The room was still dark, the only light coming from the glow of my husband’s phone screen. My heart pounded as I gripped it tighter. The bank notifications were still there, staring back at me like a taunt.
**All our savings. Gone.**
My hands trembled as I turned to Mark, still half-asleep.
*”Wake up.”* My voice was sharp, my patience thin.
He groaned, rubbing his eyes. “What? What’s wrong?”
I held up the phone. “What’s wrong? **Our money is gone.** I just saw the transfers. Thousands, Mark! Where is our money?”
His face **drained of color.** He sat up so quickly that the sheets bunched around him. “I— I can explain,” he stammered.
“Then do it,” I snapped, stepping back.
His mouth opened, but **his eyes flickered past me.**
A sinking feeling crept into my stomach.
I turned—just in time to see **a shadow slip out of our bedroom door.**
**The Stranger in My Home**
Adrenaline surged through my veins. I lunged for the door, but Mark grabbed my wrist.
“Wait!” His grip was tight, almost desperate.
I yanked my hand free and ran down the hall. The front door was slightly ajar, swinging in the breeze. My breath caught in my throat.
Someone had been **inside our house.**
I whirled around to face Mark, my pulse hammering. “Who was that?”
He hesitated. “Just… just calm down.”
“**Who. Was. That.**” I enunciated every word, my voice shaking.
Mark swallowed hard. Then, in a barely audible voice, he admitted, **”Her name is Jasmine.”**
I felt like I’d been punched.
“Who the hell is Jasmine?”
Mark ran a hand through his hair, looking everywhere but at me. “She’s… she’s someone I owe money to.”
My stomach twisted. “Owe money? For what?”
He sighed, finally meeting my gaze. **”Gambling.”**
### **The Truth Comes Out**
Everything clicked at once—the late nights, the missing money, the exhaustion on his face that I’d written off as work stress.
“You gambled away our savings?” My voice was dangerously low.
Mark nodded, shame covering his face. “I thought I could win it back before you noticed. But I kept losing, and then I borrowed from… the wrong people.”
My head spun. “So you drained our account. And what, Jasmine came to collect?”
He nodded. “She wasn’t supposed to come here. I was going to fix it.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Fix it? We have nothing left! And you let **a stranger into our house?** With Lisa sleeping upstairs?”
Mark’s face crumpled. “I never wanted it to get this bad.”
I shook my head, stepping back. “No. You didn’t want to get caught.”
Silence stretched between us.
And then, something in me snapped.
### **A New Beginning**
I turned on my heel and walked upstairs. Mark called after me, but I ignored him. In our bedroom, I pulled out a suitcase and started packing. **Not for him. For me and Lisa.**
When I came back downstairs, Mark’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
I zipped up the bag. “Leaving. You put our daughter in danger. You lost everything we worked for. I don’t trust you anymore.”
Mark reached for me, but I stepped back.
“You need help, Mark,” I said, my voice firm. “But I won’t let you drag me and Lisa down with you.”
His shoulders slumped. He knew I meant it.
I walked out of that house with my daughter, not looking back.
Mark had lost everything.
**And now, he’d lost us too.**