I stood there, my heart pounding, staring at the mattress I had once shared with my husband—the very mattress where he had betrayed me. His reaction had been bizarre, almost frantic. Why did he care so much about this mattress? He hadn’t shown that kind of urgency when I caught him cheating.
Something was off.
The moment he disappeared into the house, I knelt beside the mattress, my fingers trembling as I grasped the zipper. Slowly, I pulled it open, my breath catching in my throat as I reached inside. At first, I felt only stuffing and foam, but then my fingers brushed against something… something solid.
I yanked at it, my mind racing with possibilities. A weapon? Drugs? A secret stash of cash?
What I pulled out made my stomach drop.
Inside the mattress was a thick envelope stuffed with bundles of cash—more than I had ever seen in my life. There were also several documents, some in official-looking folders, and a small velvet box. I hesitated before opening it, my fingers barely able to work as I flipped the lid.
Inside was a diamond ring. Not my wedding ring. Another one.
And then, beneath the cash and the box, I found the most shocking item of all—a handwritten letter.
As I unfolded it, my husband’s familiar scrawl filled my vision:
“If you’re reading this, it means I didn’t get to it in time. You weren’t supposed to find out. I had to keep this secret. If you ever loved me, don’t go to the police. Just forget what you saw.”
My blood ran cold. What had I just uncovered? What was he hiding?
The sound of footsteps snapped me out of my shock. My husband was coming back. Panicked, I shoved everything back into the mattress as best as I could and zipped it up. I needed answers—but I also needed to act fast.
As he stormed back outside, his eyes darted toward the mattress again, filled with desperation.
“Where is it?” he demanded.
I forced a smile, my mind spinning. “I threw it out, just like the rest of your trash.”
His face paled. He clenched his fists. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”
Oh, but I did. And I was about to find out even more.