I was overjoyed when I closed a $10 million contract. The deal ultimately concluded at 7:42 p.m. after months of hard work and sleepless nights. I thought I would always remember that time. I was right in what I thought, but not for the reason I first thought.
The buyer thought it would be a great gift for me to bring home a leather bag full of phony money to celebrate the win. I was worried about what would happen to the duffel bag, even though the real money was in escrow. Very hefty and serious. The way he wanted it.
Ria was in silk pajamas with a glass of wine waiting for me when I got home. She glanced at the bag and said, “What is that?”
“Ten million,” I said with a smile. “Of course it’s not real.” “Just a prop.”
She laughed, but she held on to the handle. “Do you trust me with it?”
I said, “Of course.” “You’re my wife.”
She said she would put it in the closet for the night. I felt like a king as I went to bed.
The next morning, she was gone. So was the bag. Her phone was out of battery. A message folded up in the kitchen:
Thanks for the money, sweetheart. I’m giving my boyfriend a second opportunity. Good luck with your new beginnings. — Ria
I was stunned and stood there for a second. After that, I laughed. Long and loud.
Is it because of the bag? There was fake money inside, and a hidden GPS tracker was stitched into the inside.
She thought she had done the best job of stealing. But I have worked with sharks, liars, and other people who aren’t honest. I’m ready to be betrayed. I had a video of her running away with Darren, my old gym buddy, and I was there to see it happen.
When she contacted and was outraged since the money was fake, I calmly told her, “You didn’t get robbed.” You did something against the law.
After then, I hung up the phone and called the police to report the theft.
At 10 a.m., they were both in handcuffs outside a run-down rental cabin, crying and not knowing what to do. I dropped the criminal charges, but I made sure that the arrest record was still available to the public. No end. No favors.
I lost my wife that day. But I kept the money, the deal, and most importantly, my edge.
Ria’s lawyer begged me. “She’ll lose everything if this gets out.” She had never been in trouble before. “Think about her name.”
I leaned back. I said in a cold voice, “Oh, I am.” “That guy will look up her name on Google and know exactly what she can do.” I looked him straight in the eye. “Wish her luck as she starts over.”
A few days later, the police let Ria go on bond, but the harm had already been done. Her world started to fall apart as soon as the arrest photo showed up on local gossip sites. Friends are no longer there. The next day, Job was fired. People on her social media dubbed her a “snake,” “thief,” and “gold-digging traitor.”
But her family truly hurt her. Her mother sent me a short email that stated, “John, I’m so sorry.” We had no idea. You didn’t deserve this. I didn’t say anything. I was finished chatting.
In the meantime, I quietly and fiercely rebuilt. The $10 million deal went off without a hitch. My client was so impressed with how I stopped the theft that they told three other people to work with me. My business expanded into two new markets in just one month. But even better, I used Ria’s leaving to make my public brand stronger. I wrote an essay for LinkedIn called “What I Learned About Business After Someone I Loved Tried to Steal Everything.” The essay rapidly became very popular. I was asked to give talks, publish books, and make a documentary. Ria was striving to get back a reputation that had never really been hers.
The last punch came next. A delivery arrived at her new house, a little, low-income apartment that was completely different from the high-rise we used to live in. Inside were a fake banknote, a flash drive with the surveillance video on it, and a letter written in black ink.
This is what you got. This is what you lost. This is why I won’t care about you again. – J
There won’t be any threats of revenge or anger. It’s just over. It is the kind of end that wraps around you like a noose: quiet, tight, and impossible to forget.
It was a year. You can change a lot of things pretty quickly if you get rid of the bad things in your life. I wasn’t the same man who put his faith in a duffel bag anymore. I was smarter, sharper, and richer in every way that counted. Now, the business I had built from scratch had three more offices. I even started going on dates again, slowly and cautiously. I didn’t need anyone else to make me full anymore; I had already done it myself.
That following day, I got a message from a burner account. There was no name or picture, just the words “You won.” I lost everything. I hope you’re doing well.
I didn’t need to ask who it was. I read the message for a while and didn’t feel angry or happy. Just thinking. Then I typed back:
You didn’t lose everything, Ria. You didn’t earn anything in the first place.
Not allowed. Not there. She never got back to me. Sometimes the greatest way to get back at someone is not to burn bridges. It’s about making castles out of the ashes and letting them watch from a distance where they can’t do anything.