Chapter 4: The Truth
That night we slept in the house for the first time as a family.
Felix fell asleep in the bedroom I had furnished through photographs and descriptions. My parents took the guest room. I sat on the edge of the master bed—the bed Russell had shared with another woman—and looked at the bank records on my laptop.
Every transfer I had made for five years was listed there.
I had trusted him with everything.
He had trusted me with nothing.
The next morning I met with a divorce attorney and began the process of legally ending the marriage. Russell fought it at first, claiming the house should be considered marital property. The attorney showed him the deeds, the bank statements, and the messages where he had promised the money was for our shared future.
He settled quickly after that.
My mother watched me sign the final papers with a mixture of pride and sadness.
“You worked so hard for us,” she said. “We never knew.”
“I wanted you to have security,” I answered. “I just didn’t know the security was built on a lie.”
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My father, who had been quiet through most of the ordeal, spoke for the first time in days.
“You brought us home, Maren. That’s what matters.”
