On Valentine's Day, I discovered that the gold jewelry from our home safe was being shown off on the livestream of a college student my husband sponsored. Just this morning, I had asked my husband to cash in that gold. It was life-saving money for my father. On the screen, Maya Reed smiled coyly. "This is real gold from my sugar daddy. Let's see who dares to say he isn't the real deal now." My hands trembled as I dialed my husband's number. My father had suffered a severe stroke and was in the ICU. It was costing thousands of dollars a day. That gold was supposed to be his lifeline. I called over a dozen times, but he hung up on every single one. He only replied with one text. [I'm busy.] Right at that moment, his laughing voice came through the livestream. "Baby, let me see who's jealous of you." I put my phone down and dialed 911. It didn't take long before the couple's public display of affection was abruptly cut short. Through the screen, I heard a muffled, stern voice. "City Police Department. We're here to investigate a grand larceny case involving stolen gold." 1 Ever since we got married, Arthur would gift me gold every year. Bracelets, bullion, custom ornaments—he bought it all. He always said it was to make up for the expensive bridal jewelry he couldn't afford when we first tied the knot. But now, all of those things were sitting in another woman's livestream. Being flaunted as tokens of their love. The sheer irony of it made me want to laugh. The electronic lock on the front door beeped twice, and Arthur walked in, bringing the chill of the winter night with him. The moment he stepped inside, he launched into a furious tirade. "Elena, did you have the cops arrest Maya?!" His voice was full of utter disbelief and rage. "Do you have any idea that by calling the cops, you've ruined her life?! She just graduated! How is she supposed to get a job or live a normal life with a felony record?" "You know how hard she worked to get through college! You’re going to destroy her over a little bit of gold?" I hadn't even said a single word, yet he was already painting me as the villain. The burning agony that had been searing my chest all day suddenly froze over in the face of his coldness, leaving me completely numb. "A little bit of gold?" I curled my lips into a mocking smile, my eyes burning. "Arthur, I told you clearly this morning to take the gold from the safe and cash it in. You said you were busy. You said you didn't have time." I pulled up the screen recording I had saved and shoved the phone in his face. In the video, Maya's delicate face was zoomed in, and her sickeningly sweet voice echoed from the speaker. "Is this what you were busy with? Busy calling her 'baby' on a livestream? Busy watching her show off the tokens of love you gave her?" Arthur's face went completely white, then rapidly flushed a deep, angry red. "Elena, listen to me, I can explain..." He softened his tone, trying to sound reasonable and placating. "Maya's family is in a really tough spot. Her dad has terminal cancer and is in a hospital back in her home state. The daily medical bills are suffocating her. She only reached out to me because she was completely desperate. I've sponsored her education for years; how could I just abandon her now?" "And about that gold... I just lent it to her as a prop for her videos, to see if it could help her get some traffic. All that stuff she said on the livestream was just a scripted act. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd overreact exactly like this." "There is absolutely nothing going on between us! Elena, how could you think so poorly of me?" His brows were knitted tightly together, his eyes brimming with the look of a falsely accused victim. Watching his performance, I almost wanted to give him a standing ovation. He was so brazenly twisting the truth, deflecting the real issue, and packaging his filthy affair as some noble act of charity. "Helping her?" I scoffed, opening my mobile banking app to the transaction history page. "Does helping her require wiring her cutesy, romantic amounts like $1,433 and $5,200? Does helping her require you to spend Valentine's Day and our anniversary with her?" "Arthur, save this bullshit to fool yourself. Don't say it out loud and disgust me." Arthur's expression froze. He suddenly raised his voice, trying to overpower me with sheer volume. "Elena, are you investigating me?! Is there absolutely no basic trust left between us?" He took a step closer, his breath hot against my face. "I bust my ass out there every single day! I drink with clients until my stomach bleeds! And for what? For this family! To give you and your dad a good life! And just because you caught wind of some baseless rumor, you call the cops to arrest a young girl without even talking to me first?" "Where does that leave me?! How are my colleagues and partners supposed to look at me? Do you know this could ruin the company's reputation and tank our next round of funding?!" His accusations were so self-righteous, as if I were the unreasonable, hysterical sinner who was destroying everything. There was no point in arguing anymore. I let out a long, exhausted sigh. "You don't need to gaslight me. I didn't tell you about my dad being hospitalized because I thought you were actually busy with work, and I didn't want to distract you. The reason I asked you to cash in the gold today was to pay for his medical bills." "And because you told me all our liquid cash was tied up in your new project, I had no other choice but to—" To my surprise, Arthur let out a mocking scoff. "Do you really need to make up a lie like that? Your dad is healthier than I am! Hospitalized? Please. You're only doing this because I told you Maya's dad has cancer, and you're trying to play the sympathy card." My eyes widened in absolute shock. I stared at him, completely paralyzed. It was as if I didn't recognize the man standing in front of me. His expression remained cold as he sneered. "I'm telling you right now: drop the charges immediately, or this isn't over!" With that, he slammed the door and stormed out. I stood alone in the living room for a very long time. Then, I picked up my phone and dialed a friend's number. "Can you do me a favor? I need a deep dive into all of Arthur's personal bank statements and transaction histories for the past year. The more detailed, the better." I paused, my gaze sweeping over my own pale, bloodless face in the hallway mirror. "Also, that apartment I bought before we got married—list it on the market ASAP. I don't care if the price is a little low, but it has to be an all-cash offer. I need it sold as fast as possible." 2 I opened my text messages. My chat with Arthur was still stuck on the day before yesterday. [Elena, I have to entertain some investors tonight. Don't wait up for dinner.] That was the day my father was in the resuscitation room. I had called him seven times, and he didn't answer a single one. It wasn't until 3:00 AM that he finally texted back. [Drank too much. Going to sleep.] I swiped across the screen and, as if possessed, clicked into Maya's Instagram profile. Her latest post was from yesterday. "Who says sugar daddies are all greasy old men? Mine has impeccable taste, and that's what I love most about him." The video showed a high-end Omakase restaurant that cost at least a thousand dollars a head. The camera only panned to the hands of the man sitting across from her. He was wearing a luxury watch from last year's latest collection. It was the birthday present I had given him. I kept scrolling down. Last year, on the night of our wedding anniversary, I waited at the restaurant until they closed. He called to say he had to fly out of the country for a last-minute business emergency and couldn't be there. But on that exact same day on Maya's account, she posted a picture of the night view from a revolving restaurant in another country. In the one second he briefly appeared in the frame, I recognized those custom cufflinks. I had driven across half the city to find them for him. The night my dad fainted and was rushed to the hospital for the first time, I was pacing the ER hallway, utterly helpless. He said he was in a critical meeting that would determine the company's Q3 revenue. At almost that exact same time, Maya posted a photo dump. In the corner of one picture, I could see his thermos. The center photo was a looping video of a girl playfully wrapping a man's silk tie around her finger. The caption read: [Bringing some warmth to someone who's working so hard today, so I'm claiming this tie as my reward! ?] Staring at the screen, I suddenly burst into laughter. The sound of my laughter was piercingly harsh in the empty living room. When Arthur and I first got together, he was a tech geek who didn't even know how to match a dress shirt with a suit. His closet was full of ill-fitting, cheap blazers. I was the one who taught him, little by little, how to choose fabrics and recognize good tailoring. I took him to custom tailors and taught him what to wear for different occasions. His first decent suit was picked out by me. His first expensive watch was gifted by me. Even the cologne he wears now... I chose that woody scent specifically to match his cultivated aura. And now, all of it had become his capital to please another woman. Before I realized it, tears had completely covered my face. I didn't snap out of it until my phone started vibrating endlessly. It was messages from my friend, along with a series of attached files. [Elena, I got the bank statements. There's a major problem; you need to look at these files right away. Also... that apartment you asked me to list? I just talked to a broker. He said... your apartment was already mortgaged last year.] My fingers went stiff. [Mortgaged? I never authorized or signed any mortgage paperwork.] I hurriedly opened the files. Aside from the fraudulent loan documents, there were actually several credit cards from different banks opened in my name. I clicked open the billing statements one by one. The accounts started opening two years ago; the most recent one was activated just last week. The combined credit limit was over eighty thousand dollars. The billing address for every single card was Arthur's company. And the transaction details were filled with luxury hotels, designer boutiques, high-end jewelry, and Michelin-starred restaurants. The charges spanned across the country, and there were even a few international transactions. As I flipped through them page by page, my blood ran cold. Last October, on my birthday, he said he had to work overtime at the office. But the credit card statement showed a charge of $1,200 at a high-end restaurant in Manhattan that very night. Last Christmas, he said he was taking clients out to play golf. Yet there were three consecutive days of charges at a top-tier luxury resort in Miami, totaling over $8,000. And today, Valentine's Day— There was a charge of $13,140 at a luxury jewelry brand. Meanwhile, I hadn't even received a simple 'Happy Valentine's Day' text from him, let alone a gift. I closed the digital folder and shut my eyes. So many memories flashed through my mind. Three years ago, when his first startup failed and left him with over a hundred thousand dollars in debt, I drained my savings and begged my parents for a loan just to bail him out. His eyes were bloodshot as he hugged me, his tears soaking through my shirt. He had said: "Elena, if I ever betray you in this life, may God strike me down with lightning." Two years ago, when his company finally took off, he held my hand and said: "From now on, half of every penny I make belongs to you." Every single vow had now become a vicious slap across my face. I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached, trying to stop my body from trembling. [Keep digging. I want every single debt investigated thoroughly. Also, help me find a ruthless divorce attorney. Someone who specializes in marital debt fraud and hidden assets.] After sending the text, I put my phone down and walked to the window. The night outside was pitch black, a darkness that seemed to have no end. 3 Right after the Monday morning meeting wrapped up, a colleague stopped me, sounding a bit panicked. "Elena, there are two women downstairs asking for you. They said they're Maya's family. They're extremely agitated... it looks like they're here to cause a scene." Before she even finished her sentence, the sound of crying and screaming reached us. "Where is Elena Harper?! Tell that black-hearted bitch to get out here!" A woman in her fifties charged to the front, her expression ferocious. The entire department's attention instantly zeroed in on us. The woman pointed a finger right at my nose, screaming at the top of her lungs. "You're Elena?! You vicious wretch! How dare you call the cops on my daughter! She's an innocent, pure college girl, and you pushed her so hard she almost jumped off a building, do you know that?!" The aunt next to her immediately chimed in, her tone dripping with toxic sarcasm. "Let everyone here be the judge! She accused my niece of stealing her gold. But it was all fake! Cheap gold-plated garbage! Worth maybe a hundred bucks tops, and she insisted it was real just to ruin our Maya! This is attempted murder! Where is your boss? Tell him to come out and see what kind of trash he hires!" The gold was fake? Impossible. Then, another thought crossed my mind. This was probably just their tactic to get Maya out of trouble. I let out a cold laugh. "Ladies, this is a place of business. If you have an issue, we can discuss it in a conference room." "Discuss my ass! You're going to drop the charges right this second! Otherwise, I'll come to your office and make a scene every single day! I'll make sure you can't show your face in public ever again!" Maya's mother spat as she yelled. "Let me tell you, we had that garbage 'gold' appraised. It's nothing but cheap gold-plated silver! Just you wait, we're going to sue you!" I frowned slightly, my tone turning icy. "I called the police because there was clear video evidence showing my personal property in a place it shouldn't be. As for whether it's real or fake, the police will handle the appraisal." Maya's aunt jumped up. "Don't try to bully us just because you think we're stupid! We consulted a lawyer, and we have the lab reports. The evidence is rock solid! You framed her! We're pressing charges! We're suing you for malicious prosecution and defamation! If you don't drop the case, your life is going to be a living hell!" When she slapped the appraisal report down in front of me, my heart plummeted. But I couldn't afford to show weakness in front of them. I kept my voice steady. "I've already filed the police report. If you keep causing a disturbance here, you can go sit in a cell right next to Maya." I ignored them after that, walking straight through the crowd of staring coworkers and toward the elevator. I could still hear the aunt's hushed curses echoing behind me. "That gold was obviously fake... let's see how much longer she can act so arrogant!" My heart was trembling. Right at that moment, I received a call from the police detective. "Ms. Harper, we sent that batch of gold jewelry and bullion in for testing. They are indeed gold-plated items. The outer layer contains less than 1% gold, and the base material is 925 sterling silver. The overall gold content is under 10%..." I couldn't hear a single word the detective said after that. The entire world faded into an endless, deafening ringing in my ears. Which meant, Arthur had spent only a tenth of the cost to maintain his image as a "generous," "family-oriented" husband. And I had been played for an absolute fool. I had even treated it as my only lifeline when my father was at death's door. I took a deep breath, suddenly realizing that I didn't even have the energy to be angry anymore. All that was left was a crystal-clear, icy reality. My phone buzzed. It was a text from Arthur. [Elena, I heard Maya's family went to your office to make a scene? Please don't stoop to their level. Let's sit down and talk properly when we get home tonight. We can fix this.] [There's a huge misunderstanding here, please don't listen to them...] [Elena, are you busy? Why aren't you replying?] A misunderstanding. I stared at his texts. I could feel his sheer panic radiating through the screen. I suddenly really wanted to laugh. Is he only feeling scared now? After deceiving me and betraying me time and time again, what did he take me for? I actually completely agreed with something Maya's aunt had said. Arthur, your life is about to become a living hell.
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