PART 14 – The Bank Statements Told a Story That Faron Could No Longer Change, Even When He Tried to Make Me the Villain

The following week, I received a letter from one of the banks.

It was a confirmation of the account closure.

I opened it at the kitchen table.

The paper was ordinary.

A few paragraphs.

An account number.

A date.

But I read it twice.

It was proof that the decision had been completed.

There was no more authorized access.

No more additional cards.

No more purchases appearing under my name.

I placed the letter inside the folder.

Then I made coffee.

While the water heated, I looked through the old statements again.

I found one from the year Faron first added his name.

The charges were small.

A tank of gas.

A hardware store purchase.

A grocery bill.

I remembered being relieved when he told me he had found temporary work.

I had thought things were finally improving.

But the next statement showed more purchases.

Then the next.

The spending never really stopped.

I found Earline's salon charges.

They appeared regularly.

Every Friday.

Sometimes the amount changed depending on what she had done.

I remembered her telling me that the stylist had recommended a different treatment.

I remembered saying that was nice.

I had paid for it without asking why.

I placed that statement beside the others.

For years, I had treated those charges as ordinary household expenses.

Now I could see how much of my income had gone toward people who had never considered the cost.

That afternoon, Peg called me into the office.

She had received another call from Faron.

This time, he wanted to know whether I had access to the business accounts.

Peg looked annoyed.

"He's trying another angle."

I sat down.

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him you don't control my accounts."

She opened a drawer.

"I also reminded him that I have records."

I nodded.

Peg leaned back.

"Has he contacted you directly?"

"Yes."

"Has he threatened you again?"

I thought about the courthouse.

The register accusation.

The messages.

"Not directly this week."

Peg studied my face.

"Keep everything."

"I am."

She handed me a copy of the relevant register reports.

I placed them inside my folder.

It was strange.

I had never imagined needing to keep records to protect myself from my own husband.

But I wasn't going to let him damage twenty-two years of honest work.

That evening, I received a call from a number I didn't recognize.

I answered cautiously.

A woman introduced herself as someone who knew Faron through a mutual friend.

She said she had heard about the divorce.

I didn't know what she wanted.

Then she asked whether I had really closed every credit card he used.

I paused.

"Yes."

She sounded surprised.

"That's pretty harsh."

I looked at the kitchen table.

The folder was still there.

"They were my accounts."

She didn't say anything.

I continued.

"I paid the bills."

The woman gave a small laugh.

"Well, I guess that's between you two."

"It is."

I ended the call.

I wasn't going to defend myself to strangers.

Later that night, I took the folded paper with the eighty-thousand-dollar estimate out of the folder.

I placed it beside the bank letter.

One was a number I had calculated.

The other was confirmation that I had finally stopped the spending.

I folded them together.

Then I put them away.

I didn't know whether Faron would ever understand what those years had cost me.

But I no longer needed him to agree with the truth.

Click here to continue reading: PART 15: Earline Came Back With an Apology That Sounded Almost Like Gratitude Until She Mentioned What She Needed Next