After My Ex Betrayed Me, I Chose the Man Who Waited

I bought a dress for six hundred bucks using my husband's shared payment account. Half an hour later, police officers showed up at my door, saying I was suspected of credit card fraud.

I didn't panic. I called my husband first.

He hung up. Texted back：“In a meeting.”

The officers were about to take me in when his secretary called, voice dripping with superiority：“Ms. Henson, CEO Whitney asked me to file the report. He says all you do is spend his money and bleed him dry. He's put up with it long enough.”

I laughed.

What the secretary didn't know was that Daryl Whitney's “CEO” title had been bought and paid for by my father.

I was the company's legal representative. The accounts were under my name. The card linked to that shared payment account was funded every month by my father.

As for Daryl——on his best day, he wasn't worth the dirt on my heels.

“Tell Daryl,” I said into the phone, “the agreement he signed the day he married into my family. Clause Seven. Have him refresh his memory.”

The secretary went silent. When she spoke again, her voice was shaking：“……CEO Henson?”

Too late.

I hung up and turned to the officers：“Family matter. Sorry you came out for nothing.”

After the officers left, I called Daryl.

This time he picked up instantly.

“Honey, I swear I didn't know the secretary did that on her own——”

“Daryl,” I cut him off, my voice even, “I told you the day you came on board. You want out, you can go. You leave the marriage with nothing. Since you feel so wronged, go ahead.”

Silence on the other end for a long time.

Finally he said one word：“Fine.”

……

The secretary's call came while two officers were still planted in my living room.

“Ms. Henson, CEO Whitney asked us to file the report. He says all you do is spend his money and bleed him dry. He's put up with it long enough.”

The officers looked at me. Their expressions said plenty.

I took my time reaching into my bag, pulled out my ID, and handed it over.

“Officers, this card was set up by my father. Every monthly deposit is on record. I'm spending my own money. How exactly is that fraud?”

One of the officers took the ID, glanced at it, then looked back at me.

“Sort out your family business yourselves. But since a report was filed, we have to follow procedure.”

“No need.”

I called Daryl. He hung up.

A text came through：“In a meeting.”

I called the secretary instead.

“Tell Daryl. The agreement he signed the day he married into my family. Clause Seven. Have him refresh his memory.”

Silence on the other end.

When she spoke again, her voice had changed completely：“……CEO Henson?”

I hung up.

The agreement Daryl signed on our wedding day.

Clause Seven：if the husband interfered with the wife's normal spending in any way, he automatically forfeited all post-marital property rights.

Daryl had read that clause, hesitated for three seconds, and signed anyway.

Because his father's company was waiting on my investment.

Not long after the officers left, Daryl came home.

When he walked through the door, I was drinking a yogurt.

“Honey, I swear I didn't know the secretary did that on her own——”

“You didn't know?”

I looked at him. “Your secretary calls the police without your go-ahead? If you hadn't said it to her face first, what—she's just insane?”

Daryl had nothing.

He slipped off his jacket, draped it over the couch, and came over to sit beside me.

I didn't move. I didn't look at him either.

“I was just venting, I didn't think she'd actually do it——”

“Just venting, and the police showed up at my door. Daryl, that mouth of yours is really something.”

He went quiet.

I finished the yogurt, set the cup on the table, and looked up at him.

“I told you the day you came on board. You want out, you can go. You leave the marriage with nothing. Since you feel so wronged, go ahead.”