After I hung up, I opened my account and pulled everything.
I'd started transferring money to Marvin in August 2022.
First came the house fund. Fifty installments.
The house was in Marvin's hometown. A hundred and thirty-three hundred square feet, with a down payment of $130,000.
After that came the bride price. Fifteen installments.
Then there were the scattered transfers for things like renovations on his family's old house, appliances, plus three mortgage payments. Another $10,000 altogether.
Over the years, I'd sent Marvin a total of $100,000.
I dug up all the chat logs too and forwarded everything to Nathan Caldwell.
But something still didn't add up. The house had cost $130,000 as a down payment.
Where had Marvin gotten the other $98,000?
That evening, Marvin came home from work early.
He opened the door, saw me, and blinked. "Aren't you supposed to be on the late shift? Why are you home?"
I kept folding the clothes in my hands. "Oh, I quit."
"What happened? Was work getting to you?"
"It's nothing. It was just a side job. No big deal."
"We're not under that much pressure anymore anyway. No need to run yourself into the ground."