My body went cold as I dug through the contents, still too stunned to fully process what I was seeing.
But one thing became clear instantly: Martha hadn’t just thrown me out.
She had given me exactly what I needed to teach Mark a devastating lesson.
Twenty minutes later, I pulled into Nina’s driveway. She opened the door before I even reached the porch.
“Valerie? What’s going on?”
“I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
Her expression softened immediately. “You do now.”
She took one of the twins from me, grabbed the bag, and got us inside without asking another question.
Later, after the babies were finally asleep in her guest room, we spread everything Martha had packed across her kitchen table.
There were printed bank statements, receipts, and a thick stack of cash.
There was also an envelope with my name written in Martha’s narrow handwriting. Inside was a note.
He thinks I don’t see it, but he is wrong.
You will need this.
The cash looked excessive under the light.
The receipts were worse—hotel after hotel, steakhouse dinners, jewelry stores, floral purchases, even a weekend spa charge.
“He didn’t just cheat on you,” Nina said quietly as she reviewed the statements. “He drained your accounts.”
I nodded. “And now he thinks I’m going to disappear quietly.”
Nina met my eyes. “Are you?”
