Chapter 2: The Missing Money

Three weeks after my surgery, I had opened our banking app to pay the electric bill. Eighteen thousand dollars was missing from our joint savings.

Owen claimed he had moved it temporarily for “project expenses.” That answer might have satisfied me if an invoice from Tessa’s consulting company hadn’t arrived the following morning.

It listed renderings, showroom deposits, and travel costs. At the bottom was the proposed project address: my store.

I called our accountant, froze the remaining joint funds, and asked Ruth to drive me to an attorney. I felt disloyal doing it. Then I remembered that loyalty did not require me to remain defenseless.

Back at the counter, I asked Owen whether Tessa knew he had used our savings.

Her expression changed. “You said the money came from selling your workshop equipment.”

“It’s marital money,” Owen replied sharply. “I was investing in our future.”

“Whose future?” I asked.

He exhaled and finally admitted that he wanted a divorce. He said he had spent years feeling like an employee in my father’s store. Tessa had made him feel talented again.

His pain sounded real. So was mine. But pain did not turn deception into permission. Continue Reading ⬇️