Foreign currency and currency exchange
I wanted to blame Vivian.
I wanted to blame Derek.
And blamed them.
But there was another person who was also to blame.
To myself.
I had accepted every “I’m okay.”
Every excuse about why your camera didn’t work.
Every phone call shorter.
I had been so focused on financially supporting my wife that I stopped paying attention to the woman I was supposedly holding.
The next morning, Clara woke up and whispered:
“Don’t fight with them for me.”
Pregnancy and Maternity
I looked at her.
“This is not just for you.”
It frowned.
I took his hand.
“It’s because they believed they could do this to you and then smile at me while spending the money I should keep you alive.”
For the next few days I acted calmly.
That was what scared them the least.
And what helped me the most.
Vivian was constantly calling.
At first I was asking about Clara.
Then the questions changed.
Advisory services
“Exactly when will the settlement money come?”
“Do you know which bank?”
“Have you thought about investing it?”
Derek was worse.
He went to the hospital carrying flowers for Clara.
The same man who had laughed when she said she hadn’t eaten.
He sat next to me and said,
“When the money comes, we should expand my workshop. You could own half of it.”
I almost smiled.
“Maybe.”
His eyes lit up.
Anatomy
I started telling them what they wanted to hear.
That maybe I would buy a bigger family home.
That he wanted everyone to benefit.
That after four years apart, maybe we should “get started again.”
Greed did the rest.
Vivian started sending me messages detailing everything I had supposedly done with my money.
Derek sent me receipts from the workshop because he wanted to prove it was “a family investment.”
Neither of them realized they were documenting exactly where the money had gone.
Then Vivian made the mistake that just ruined everything.
He took me a folder.
Biology
“I’ve organized all the expenses of the family,” he said proudly. “So, when your million comes, we can handle everything correctly.”
I opened it.
Inside were copies of transfers.
Bills of reforms.
The purchase of the SUV.
Payments related to Derek’s workshop.
And several pages showing withdrawals from the same account to which I had sent the money destined for Clara’s care.
