‘Both of us, but…’ I stopped talking, something clicking in my head. ‘I paid for everything else. Every piece of furniture. The kitchen renovation last year. All the appliances.’
‘Exactly,’ Paula said, smiling slowly. ‘So what exactly does Jason have besides an empty house?’
I pulled out my phone and scrolled through the bank’s app. ‘I saved all the receipts. I’ve always kept track of our budget.’
‘Of course you have,’ Paula laughed. ‘Queen of the spreadsheets.’
For the first time since I’d seen the note on the door, I felt control come back to me. ‘They think they’ve won, don’t they?’
Paula clinked her glass with mine. ‘They don’t realise who they’ve messed with.’
The next morning I called my lawyer friend, Denise.
‘What he did is illegal,’ she told me over coffee. ‘You can’t just change the locks on your spouse, even if the house is in his name. You have a legal right of occupancy.’
‘I don’t want to go back there,’ I said firmly. ‘But I want what’s mine.’
Denise’s eyes glittered. ‘Then let’s make a list.’
The rest of the morning was spent making an inventory of everything I bought for our house. By lunchtime I had a detailed list with dates and prices.
‘That’s impressive,’ Denise nodded. ‘With those receipts, there’ll be no doubt what belongs to you.’
‘So I can just…take everything?’
‘Legally? Yes. Although I’d advise having a policeman around just in case, to avoid trespassing charges.’
I thought of Jason’s smug face. About Mia wearing my dressing gown. About how they thought they had all the power.
‘No,’ I said slowly. ‘I have a better idea.’
That afternoon, I called the transport company. The owner, Mike, sympathised with my situation.
‘We had a similar incident last year,’ he said. ‘A wife caught her husband cheating and wanted all her stuff taken while he was at work.’
‘That’s exactly what I needed,’ I said. ‘But with one difference. I want them there when it happens.’
I waited until Saturday, knowing that my husband and his little friend would be home. I told Mike to bring his crew in at noon.
As soon as Mike and his staff arrived, I knocked on the door and Jason opened it.
‘Hi, honey,’ I said sweetly. ‘I came to get my stuff.’
Before he could say anything, my movers rushed past him and started taking everything I owned.
Washing machine? Unplugged while washing, wet stuff dumped in a plastic bin.
Oven? Opened when the cake was baking in it. Mine now.
The bed they probably slept on? Disassembled and packed away.
My dressing table, my smart TV, my sofa they were lying on? Gone.
And the best part? Mia was just straightening her hair when my movers walked in.
I snatched the straightener out of her hands and grinned. ‘Sorry. It was my gift from my husband. You know when he was mine.’
‘You can’t take everything!’ – Jason shouted. ‘The movers are taking literally everything! What the hell is going on?’
I pulled out all the receipts I’d saved. ‘Actually, I can. Because unlike you, I pay for my own stuff.’
He just stood there, unable to say anything.
‘Oh, and by the way? You changed the locks while I was still legally living here?’ – I grinned. ‘That’s illegal. I could take it to court and make your life a living hell. But honestly, watching you two stand here, miserable, in an empty house is much more enjoyable.’
Mia shouted something, but I was already leaving as my movers loaded the last of my belongings into the car.
As I drove away, I saw them standing there. They looked terribly humiliated and furious.
Sometimes I think I was too cruel. But then I remember the note on the door. I remember how cruelly they changed the locks on someone who loved them. I remember my birthday dinner, cold and forgotten.
And I know I did exactly what I needed to do.