“Yes,” Victoria lied.

“Good. Go buy groceries and my vitamins. Use the card.”

“Of course.”

Half an hour later, Victoria’s phone began filling with notifications.

Payment declined.

Payment declined.

Payment declined.

Soon Ryan’s calls started flooding in.

“Why isn’t the card working?”

“Send money!”

“You’re embarrassing me!”

Victoria ignored every single message.

That evening Ryan burst into the house.

“What did you do with my money?”

“Your money?” she asked calmly. “I thought you were the head of the household. Why not cover the expenses yourself?”

Linda followed him inside, furious.

“You made me look like a beggar!”

“No. Depending on someone else’s money did that.”

Within days, everything started unraveling. Bills accumulated. Services were cut off. Ryan borrowed money just to survive and spent his days dodging creditors.

Meanwhile, Victoria continued working remotely. She had never actually resigned. Her company had rallied around her after learning what had happened.

Then she discovered something on Ryan’s laptop.

Gambling accounts.

Massive debts.

Hotel receipts.

Transfers to a woman named Jessica.

That evening she spread the evidence across the dining table.

“You owe nearly a million pesos. You sold our wedding coins and pawned my grandmother’s bracelet.”

Linda’s face drained of color.

Ryan exploded.

“I did it because she abandoned me!”

Victoria let out a bitter laugh.

“So your solution was gambling, cheating, and stealing?”

That same night she secretly installed cameras.

She wanted undeniable proof of who they truly were.

She got it.

Shortly before midnight, Ryan and Linda sneaked into her room searching for property documents and valuables.

Instead, they found a note.

“The house is in my name. The evidence is too. Sleep well.”

A few days later Ryan showed up with Jessica.

She wore expensive clothing and proudly displayed a pregnant belly.

“This is the woman who’s giving me a real family,” Ryan announced. “Sign the divorce papers and hand over the house.”

Linda embraced Jessica with excitement.

“My first grandchild!”

Jessica smirked at Victoria.

“It’s not my fault some wives don’t know how to keep their husbands.”

Victoria studied her carefully.

The pregnancy looked artificial.

The confidence seemed rehearsed.

“All right,” Victoria said. “Stay here while my lawyer sorts everything out.”

They believed they had won.

They had no idea she had just welcomed them into a trap.

A private investigator soon uncovered the truth.

Jessica wasn’t pregnant.

The belly was silicone.

The ultrasound was fake.

She and Ryan planned to pressure Victoria into a quick settlement, take the house, sell it, and use the proceeds to pay off his debts.