Over the previous eighteen months, Paul had transferred money from our joint savings account into an account connected to a company controlled by his mother.
The total was $86,400.
I stared at the number.
I remembered working late nights, skipping vacations, and saving every bonus because Paul had insisted we needed a secure future.
Apparently, he had been building a future for Diane.
Not for us.
“Why?” I whispered.
Margaret answered quietly.
“Because Diane wanted control of everything. She believed your income belonged to the family. And Paul believed keeping his mother happy was more important than being honest with his wife.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
The broken leg was painful.
But discovering that the person I trusted had been stealing from me while allowing his mother to hurt me was something different.
It felt like losing the last piece of a life I thought I had lived.
