Cleaning the attic was supposed to be just another chore until my husband exploded, thinking I had thrown away a torn-up jacket. That old piece of clothing turned out to unravel a shocking truth about what he was hiding from me. It led to a life-changing twist I never saw coming!
It was a crisp fall afternoon, and I finally decided it was time to tackle the attic. For years, it had been a dumping ground for everything from holiday decorations to old clothes that hadn’t seen the light of day in decades. I’d meant to clean it out for ages, but what I discovered changed everything and made me a single woman after years of marriage.
Like everything else in life, cleaning the attic kept getting pushed to the back of my mind. My husband, Jeff, had often said that most of the stuff up there was just junk. In fact, just last year, he told me that his old high school jacket, which was sitting forgotten in a pile of boxes, should be thrown straight into the trash.
With that in mind, I began pulling things out one by one. I found a broken lamp, boxes of our kids’ school projects that were long overdue for a trip to the recycling bin, and, of course, Jeff’s old jacket. Without a second thought, I tossed it into the pile meant for the dump.
The jacket was faded and torn in a few places, smelling musty like it had been trapped in the attic for years. Not exactly something worth saving, right?
Later that evening, we sat down for dinner. The air was filled with the smell of roasted chicken, and it was just an ordinary weeknight meal. We barely had time to chat before moving on with our busy lives, but tonight, Jeff was unusually quiet.
After a while, I broke the silence. “I cleaned out the attic today,” I said casually, hoping to lighten the mood. “Threw out a bunch of our old junk.”
Jeff froze. His fork stopped halfway to his mouth, and he dropped it onto the plate with a loud clatter.
“What JUNK?” he shouted, his eyes wide as if I had just told him the house was on fire.
“Just some old stuff from the attic. Why?” I tried to keep my tone light, but his expression made me uneasy.
Without another word, he pushed back his chair so hard it nearly toppled over. I stayed behind, confused by his sudden panic. I could hear him rummaging through boxes upstairs, muttering to himself.
Moments later, he stormed downstairs, fists clenched at his sides.
“Where’s my old school jacket?” His voice was dangerously low, edged with a fury I had never seen before. He looked ready to punch the walls!
I blinked at him, bewildered by his reaction. “I probably tossed it,” I said. “It was in a pile of stuff for the dump.”
The color drained from his face, and I could almost see the pulse throbbing at his temple!
“You THREW it away?” he growled, his voice shaking with barely contained rage. “I told you to throw away the junk, not that jacket!”
I stood there, shocked. “Jeff, last year you said that jacket was trash… you literally said it belonged in the dump!”
He let out a bitter laugh that sent chills down my spine. “Well, guess what? The day I married YOU was a curse!”
His words hit me like a punch to the gut! Before I could respond, he stormed out of the house, grabbed his car keys, and sped out of the driveway.
For a moment, I was too stunned to move! But then I felt a strong urge to follow him. Grabbing my purse, I jumped into my car and raced after him, my heart pounding. Where could he possibly be going in such a rage?
When I saw him pull into the entrance of the local dump, everything started to click into place!
The jacket! He was here to find that old jacket. But why? There had to be something more to it than just nostalgia. And what did he mean that marrying me was a “curse?”
Soon enough, I would find out what was hidden in that jacket and how it would shatter our marriage…
I parked and hurried after him, spotting my husband frantically searching through piles of trash. I had never seen him like this before—so on edge, so wild! My heart raced as I approached him.
“Jeff, what is going on? Why are you doing this?” I demanded, my voice shaking.
He stopped digging and turned to face me, his face pale. “Because, Stacy,” he spat, “I was saving money. Fifty thousand dollars. For us… to buy a new house.”
I took a step back, trying to process his words. Fifty thousand? In an old, ratty jacket?
Then I remembered his phrase: “For US.” I didn’t believe it. Something felt really wrong.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” I asked.
“I didn’t think I had to!” he snapped, returning to his frantic search. “I was going to surprise you. Now it’s all gone BECAUSE of you!”
Back then, I had no clue what he was actually hiding from me and that there was more to the money he’d saved!
I played along with his lie.
I watched him sift through heaps of trash, his hands filthy, and something inside me twisted. I desperately wanted to believe him, but his story didn’t add up. We never found the jacket that night. Eventually, after hours of searching, Jeff slumped down in defeat.
He wouldn’t even look at me.
We drove home in separate cars, and I remained silent, mulling over my husband’s actions and words. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was deeply wrong. When we got home, Jeff went straight to the bedroom without a word.
I sat on the couch, staring blankly at the wall, my mind racing. What was so special about that jacket? Why was he acting like this? Was there really money in it?
An hour later, I heard my husband’s voice, low and hushed, coming from the bedroom. I crept up to the door, leaning close enough to hear through the thin walls.
“I don’t have the money anymore,” Jeff was saying. “That useless woman threw it out with the jacket!”
My breath caught in my throat…
“No, I wasn’t saving it for me and her,” he continued. “It was for the house… for US, like we said.”
My blood ran cold. “US?” He wasn’t talking about me. He was talking about someone else!
Unable to hold back my anger any longer, I pushed open the door. “WHO are you talking to, Jeff?”
His face went pale as he turned to face me, phone still in hand. “Stacy… I…”
“No,” I interrupted. “Who were you going to buy a house with?”
He didn’t answer, just stared at me, mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air.
But I didn’t NEED him to answer. I already knew. There was someone else. Someone who had been waiting for that fifty thousand dollars.
“I’m filing for divorce,” I said, my voice calm and steady. “The kids and everyone will find out the truth about who you really are. You called me useless to your mistress, Jeff…”
It was the only thing that made sense now.
Jeff’s face twisted in anger, but I didn’t stay to hear his excuses. I walked out and didn’t look back.
A month after the divorce, I found myself back in the attic since I had won the house in our settlement. The chaos of the last few weeks had kept me away, but I needed to grab my old sewing machine for a project I wanted to start.
As I sifted through boxes, my hand brushed against something soft… something familiar.
There, at the bottom of a box I had somehow missed, was Jeff’s old jacket.
I froze, pulling it out and staring in disbelief. I hadn’t thrown it away after all!
With trembling hands, I checked the inside pocket, and there it was… the fifty thousand dollars, neatly folded, exactly where he had hidden it!
But this time, I felt no rush to tell anyone. No need to share. Jeff had made his choices, and now I was making mine. I kept the money, my heart racing at the thought of what it meant for my future.
This time, it was my secret to keep…
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