From Fake Divorce to Real Fortune Novel – Chapter 3
I carried on, the dutiful daughter-in-law, the loving mother.
Life settled into a new, strained normal.
Two weeks after Jack’s digital ghosting, my father-in-law, John, collapsed.
A massive stroke. He was rushed to the ICU.
Margaret, my mother-in-law, was frantic. She called Jack’s phone thirty, forty times. No answer.
She drove to his dealership.
“Jack hasn’t worked here for over a month,” the manager told her, his expression sympathetic. “He said he was taking a new job, moving abroad.”
The pieces clicked into place for Margaret, a horrifying puzzle.
She was about to call the police, report him missing, when I “broke down.”
“Mom,” I sobbed, tears streaming, “I think Jack … I think he tricked me.”
I spun the tale, a desperate wife forced into a sham divorce for a non-existent job, her husband vanishing with their life savings.
“He took the money from our joint account, Mom. All of it.” My voice cracked.
“Do you think … do you think he has someone else? That this was all a lie to leave us?”
The performance was Oscar-worthy.
To cover John’s initial, staggering medical bills, I “reluctantly” sold the diamond engagement ring Jack had given me, along with a few other pieces of “seldom-worn” jewelry — items I’d actually bought myself as investments.
It was a calculated sacrifice.
The sight of me, pale and tear-streaked, handing over cash at the hospital billing office, cemented their loyalty.