“Jessica has another boyfriend,” both girls said in unison.
My mouth fell open.
“What?”
“His name is Richard Blackwood,” Natty explained. “He’s a wealthy businessman who owns several restaurants downtown. Jessica has been dating him for 4 months, even while she’s been with Dad.”
“She’s playing them both,” Libby added. “She told Ashley that she’s planning to take Dad’s money and then disappear with Richard to start a restaurant in California.”
I felt dizzy.
“So she never intended to actually be with your father?”
“Nope,” Natty said cheerfully. “She just wanted his money. She even laughed about it to Ashley, saying, ‘Older married men are easy targets because they’re so desperate to feel young again.’”
The betrayal was so deep, so layered that I almost felt sorry for Brandon.
Almost.
“But we weren’t done gathering information,” Libby said. “We needed to know exactly when Dad planned to make his move.”
“So I hacked into his calendar and email drafts,” Natty said casually, as if hacking was something normal teenagers did every day.
“You hacked his calendar.”
“Mom, it’s really not that hard when someone uses the same password for everything,” Natty explained patiently. “I found a draft email he’d been working on for weeks, his resignation letter from the construction company.”
Libby leaned forward.
“He was planning to quit his job this Friday, tell you about the divorce on Saturday, and be gone by Sunday morning.”
“This weekend,” I whispered.
“This weekend,” both girls confirmed.
I felt like I was going to be sick. In just 4 days, my husband was planning to destroy our family and disappear with our life savings.
“But here’s the beautiful part,” Natty said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “We decided to beat him to it.”
“What do you mean?”
“We mean,” Libby said with a smile that was both sweet and terrifying, “that Dad’s plan is about to backfire in the most spectacular way possible.”
Natty pulled up one final screen.
“Mom, what would you say if I told you that as of yesterday, Jessica Martinez and Richard Blackwood know all about each other?”
And Libby added.
“Dad’s boss knows about him using company time and resources for his personal affairs.”
And Natty finished triumphantly.
“The money Dad stole from us is now safely back where it belongs.”
I stared at my daughters speechless. They hadn’t just discovered their father’s betrayal. They’d systematically dismantled his entire plan.
“Girls,” I said slowly. “What exactly did you do?”
“Yesterday was the day we put everything into motion,” Libby said, settling back on the couch with the confidence of a general who just won a major battle.
“We called it Operation Karma,” Natty added, pulling up a timeline on her laptop. “We had to time everything perfectly so Dad wouldn’t have a chance to cover his tracks.”
I leaned forward, fascinated and slightly terrified by my daughters’ strategic minds.
“Phase 1 started at 9:00 a.m.,” Libby began. “While Dad was at work and you were at the office, I went to his construction company.”
“You went to his workplace?” I asked, alarmed.
“I told them I was doing a school project about local businesses and asked to interview some employees,” Libby explained. “But really, I was there to plant evidence where his boss would find it.”
Natty pulled up a folder of photos.
“I’d printed out some of Dad’s most incriminating emails with Jessica, the ones where he talked about using company computers for personal business and taking long lunches to meet her. I left them in the break room where I knew Mr. Patterson, Dad’s boss, always gets his afternoon coffee,” Libby continued. “I made it look like someone had accidentally dropped them.”
I stared at my daughters in amazement.
“That’s actually brilliant.”
