Allowance, Lies, and a Secret Ex

eaving his phone behind. A bank alert flashed across the sc

pay was only $4,000 a month, and I struggled to cover our f

ses, and his parents, who knew all along

ble what he claimed, and our entire five-year marriage was built on a f

mple treats, all while he secretly funneled $150,000 of our mon

ence. I hired a lawyer and walked into that courtroom re

pte

Chandl

' s phone. He had left it when he rushed out for an emergency IT call. I wasn't usually o

hat said "don't look" and landed right on "what is this?" The message was clear, st

-wife. My stomach twisted. Why was Jerrold sending her $2,500 every month? W

t with the notification. Jackie Reid. Not a one-time thing, but a "mortgage p

ne call. "Everything okay, babe?" he asked, reaching for a glass of

sed, and his eyes narrowed, just for a split second, but I saw it. T

een still displaying the incriminating notification.

phone to my face, then to the floor. "Karly, I c

ammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat of disbelief and

a man who pretended to be struggling, while secretly bankrolling his past. Five years

e around. $4,000. And out of that, he gave me $1,200 for groceries, utilities, Leo' s daycare, everything

nd what he did. It wasn' t just a lie; it was a deliberate, calculated

ore me, the father of my child, suddenly felt like a stranger. The face I thought I

mortgage payment." This wasn't recent. This had been going on. Years. My en

e amount. The recipient. Jackie Reid. His ex-wife. The one he' d cheated on, the one

our every conversation, the unspoken burden. He was paying her mortgage. Our mortgage, the one we

m my hand, his face a mask of panic.

sland was between us. The physical distance felt necessa

n. "Explain how you' ve been funneling money to your ex-wife for five years?

. Silence stretched between us, thick and suf

nice for Leo, a new toy, a better pair of shoes, and had to hold back. My trust, so freely given, now felt like

ng, needing to hear the lie unravel completely. "Tell

nd four thousand. It fluctuates." He held o

I had maintained shattering. "You are

. He had accounts he managed himself. I knew his password for one of the joint

fers. Every month. Like clockwork. To Jackie Reid.

s a pact. A secret agreement made before our life together even trul

ifty thousand dollars. Money that could have gone to our family, to Leo' s college fund,

said to his sleeping form, the words bitter on my ton

e looked at me, confused, then his gaze

flat. "That's what this is about. Some deb

. it's complicated, Karly. It's an o

hile your current wife, the mother of your second child, is struggling to pay for groceries? While

st sat there, a pict

y me if you were still so entangled wit

s silence was deafening, a chasm bet

Do you have any idea what I' ve given up

o make things right, about his famil

e systematically defrauded your own family. Your

wide and vacant. He couldn't ev

ed with an icy contempt. "Every time, you looked me in the eye and lied. You sai

d. The tru

ted. And the spending patterns. New golf clubs. Expensive gadgets he'd claimed wer

p. My hands were shaking, not from anger,

," I said, my voice devoid

after me, "Karly, please! Don't do this!" But I didn't look back. My mind was already mapping out a path, a future th