Have you ever been so in love with someone that your brain just rationalizes every thing they do? I know I have, and when you are with someone for seven years, you just trust them. You don’t think twice. So, when Daniel came home that night and told me he got this huge promotion at work and needed to transfer to London for two year, I didn’t doubt him for a second.
On the contrary, I was thrilled for him and became his cheerleader. I helped him pack and started planning on how we would handle the distance.
On the day of his trip, I took him to JFK, and before we made it to the terminal, I was a complete wreck. The whole place reeked of jet fuel, everyone was rushing around with their luggage, and I was standing by the security checkpoint bawling my eyes out while he comforted me and reassured me that the two years would go by quickly. He kept saying how it was just temporary and we needed to make sacrifices for our future. I believed him completely. As he left, I was standing there waving my arms in a tear-soaked haze.
But the absolute craziest thing about all of this is the fact that those tears were 100% genuine, despite the fact that along the way, I actually realized what he was really doing.
Just three night before the airport drop-off, I walked into the home office to grab a notepad and write something down, when I noticed his laptop was opened. As a person, I’m not a snoop, I’m really not. For seven years, I never even once opened his texts, tried to guess his password or looked into his browsing history. That wasn’t my style. But somehow I just felt like looking at the screen. At the top of his inbox was an email from him stating the finalized lease agreement of a luxury penthouse apartment in Miami Beach. Co-tenant’s name under his was something I’d never even heard before. It was Olivia Bennett.
I sat down with and clicked through his folders to see the complete story behind it all. They planned their life out in detail and were looking forward to being finally free to start a new life. But then came the most shocking piece of news. There was an attachment in his folder containing an ultrasound photo. She was pregnant.
But what truly got me sick to my stomach was seeing our bank statements. Daniel had been quietly siphoning off our joint savings for months to pay for the rent, furniture, and herself. It wasn’t just some petty thousands of dollars, either. He had withdrawn nearly all of it. There was $720,000 in that account. All of the money from my parents’ inheritance that I had saved and invested before he ever entered my life. I had moved that money into the joint account because I actually thought that this is what people did when they were building a life together. Looking at that bright computer screen in the dark room was like a light bulb turned on for me. The sadness didn’t hit me yet, but I automatically switched into survival mode.
I went along with it. The next couple of mornings I would wake up, cook him breakfast, and then finally drive him to the airport. I allowed myself to break down at the gate because I truly felt grief about losing the man I loved.
However, the very instant he passed through security and disappeared from sight? The grief I was feeling vanished.
I headed right back to my car and turned on my laptop sitting there in the passenger seat and accessed our online bank account. Back in the days when I had received the inheritance money, my financial consultant had actually pleaded with me to maintain a bank account in my name only in case of any kind of emergency. Good thing that I did listen to her then. In less than two minutes, I transferred all $720,000 into my personal bank account reducing the total amount in the joint account to zero. Then I called up my attorney and informed him of everything and asked him to file for a divorce as soon as possible, making sure they were served to the luxury address in Miami, not London.
About two hours later, my phone started ringing off the hook. Daniel was panicking because he couldn’t use the credit card to pay for his meal at the airport terminal cafe. He started yelling and asking where the money went. I told him I moved it. He screamed at the phone, saying it was our money, and that’s when I stopped him. “No, it’s my inheritance.”
The line went dead silent. You could practically hear his brain short-circuiting as he realized the entire game was over. Then the frantic excuses started pouring out, followed by begging, and then he actually used the line, “But you’re my home.” I almost laughed out loud. I told him to go find a job since he was clearly so talented at making up fictional stories, and I hung up the phone.
However, the coming few months came as a surprise to me. The divorce was quick and smooth since the fraud and adultery were black on white. Everybody thought that I would be in a mess, and his lawyer kept making me feel guilty about abandoning Daniel without anything. But what amazed me the most is that I did not even miss him. I missed the illusion of the guy who could have existed, not the real person who had been lying to my face all along.
It was then that with my lawyer taking care of the dirty business of divorce, I decided to take my life into my hands. I used the money from my inheritance to invest in sustainable housing and local developments projects. I got myself involved again, joined networking meetings and met many entrepreneurs until I met David. He was not flamboyant at all. There was no need for him to put on a show like Daniel was always doing to impress me. He was solid. He listened and we became good friends. Then the relationship developed naturally.
A month following the divorce, Daniel sent me an email, begging for forgiveness. Of course I didn’t replied, because I didn’t really need a closure. Why? I got one the moment I learned of his betrayal.
Please SHARE this article with your family and friends on Facebook.
Bored Daddy
Love and Peace
