But when they came back from their secret wedding in Santorini and showed up at the gates of the mansion in Silver Ridge, they found out the truth. No keys worked. No cards worked. And not a single dollar was in their names.
That night I was still at my office in downtown San Francisco, wrapping up the biggest merger my tech consulting firm had handled all year. Meanwhile, my husband Anthony was supposedly in Singapore for investor meetings. I texted him, “Take care. I miss you more than you know.”
No reply. That had become normal.
Out of boredom, I opened Instagram. The first post I saw was from my mother in law, Patricia.
It was a wedding photo overlooking the ocean in Santorini. Anthony stood there in an ivory suit, smiling in a way I hadn’t seen in years. Next to him was Chloe Bennett, a junior marketing analyst from my own company. She was wearing a white dress, one hand resting lightly on her stomach.
The caption read, “My son finally found real happiness and chose the right future.”
I zoomed in. His sisters were there. Cousins. Family friends. Everyone celebrating like I had never existed.