Chapter 3

I walked to the nearest motel, my stomach rumbling.

Ha. Just yesterday, Jake said he'd take me out for a fancy dinner when I got back. How ridiculous.

My husband's family had run off with twenty million six hundred thousand dollars. What were the odds?

I went downstairs to the convenience store and bought a cup of instant noodles.

Honestly, most people in this situation probably couldn't eat or sleep, but I devoured mine without missing a beat.

After eating, I lay on the bed and felt a sudden sense of physical relief.

After all, I'd been on a train all day, dragging my suitcase around, and then dealing with this completely devastating news.

My body finally relaxed, but my mind was a jumbled mess.

Why? How could they?

For the two years we were married, I'd been frugal, buying cheap skincare and hardly any new clothes,

all to save more money.

But Jake? He made just $3,200 a month, and that money would vanish on gas, cigarettes, and stupid video games.

I couldn't count on him to contribute to the household.

Utilities, HOA fees, and heating bills were all my responsibility.

Every morning, I had to get up and make breakfast, because if he wasn't eating breakfast, he wouldn't bother making any for me either.

I ate lunch at work. In the evenings, when I worked late, he never waited for me; he'd just eat at his parents' place and come home.

I worked overtime five days a week, while he barely worked and spent all his time gaming.

All this hard work, I never thought much of it. Marriage was about mutual tolerance, after all.

But when I found out they'd gotten twenty million dollars and then dumped me, everything suddenly seemed so ridiculous, so terrifying, so pathetic.

I worked so hard, all for the sake of having children with a man like that.

I picked up my phone to send a SnapChat to my mom, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth.

I didn't want to worry her and Dad.

Oh, how I longed for my parents' freshly baked pastries, or their famous twisted bread sticks.

Tears welled up as I thought about it.

I couldn't imagine how furious and worried they would be if they knew.

That night, I kept calling Jake every so often until 2 AM, when his phone finally switched off.

He actually switched it off!

He must have seen my calls and SnapChat messages, but instead of giving me an explanation, he just shut his phone off!

How was that different from betrayal?

No, it *was* betrayal!

I almost wished he'd cheated, so I could yell and scream at him.

But now I couldn't reach him, couldn't yell at him, and still didn't understand anything.

This feeling was truly too painful, too helpless.

I eventually fell asleep, still crying.

I woke up the next day and called in sick to work.

At this point, the situation seemed set, so I started thinking about how to find Jake's family.

I looked online; you couldn't report someone missing until after 24 hours.

So I agonized in the motel, waiting for the time to pass.

Since they deliberately made themselves unreachable, I had no choice but to call the police.

I don't know how I made it through that day.

As night fell, the motel's already dim lighting made the room feel even quieter.

I turned on the TV, and it happened to be the lottery drawing.

I thought, given everything, I should have bought a ticket earlier. I gave a bitter laugh.

I hadn't given up trying to contact the five of them, calling each number, sending SnapChat messages and group messages, but still, no one answered.

But why *her*? Why did they take Brenda, but not me?

It was beyond infuriating.

Perhaps because I'd spent the day searching for "redevelopment compensation distribution," "missing persons," "marriage," "assets," and "divorce" related topics.

My YouTube feed was suddenly flooded with lawyer recommendations.

I casually followed a lawyer with several million followers who was livestreaming.

He was from around here.

I figured a local lawyer would be easier to communicate with.

After his livestream ended, he sent me a private message asking what help I needed, so I sent him the whole story.

He said we'd have to find the family first before dealing with anything else.

I asked about his fees, and he said he was quite expensive—$200,000.

That didn't even include other miscellaneous costs.

Damn, I thought, I wouldn't be able to afford a lawyer even if I found them.

I did have some savings, but his older brother, Mark, borrowed $200,000 from us before the holidays and still hadn't paid it back.

I was left with only $120,000.

It was money my parents had saved as my dowry.

I really didn't want to spend it.