Chapter 1

The price of gold had skyrocketed to 4,000 dollars per ounce, and I gripped my phone, my heart pounding. 160 ounces of investment-grade gold bars was my entire life savings, my future, all riding on this one bet.

I dialed my wife's number, my voice trembling. "Honey, we're rich! 160 ounces of gold is worth over 640 thousand dollars now! We can retire early!"

But on the other end, there was only silence. After a long pause, Anabella finally spoke, her voice shaky and panicked in a way I'd never heard before. "What gold? Arthur... what are you even talking about?"

My blood ran cold.

"What do you mean, I'm talking nonsense?" I snapped, my voice suddenly shooting up.

Several coworkers turned to stare at me.

I didn't care about their looks. Clutching my phone, I strode over to the window and lowered my voice, nearly grinding my teeth. "Anabella, you're the only one with the key to the safe, the little one under the nightstand in our bedroom. The one with 160 ounces of gold bars inside. Don't tell me you have no idea what I'm talking about!"

"I..." Anabella's voice was on the verge of tears. "Arthur, please, don't get upset. Just listen to me, okay?"

"Explain? You'd better start explaining right now!" I snapped, my voice sharp and demanding.

My temples throbbed, and a sense of dread settled over me, making it hard to breathe.

Those 160 ounces of gold were my secret, my life's savings stashed away over five years. I'd gone all in when the price was just 2,500 dollars per ounce.

It was my safety net against the midlife crisis, the anchor for our future.

To keep things under wraps, I didn't even bother with a bank safe deposit box. Instead, I bought a small safe and hid it at home, giving Anabella the only key.

I trusted her more than I trusted myself.

"Arthur, that... that gold, I... I just used it for a bit," Anabella murmured, her voice barely a whisper.

"Used it?" I laughed in disbelief, anger surging through me. "640 thousand dollars' worth of gold, and you say you just used it? Anabella, what did you do with it?"

"I... I lent it to Braylon," she stammered.

Braylon Patton?

Just hearing that name felt like a dagger straight to my heart.

He was Anabella's first love, the senior she was head over heels for back in college.

We'd been married three years, but his name kept slipping from her lips like some ghost that refused to leave us alone.

"Braylon's been working on that VR art gallery startup, you know how it is. It looks really promising, but he's short on cash to get things going," Anabella explained.

"So you just gave him our gold?" My voice was cold as ice.

"It's not like I took it. I just lent it to him! He promised he'd pay us back once his company gets its first round of funding, and he said he'll even pay us interest!" Anabella blurted out, desperate to defend herself.

"When did you sell it?" I closed my eyes, feeling the world spin around me.

"Just... just a year ago," she stammered.

I snapped my eyes open and rushed to my computer, pulling up the historical gold price chart.

A year ago, the price was at rock bottom, just barely over 2,500 dollars per ounce.

I couldn't believe it. She actually sold all our gold right at the lowest point.

I did the math. Back then, 160 ounces of gold would've brought in less than 400 thousand dollars.

And now? That same gold was worth a whopping 640 thousand dollars.

240 thousand dollars in profit vanished into thin air, all because of her foolishness and reckless decision.

"Anabella!" I practically roared. "Do you even realize what you've done? You just flushed 240 thousand dollars down the drain!"

"It's just a little less profit, so what? Why are you yelling at me?" Anabella snapped back, her voice rising, a mix of anger and embarrassment after being caught in a lie. "Money comes and goes, but if Braylon misses his dream, that's gone forever! Arthur, I never thought you'd be so shallow, so obsessed with money!"

"Me? Materialistic?" I spat out.

She was flipping the script so hard that I was shaking all over with rage.

"That was five years of my blood, sweat, and tears! It was everything I had planned for our future! How could you just get rid of it without even asking me?" I shouted.

"We're married! Your money is my money, isn't it? What's wrong with me using it? Besides, it was for an investment, not like I was squandering it!" Anabella retorted, her voice brimming with self-assurance.

"Investment? You really call giving money to your first love an investment?" I called her out coldly, not holding back for a second.

"Arthur! Do you have to be so nasty? Braylon and I are just friends! I'm just helping him chase his dream! Can you stop making everything sound so dirty? Our friendship isn't anything like what you're imagining!" Anabella shot back, her voice bristling with indignation.

'Pure friendship?' I scoffed inwardly.

I was so angry that I nearly crushed my phone in my grip.