Davina and Jason had been happily married for three years, until Jason’s long hours cause Davina to question his actions. But one day, Jason’s buzzing phone reveals an empty bank account and an even bigger secret. When Jason and I met, I thought that for sure, I had found my soulmate in the techie world. I worked as a website designer and Jason worked for an IT firm as their IT security specialist. “It’s like fate, Davina,” Jason said. “We’re from the same world.”And we were. We were entirely in-sync for the three years we had been married. And I was convinced that children were on the horizon for us — but I wasn’t in a rush,
But then Jason started to change. He began working later than normal, claiming that the overtime was necessary for our future plans. Usually, tired of looking at screens, we went on some hiking adventure during the weekends. But now, even those were consumed by his job. I tried to understand. I tried to be easy on him because he always said that everything he was doing was for our dream of building a family. One night, Jason came home late again. I didn’t know what time he came in, just that he was too exhausted to make it past the couch. In the morning,
I found him soundly asleep, still in his work clothes. I thought that a good breakfast would be exactly what he needed. My father was staying with us for a little while, so a family brunch was in order. As I was about to go into the kitchen, , Jason’s phone began to buzz nonstop. I found it on the floor, thrown next to his watch and belt, discarded from the night before. The buzzing was an alert from our bank: Transaction declined due to insufficient funds. My skin crawled. Confused and worried, I checked our banking app only to discover our savings had vanished. But there, revealing the truth, was a record of large transfers to an unknown account. I woke Jason up, desperate for answers. “Where’s our money?”
I said, louder than I intended. Jason went pale. He rubbed his eyes with his hands, refusing to meet my eyes. “I can explain, Davina,” he said. “It’s not what it looks like.” His voice trailed off as my father walked into the living room, and sat on the couch across Jason. “Tell her,” my father said. “Or I will.” Jason looked back and forth between the two of us. Come on, Jason,” my father said. “Tell Davina about how you saw me last weekend. You know, when you got into the car with that woman and she drove you both away.” I wasn’t prepared for the can of worms that was about to open. It turns out that Jason had an affair. “I haven’t been completely honest with you. Months ago, I made a terrible mistake and had a brief affair with someone from work.” I felt like I was living a nightmare. “What does that have to do with the money?” I asked, trembling from the unspoken anger welling inside me.