He gave a quiet laugh.
It was the same laugh he always used when he wanted to make me feel foolish.
“When was the last time you actually looked at yourself?”
I stared at him.
“You stopped making an effort,” he continued. “You wear old clothes. You don’t take care of yourself anymore.”
I looked down at the barbecue sauce staining the front of my shirt.
“My clothes are old because you told me we were broke.”
“You always turn everything into a discussion about money.”
Melanie walked over.
“Michael, is everything all right?”
He immediately placed a hand around her waist.
“Everything is fine, Mel.”
She looked at me with an expression that resembled sympathy.
“Michael told me you both accepted that the marriage was over. He said you were only waiting for the divorce to become official.”
“He told you that?”
“He said you’d been living separate lives for months.”
“We shared the same bed last night.”
Her eyes moved toward him.
Michael cleared his throat.
“It’s complicated.”
Then the sunlight caught the bracelet on Melanie’s wrist.
A month earlier, I had discovered a charge from an expensive jewelry store on our joint credit card.
Michael claimed he had purchased a gift for the wife of an important client.
I looked at Melanie’s wrist.
“That bracelet is beautiful.”
She smiled and touched it.
“Thank you.”
“When did Michael give it to you?”
“For our anniversary.”
Michael quickly stepped between us.
“That’s enough.”
I kept my eyes on him.
“Was Melanie the client’s wife?”
His thumb brushed over his wedding ring.
He always did that when he was lying.
“Jenna, stop.”
“You told me that bracelet was a business gift.”
“It was connected to work.”
Melanie pulled her wrist closer to her body.
“You told me you bought it with your own money.”
“I did.”
“No,” I said. “The payment came from our joint account.”
Michael’s expression hardened.
“You’re humiliating yourself.”
But something inside me had already changed.
He had watched me cut away pieces of our children’s lives while secretly paying for another woman.
Then I remembered other unexplained expenses.
There had been a resort charge that Michael described as a client retreat.
There had also been a property payment that he claimed was a deposit on new equipment storage.
“What else did you pay for?” I asked.
“I’m not discussing this.”
“What about the resort?”
“Business.”
“And the property deposit?”
“Storage.”
“Then you won’t object if I verify it.”
Michael caught my wrist.
He did not squeeze hard, but he held it firmly enough to stop me.
“Leave it alone.”
I looked down at his hand.
Then I looked back into his eyes.
“Let go of me.”
Something in my voice made him release me immediately.
I walked into the house.
Maya followed and shut the kitchen door.
“Why isn’t Ryan here?” I asked.
“He’s reviewing unusual company expenses,” she said. “Restaurant bills, a resort stay, and something involving an apartment. He believes Michael may be responsible.”
I opened our banking application.
The jewelry payment was there.
So was the resort charge.
And a transfer connected to a property deposit.
I took screenshots of everything and sent them to an email account Michael could not access.
The dental estimate remained inside the drawer beside the grocery receipt.
Melanie’s bracelet had cost more than the procedure I had postponed twice.
I called Ryan.
“Did Michael tell you the resort charges were business expenses?”
“He said they were for clients.”
“What did he say about the apartment?”
“He called it equipment storage.”
Maya leaned closer to the phone.
“Tell Jenna what you found.”
Ryan exhaled.
“I found restaurant bills, hotel charges, jewelry payments, and a deposit connected to an apartment.”
“Some of those expenses also appear in our personal accounts,” I said. “It looks like he divided the payments between the company and our household money.”
I emailed Ryan the statements.
After comparing the dates and amounts, he confirmed it.
Part of the resort cost and apartment deposit had been taken from the company. The rest had come from our personal accounts.
“Do not confront him by yourself,” Ryan warned.
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