up.

"What did you say to my dad?" he asked.

"The truth," I replied.

"What truth? Did you go through my account?" he asked.

"It's our joint account. I have every right to check it," I replied.

He went quiet for a moment.

When he spoke again, his tone softened.

"Sarah, that money was just a loan to Emily. She was tight on money back then," he said.

"A loan? You took it out of our joint account? Did you ask me first?" I shot back.

"I was afraid you'd overthink it," he said.

"You were afraid I'd overthink it, and that's why you secretly handed over 9,000 dollars of our money to another woman? Daniel, do you even hear yourself right now?" I shot back.

He fell silent.

I kept going. "That 750 dollars on March 12th? That was for a scarf. The three of us were having dinner, and you handed her a gift right in front of me, using our money. How did that make you feel?"

Daniel said, "Can you stop digging up old drama?"

I shot back, "This isn't ancient history. It's not long ago."

I hung up.

I turned on the silent mode and tossed my phone onto the pillow.

I stared at the ceiling for another ten minutes.

Then I picked up my phone, opened WhatsApp, and found Helen Carter.

Chapter 4

Callie stood there. Her mouth opened, but no words came out.

I walked past her, went into the bedroom, and closed the door behind me.

Changing the locks could wait. First, I needed to grab what I needed.

I opened the second drawer of the nightstand. The marriage certificate was inside.

I took it out and glanced at the wedding photo on the nightstand.

We were smiling sweetly in the picture.

I slipped the certificate into my bag.

Then I opened the closet, grabbed a few changes of clothes, and stuffed them into my duffel bag.

Callie was banging on the door outside.

"Sarah, what are you doing with the marriage certificate? Don't do anything stupid," she shouted.

I ignored her.

I gathered my charger, driver license, and bank cards one by one.

When I opened the door, Callie was blocking the hallway.

"Give me the marriage certificate," she demanded.

"Mom, the certificate has my name and Daniel's, not yours," I replied.

"You—" she stammered.

"I'm going to stay somewhere else for a few days. I'll get someone to change the locks later. In the meantime, please don't let anyone who's not family into the house," I said.

Callie knew exactly who I was talking about.

Her face turned red, but she didn't try to stop me.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked out the door.

Once I was outside the apartment complex, I hailed a cab and headed to a chain hotel.

I checked in, dropped my bag, and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Once things quieted down, I went onto the next thing.

I opened my mobile banking app and checked the joint account Daniel and I shared.

The balance was over 40,000 dollars.

Last month, it was 50,000 dollars.

Nearly 10,000 dollars had vanished.

I scrolled back through the transaction history.

There were three big withdrawals.

The first one was on last Wednesday, 2,000 dollars, with a note: [Flight and hotel.]

The money didn't go to Daniel's own account.

The second was on last Friday, a 3,000-dollar charge at a jewelry store.

The third was on last Sunday, a 5,000-dollar transfer to Emily.

I stared at that name for a long time.

5000 dollars were transferred to Emily. There was no note.

I took a screenshot, saved it in a separate folder, exported the transaction history, and backed it up.

Then I kept scrolling.

Over the past three months, I found four more transfers to Emily.

The amounts were 750 dollars, 1,250 dollars, 500 dollars, and 1,500 dollars.

That added up to 4,000 dollars.

In other words, over the past three months, Daniel had sent a total of 9,000 dollars from our joint account to Emily.

I set my phone down, got up, and went to stand by the window.

Outside, the street was nothing special. Just cars passing by.

I sent my mom a quick text: [Mom, I'm staying at a hotel. Don't worry.]

She texted back right away: [Okay. If you need money, let me know.]

I replied with an [Okay,] opened my notes app, and started listing out all the dates and amounts of those transfers.

Then I realized something.

The first transfer to Emily was three months ago, on March 12th.

March 12th was Emily's birthday.

That night, the three of us had dinner together. Emily said Daniel gave her a scarf for her birthday. "Daniel, you're so thoughtful," she teased.

I laughed and said Daniel was being unusually generous.

A scarf that cost 750 dollars.

It hit me that the money for that scarf came straight out of our joint account.

I closed my notes app and opened WhatsApp.

I pulled up Daniel's chat window.

Daniel's latest message popped up, sent half an hour ago: [Where did you go? Did you take the marriage certificates?]

I didn't reply.

I opened his Instagram feed.

He'd already tried to bury my post. Well, he couldn't actually hide what I posted, so he just put up something new to cover it.

Sure enough, he'd posted something.

[It was a misunderstanding. It's all cleared up now. Don't let the gossip get out of hand.] Daniel posted.

Some of his colleagues had already hit like.

I took a screenshot.

Then I checked Emily's Instagram feed.

She'd posted something too, at 3 AM.

[Not everything is as it seems. The truth will come out.] Emily wrote.

Someone commented: [What's going on?]

Emily replied: [It's nothing. Just a misunderstanding.]

I took another screenshot.

The truth would come out, huh?

Let's see what kind of story she tried to sell.

I organized all the screenshots and transaction records, saved them to my cloud drive, and backed them up to my email.

After I finished, I lay down on the hotel bed, staring up at the ceiling.

My phone rang again.

It was an unknown number.

I picked up.

"Sarah? It's Daniel's dad, Thomas Reed," came the voice over the phone.

Thomas's voice was calmer than Callie's, but he was saying the same thing.

"Sarah, this is getting messy. Just delete the post for now. We can talk about it when you get home," he said.

"Dad, I can't delete it. The screenshots are already out there," Sarah replied.

"Maybe, but you can't walk away. You took the marriage certificate with you. What are you planning?" Thomas asked.

"I want a divorce," I said.

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"Don't do anything drastic. Daniel said there's nothing between him and that woman. You're blowing things out of proportion," Thomas said.

"He transferred 9,000 dollars from our joint account to her. Do you seriously think that's nothing?" I shot back.

There was another silence.

This time, it lasted longer.

"How much?" Thomas asked.

"9,000 dollars. I have the transaction records," Sarah replied.

Someone was talking in the background, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. It sounded like Callie.

Thomas didn't say anything else and just hung up.

I set my phone down.

About twenty minutes later, Daniel called.

I picked up.

"What did you say to my dad?" he asked.

"The truth," I replied.

"What truth? Did you go through my account?" he asked.

"It's our joint account. I have every right to check it," I replied.

He went quiet for a moment.

When he spoke again, his tone softened.

"Sarah, that money was just a loan to Emily. She was tight on money back then," he said.

"A loan? You took it out of our joint account? Did you ask me first?" I shot back.

"I was afraid you'd overthink it," he said.

"You were afraid I'd overthink it, and that's why you secretly handed over 9,000 dollars of our money to another woman? Daniel, do you even hear yourself right now?" I shot back.

He fell silent.

I kept going. "That 750 dollars on March 12th? That was for a scarf. The three of us were having dinner, and you handed her a gift right in front of me, using our money. How did that make you feel?"

Daniel said, "Can you stop digging up old drama?"

I shot back, "This isn't ancient history. It's not long ago."

I hung up.

I turned on the silent mode and tossed my phone onto the pillow.

I stared at the ceiling for another ten minutes.

Then I picked up my phone, opened WhatsApp, and found Helen Carter.