Chapter 10 - Amber’s Secret Account
Three weeks after I moved, Margaret called with one final discovery involving Amber's private account.
There was more money than expected.
Some belonged to the disputed transactions.
Some didn't.
The important fact was that enough could be recovered to materially reduce what I had lost.
I had assumed the money was gone forever.
Luxury has terrible resale value.
But watches, jewelry, unused deposits and frozen transfers added up.
Dominic sold almost everything he had purchased with the proceeds.
He moved into a modest apartment.
He drove the Honda.
And one afternoon, he arrived at my townhouse wearing a department-store shirt and carrying supermarket flowers.
“You look normal,” I said.
“That's insulting.”
“It was intended as a compliment.”
We sat outside.
He told me he had accepted a new job.
Nothing glamorous.
Stable.
He had also enrolled in a financial ethics course.
I raised an eyebrow.
“Don't laugh.”
“I'm trying.”
“I deserve that.”
That became our new relationship.
Less pretending.
More truth.
Amber's secret account eventually became part of her settlement obligations.
I didn't celebrate.
By then, money had stopped being the emotional center of the story.
Choice was.
Trust was.
Accountability was.
May you like
And family—whatever survived after all three were tested.
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