I returned home for Thanksgiving, eager to embrace the holiday spirit. The house stood silent—save for Victor, my husband’s stepfather, seated in a rocking chair

My thoughts race to our bank account. With shaking hands, I open our banking app. Three days ago, $5,200 withdrawal.

Almost our entire savings. Money we’d been putting aside for a down payment on a house. The house Brady had promised we’d start looking for after the holidays.

He took our savings, I whispered, showing Victor the screen. All of it. Victor wasn’t surprised.

They’ve been doing the same to me for years. Taking a little here, a little there. For your care, Victor, they say.

Meanwhile, the heats turn down to save money. My medications are sometimes delayed, and Elaine buys herself another designer purse. I felt sick.

This wasn’t just about a ruined Thanksgiving or even the betrayal of an affair. This was calculated abandonment. Of me, of Victor, of responsibilities and promises.

My phone rang. My best friend Leah calling to wish me happy Thanksgiving. I silenced it, unable to explain this humiliation just yet.

There’s leftover soup, Victor offered. Not much of a Thanksgiving feast, but it’ll do. I looked around the kitchen.

Dirty dishes in the sink, empty takeout containers on the counter. They hadn’t even cleaned up before leaving. Something hardened inside me.

No, I said firmly. We deserve better than leftover soup. I grabbed my coat and purse.

I’m going to the grocery store. They might still have some turkey breasts and potatoes. We’re having a proper meal today.

Victor looked surprised, then pleased. Haven’t had a home-cooked meal in months. Brady always brings fast food when he bothers to come by.

At the grocery store, my mind whirled with questions and emotions. How long had Brady been planning to leave me? Was our entire five-year marriage just a convenient arrangement he could discard when something better came along? I mechanically selected a small turkey breast, potatoes, and some vegetables, barely registering the other last-minute shoppers around me. When I returned, Victor had managed to clear the kitchen counter and was sitting at the table with a stack of papers.

What’s all this? I asked, setting down the groceries. Evidence, he replied, his blue eyes suddenly steely. Bank statements, medical records, documented neglect.

I’ve been keeping track for months. He pushed a folder toward me. Brady and Elaine think I’m just a burden waiting to die.

They don’t know I’ve been watching them strip my accounts while providing minimum care. I glanced at the papers. Detailed notes, account statements showing suspicious transfers, copies of medical recommendations that had been ignored.

Why are you showing me this? I asked, unsettled by his methodical documentation. Victor leaned forward, suddenly looking less frail. Because you’ve been wrong too, Jade.

And because I don’t have much time left. He tapped a medical report. Terminal cancer.

Three months at most. I sat down heavily across from him. I’m so sorry, Victor.

He waved away my sympathy. Don’t be sorry. Be smart.

He looked at me with unexpected intensity. They think they’ve left you with a burden but they’ve actually given us an opportunity. An opportunity for what? Victor’s thin lips curved into a smile that transformed his face.

For justice. He reached for an envelope and slid it across the table. Inside is my real will and trust documents.

Not the one Brady and Elaine think exists. I didn’t touch the envelope. Victor, I don’t understand.

He leaned back in his chair and studied me. After a moment he simply said, Shall we begin? Those three words hung in the air between us, loaded with possibility and hidden meaning. Before I could respond he explained his proposition.

Help him document the family’s neglect and betrayal. Assist with his final arrangements. And he would ensure I’d be taken care of financially after he was gone.

The family who abandoned us both would lose everything they thought was coming to them. I stared at him, this man I barely knew but with whom I suddenly shared a profound connection. We had both been deceived and discarded by the same people.

Outside, the late afternoon shadows lengthened across an empty driveway where a family should have gathered. Inside, an unexpected alliance was forming. Yes, I said finally, surprising myself with the firmness in my voice…