Chapter 4
I thought I had already discovered the worst.
I was wrong.
Compared to what came next…
The stale bread.
The frozen balcony.
The stolen money.
They were only the beginning.
The next morning, Michael called me before eight.
"Emma."
His voice was unusually serious.
"I need you to come to my office."
"Did you find something?"
There was a long pause.
"I found more than I wanted to."
An hour later, I was sitting across from him with a thick file resting on the conference table.
He slowly pushed it toward me.
"Before you open this..."
"I need you to prepare yourself."
A chill ran through me.
"What is it?"
Michael folded his hands.
"When we investigated the financial transfers, we discovered another account."
"I don't have another account."
"You don't."
He looked directly into my eyes.
"Your husband does."
The account had been opened two years earlier.
At first glance, it looked ordinary.
But every deposit came from my salary.
Not directly.
Daniel had been transferring small amounts from our joint account.
Amounts so small that I never noticed.
Twenty thousand pesos.
Thirty thousand.
Fifteen thousand.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Over two years...
It added up to millions.
I stared at the statements.
"What was he buying?"
Michael didn't answer.
Instead...
He slid another envelope across the table.
Inside were photographs.
I picked up the first one.
Daniel.
Standing outside a luxury condominium.
Holding hands with a young woman.
I frowned.
"Who is she?"
Michael quietly replied,
"Her name is Vanessa."
The second photograph showed them inside an expensive restaurant.
Laughing.
Drinking champagne.
The third...
They were on a beach.
Daniel had his arm around her waist.
The date in the corner of the photo made my stomach turn.
It was our wedding anniversary.
I had spent that day in Singapore negotiating a contract.
Daniel had told me he stayed home with Lily because she was "sick."
He hadn't stayed home.
He had gone on vacation.
With another woman.
Using my money.
I couldn't feel my hands anymore.
Michael kept speaking.
"We hired a private investigator yesterday."
"He followed Daniel."
"He didn't go to work."
"He went here."
He pointed to the condominium.
"He visits her almost every day."
"Does... his family know?"
Michael's silence answered the question before he spoke.
"Yes."
My chest tightened.
"All of them?"
He nodded slowly.
"According to the investigator..."
"Your mother-in-law introduced Vanessa to Daniel."
I felt physically ill.
"No..."
Michael continued.
"Teresa told several neighbors that Vanessa would make a much better wife."
"Why?"
"Because Vanessa doesn't travel."
"She stays home."
I laughed.
A quiet, broken laugh.
"So..."
"They wanted my salary..."
"But not me."
Michael didn't interrupt.
There was nothing left to say.
That afternoon, I met the private investigator in a quiet café.
He placed a small voice recorder on the table.
"I normally don't let clients listen to recordings."
"But in your case..."
"You deserve the truth."
He pressed play.
Teresa's voice filled the room.
"Don't worry."
"Emma works too much."
"he'll never notice."
Daniel laughed.
"As long as she keeps making money..."
"...everything is fine."
Another female voice giggled.
Vanessa.
"What if she finds out?"
Daniel answered without hesitation.
"She won't."
"She's too busy trying to be Superwoman."
Everyone laughed.
Then Teresa spoke again.
The words that followed would stay with me forever.
"Once Lily is older..."
"...Emma won't be useful anymore."
"We'll take what we can..."
"...then Daniel can marry someone who actually belongs in this family."
The recording ended.
For several seconds...
I couldn't breathe.
They had never loved me.
I wasn't a wife.
I wasn't family.
I was an income source.
A walking bank account.
And my daughter...
She wasn't their granddaughter.
She was simply the price they had to tolerate to keep the money flowing.
That evening, Daniel called again.
This time...
I answered.
"Emma!"
"Finally!"
"Are you done being dramatic?"
I remained silent.
He sighed.
"Mom feels terrible."
"Come home."
"We'll forget this ever happened."
Forget?
I looked at Lily, peacefully coloring beside the hotel window.
Then I remembered the recording.
The laughter.
The betrayal.
The balcony.
The bread.
"No."
My voice was calm.
"I don't think any of us will ever forget what happened."
He sounded irritated.
"What does that mean?"
"It means..."
"You should enjoy tonight."
"Why?"
"Because tomorrow morning..."
"You'll wake up to a life you've never experienced before."
He laughed.
"And what's that?"
I smiled.
"A life where you have to pay your own bills."
Before he could answer...
I ended the call.
Then I turned to Michael.
"It's time."
He nodded.
"The letters have already been prepared."
"Good."
"What happens tomorrow?"
I looked out the window.
"Justice."
Because at exactly nine o'clock the next morning...
Every bank account would be frozen.
Every credit card would stop working.
The apartment would be reclaimed.
The luxury SUV would be repossessed.
And Daniel's entire family...
May you like
Would finally discover what life felt like when the woman they had exploited for years...
Stopped paying.
