Cleaning the attic was supposed to be just another chore, but everything changed when my husband, Jeff, lost it because he thought I’d thrown away a torn-down jacket. That jacket ended up revealing secrets about his life that I never imagined, leading to a shocking twist in our marriage!
On a crisp fall afternoon, I finally decided it was time to clean the attic. For years, it had turned into a dumping ground for everything from holiday decorations to clothes we hadn’t seen in ages. I had meant to clear it out for so long, but what I found that day changed everything.
Jeff had often said the stuff up there was junk. Just last year, he had pointed at his old high school jacket and said, “That thing should go straight to the dump.” So, with that in mind, I began pulling things out one by one. There was a broken lamp, boxes filled with our now-grown kids’ school projects, and, of course, Jeff’s old jacket. I barely glanced at it before tossing it into the pile for the dump.
The jacket was faded, torn, and smelled musty. Not exactly a sentimental keepsake, right?
That evening, we sat down for dinner. It was one of those ordinary weeknight meals where we barely had time to chat before we rushed off to other tasks. The aroma of roasted chicken filled the air, but Jeff was strangely quiet.
I decided to break the silence. “I cleaned out the attic today,” I said casually, hoping to start a light conversation. “Threw out a bunch of our old junk.”
Jeff froze. His fork stopped halfway to his mouth, then clattered onto his plate. “What JUNK?” he asked, his voice rising, eyes wide, as if I’d just said the house was on fire.
“Just some old stuff from the attic. Why?” I tried to keep it light, but his expression shifted, and I felt a knot tighten in my stomach.
Without a word, he pushed back his chair, nearly toppling it over in his hurry to get upstairs. Confused by his sudden panic, I listened to him rummaging through boxes, muttering angrily to himself.
Moments later, he stormed down the stairs, fists clenched at his sides. “Where’s my old school jacket?” His voice was dangerously low, a tone I’d never heard before. He looked like he might punch a wall!
I blinked, trying to grasp why he was so upset. “I probably tossed it,” I said. “It was in a pile for the dump.”
The color drained from his face, and I could practically see his pulse pounding in 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, dumbfounded. “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, grabbed his car keys, and sped off down the driveway.
For a moment, I was too shocked to move! But then something inside me told me to follow him. Grabbing my purse, I jumped into my car and raced after him, my heart pounding. Where could he be going in such a rage?
When I saw him pull into the entrance of the local dump, everything started to click.
The jacket. He was here to find that old jacket. But why? There had to be more to it than just nostalgia. And what did he mean that marrying me was a “curse?”
Soon enough, I would uncover the truth about that jacket and how it would change our lives forever.
I parked and hurried after him, spotting my husband frantically searching through piles of trash. I had never seen him like this—so on edge and wild! My heart raced as I approached him. “Jeff, what is going on? Why are you doing this?” I demanded, my voice trembling now.
He stopped digging, turning 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, struggling to process what he was saying. Fifty thousand? Hidden in an old, ratty jacket?
But then his words echoed in my mind. “For US.” I didn’t believe it. Something felt seriously off.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
“I didn’t think I had to!” he snapped, returning to his desperate search. “I was going to surprise you. Now it’s all gone BECAUSE of you!”
Back then, I had no idea what he was actually doing behind my back and that there was more to the money he had saved!
I watched him sift through heaps of trash, his hands filthy, and something twisted inside me. Despite wanting to believe him, his story didn’t add up, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. We never found the jacket that night. After hours of searching, Jeff finally slumped down in defeat.
He wouldn’t even look at me.
We drove home in separate cars, and I was silent, lost in thought about his strange actions and words. After we got home, Jeff went straight to the bedroom without a word.
I sat on the couch, staring at the wall, my mind racing. What was it about that jacket? Why was he acting like this? Was there really money in it?
An hour passed, and I heard my husband’s voice, low and hushed, from the bedroom. I crept 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 turned to ice. “US?” He wasn’t talking about me. He was talking about someone else!
I pushed open the door, unable to hold back my anger any longer! “WHO are you talking to, Jeff?”
His face went pale as he turned to face me, phone still in hand. “Stacy… I…”
“No,” I said, cutting him off. “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 filing. The chaos of the last few weeks had kept me from returning, but I needed to get my old sewing machine for a project I’d started.
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, there was 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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