Chapter 1

Dumped By My Husband, I Hit The Jackpot

After returning from a three-month company training program, I found my husband gone, the locks changed, and a stranger opening the door.

One question was all it took to learn the house had been sold.

Unable to reach Jake, I headed to my in-laws' place, only to find the entire run-down neighborhood dark and deserted.

My in-laws, Mark, and Brenda, all had their phones switched off.

I panicked, not knowing who to call. No one in the family SnapChat group bothered to reply.

My ride-share driver told me the old houses there were being torn down for a redevelopment project.

They ran off, terrified of having to share any money with me.

But what they didn't know was that my parents had hit the lottery for three hundred million dollars, and I wasn't scared anymore. Not one bit.

Three months ago, my company sent me away for training, promising a promotion and a significant pay raise upon my return.

Jake and I had been married for two years. Our salaries weren't high, so we planned to save up for a couple more years before having kids.

This trip meant a substantial boost to my income, so I agreed without hesitation.

Just last night, I had FaceTimed Jake, and we were planning our happy future with kids.

He even said he'd pick me up from the train station today.

But when I got off the train, he wasn't there, and he wasn't answering his phone.

I thought he'd simply forgotten, but when I took a cab home, I found him gone, and our smart lock had been changed.

I wondered if the old lock had broken, and he'd replaced it, but he hadn't told me.

After knocking for ages, a scruffy, bearded man opened the door, asking angrily who I was.

I flinched and asked him the same, checking the house number to make sure I wasn't at the wrong place.

He claimed to be the owner, saying the house had been sold ages ago.

He even asked if Jake and I had argued, because why else would my husband sell the house without telling me?

A whirlwind of thoughts flashed through my mind, then it all went blank.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Jake's number again. Pick up, pick up, Jake, just pick up! What's happening?!

I crouched in the hallway, phone in one hand, anxiously chewing on my thumbnail, completely at a loss.

I quickly sent him SnapChat messages, but my hands were shaking too much to type.

I ended up sending a barrage of ten or so voice messages, asking where he was, why someone else was in our house, when it was sold, why I knew nothing...

A storm of questions raged in my head.

No reply.

In desperation,

I quickly called Mr. and Mrs. Miller.

But their phones were all switched off! This sent me into an even greater panic.