6
CO
I tell Mark I want to buy a house near
Experimental High. It’s the best school in the
city; you need to live in the district. With two
kids, it’s a smart investment.
Phase Three.
Mark hesitates. It’s expensive. And he just
bought my parents a house. Another million
dollars so soon…
“Honey,” I say. “How about we sell our
current house and buy the one near the
school? You can make up the difference.”
Our current house is joint property. The new
house will be in our son’s name.
Г
I’m not playing nice anymore. He betrayed
- me. I’ll take everything.
Tiffany can’t argue. I’m selling our house.
Transferring marital assets to our son. Phase
Four.
I lay low for a while. Don’t want him getting
suspicious.
The PI tells me Tiffany’s dad suddenly has
money, taking his mahjong buddies on a trip.
Probably hush money from Mark.
Time to play nice again.
“Honey, come home. The kids barely
remember what you look like.”
く
I’ve been subtly poisoning the kids against
him. I need them to want to leave with me.
They’re used to him being gone. We’re happy
as a threesome.
Mark actually comes home. My newfound
charm is working. The kids are awkward
around him. Mark feels guilty, tries to make
up for it, plays games with them.
I grab his phone, try our son’s birthday as the
passcode. It works.
I scroll through his chats with Tiffany. It’s all
money transfers. They see each other every
day; they don’t need to chat.
Pages of screenshots. Millions of dollars.
L
I forward them to myself, delete the
messages.
They say crime will be impossible in the
future, with everything tracked. I believe it.
Before returning the phone, I transfer myself
$50k. No explanation. I tried for $100k, but
there’s a limit. I look it up. I can do another
transfer later. Just before dinner, I transfer
the other $50k.
Most banks have lower limits. Mark set this
up specifically for Tiffany.
Thanks, Tiffany.
I make a feast, eight dishes. After midnight,
it’s a new day. Time for another transfer.
I transfer another $100K.
He sees it in the morning, panics. Thinks his
card’s been hacked. He’s calling the bank to
cancel it when I whimper, “It was me.”
He stares. “What do you need all that money
for?”
Such a stupid question.
I give an equally stupid answer. “Tiffany’s
clothes and bags and watches are so nice.
They cost tens of thousands of dollars. I want
some too.”
Maybe it’s my usual bluntness, or the pathetic way I’m acting, but he just stares. He doesn’t
tell me to transfer it back.
<
I can’t just take it for nothing. I nuzzle him. “I
want our son to take riding lessons. You know
how expensive those are…
He narrows his eyes. “Are you skimming
money?”
Tears well up. “Can’t I have something if I
can’t have you? Are these kids not yours?
Who else would you spend your money on?”
I let a few tears fall. “You have her. I only
have you. How can you understand my
insecurity?”
He actually looks conflicted for a second.
Then he says, “I’ll take the kids to school
today.”
Bonus.
