My Loans Paid For My Husband’s Mistress

I threw myself backward. My shoulders slammed into the heavy metal frame of the adjacent supply closet. I yanked the louvered door open, slipped into the darkness, and pulled it shut just as Rainer stepped out into the hardwood hallway.

The cramped space smelled of printer ink and stale coffee. I crouched behind a stack of copy paper boxes, making myself as small as possible. Through the narrow wooden slats, I watched him.

"Greg?" Rainer demanded.

Silence answered him.

He bent down, scooping up the blue folder I had dropped. He flipped it open, scanning the top page. A smug scoff left his lips.

"Idiot mailroom kid," Rainer muttered. "Dropped it and ran."

He turned around and walked back into his office. He didn't pull the door completely shut. It remained cracked open, leaving a perfect channel for their voices to drift out.

"Was someone out there?" Vera asked.

"Just a runner." Rainer tossed the folder onto a glass table. "He brought the Q3 forecasts."

"So you have to go back to the boardroom?"

"In a minute."

"Rainer." Her tone shifted, turning whiny. "You said you were going to leave her."

"I am."

"When? You've been saying that for months."

I pressed my palms against the cool metal shelving in the dark closet. Seven years. I gave him everything for seven years. When he started this firm in our cramped one-bedroom apartment, I drained my savings account. I sold my grandmother's jewelry to pay for his first marketing campaign. I took on a second job just to keep the lights on while he pitched investors.

"Timing is everything, Vera," Rainer said.

"You're the CEO. Just divorce her."

"It's not that simple. Marnie is the guarantor on the new commercial loans."

"Why does that matter?"

"Because my credit is maxed out. If I file for divorce now, the bank will freeze our assets. The underwriter will pull the funding."

I squeezed my eyes shut. My chest tightened. Just last week, I sat in a leather chair at the bank, smiling as I signed my name on a massive stack of documents. He told me it was a bridge loan to cover payroll. He told me it would secure our future.

"So you're just using her?" Vera asked.

"I'm securing our future," Rainer replied. The exact same words.

Vera giggled. "You're terrible."

"I'm a realist. We need that capital."

"How much did she sign for?"

"Three million."

My stomach pitched forward. Three million dollars.

"And the money cleared?" Vera asked.

"This morning. It's sitting in the holding account."

"So what's the plan? We just wait around while you play house with her?"

"No. We leave on Friday."

"Leave? To where?"

"Malaysia."

The word hit me like a physical blow. I covered my mouth with both hands.

"Kuala Lumpur?" Vera squealed. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. I already booked the flights. First class."

"What about the firm? The Japanese investors?"

"Smoke and mirrors," Rainer said. "The firm is drowning in debt. The Japanese deal is a stall tactic. By the time they realize the numbers are inflated, we'll be on a beach in Penang."

"What happens to the debt?"

"It stays here. Attached to Marnie's name."

I stopped breathing. He wasn't just leaving me. He was framing me for his financial ruin.

"She'll go to jail," Vera pointed out. She didn't sound upset. She sounded amused.

"She'll declare bankruptcy," Rainer corrected. "Or she'll fight it in court. Either way, it won't be my problem. I'm transferring the three million to an offshore account tomorrow morning."

"You're brilliant, Rainer."

"I just know how to play the game."

He laughed. The sound scraped against my eardrums.

"What if the bank calls her?" Vera asked.

"I changed the primary phone number on the account to my secondary cell."

"Sneaky."

"Calculated. I've been planning this since January."

January. We went to Aspen in January. We drank hot cocoa by the fire and he kissed my forehead. It was all a lie.

"Are you sure the three million is enough to start over?" Vera asked.

"In Malaysia? We'll live like royalty. Plus, I liquidated the company's retirement fund last week. That's another eight hundred thousand."

"Oh my god. You emptied the employees' pensions?"

"They'll survive. I need the cash more than they do."

A sob built in the back of my throat, thick and choking. I swallowed it down. He wasn't just destroying me. He was ruining innocent people. Sarah, the receptionist. Dave, the security guard.

"Did she really pay for everything back then?" Vera asked.

"She had a little inheritance," Rainer scoffed. "It wasn't much, but it got the LLC registered and paid for the first server racks. I did all the actual work."

I dug my fingernails into my palms. *A little inheritance.* It was fifty thousand dollars. It was everything my grandfather left me. I ate ramen noodles for three years so he could take clients out to expensive steakhouses.

"What about the house in the hills?" Vera asked. "Does she get to keep it?"

"The bank will foreclose on it by next month," Rainer said. "I stopped paying the mortgage in April."

I bit down on my lower lip so hard I tasted copper. April. Five months ago.

"What about her car?" Vera pressed.

"Leased," Rainer said. "The dealership will repossess it by the end of the month."

"Wow. You really are leaving her with absolutely nothing."

"She'll have her memories," Rainer joked.

"She really has no idea?"

"Marnie never checks the mail. She trusts me completely."

"She's an idiot."

"She's useful," Rainer corrected. "Or, she was. Now she's just a liability."

"You've been with her a long time," Vera said. "Seven years. Won't you miss her at all?"

"Seven years of boredom," Rainer replied. "She's practically a roommate. All she does is clean the counters and ask about my day. It's suffocating."

"I'll never be boring," Vera purred.

"I know you won't."

"I need to get back to the boardroom. Where did I put my tie?"

"It's on the floor by the door."

Footsteps approached the door again. I froze, pressing my spine flat against the wall of the closet.

Rainer grabbed the tie. "I'll see you at my place tonight."

"Marnie won't be there?"

"She's having dinner with her sister. The house will be empty."

I gripped the edge of a plastic storage bin. He had memorized my schedule just to cheat on me in our own bed.

"Perfect," Vera said. "I'll bring the champagne."

"I need to go. Don't leave the office for another ten minutes. We can't be seen walking out together."

"Yes, Boss."

Rainer stepped out of the office. He pulled the heavy oak door shut behind him. His leather shoes tapped against the floorboards, fading down the corridor.

I waited until the hallway was completely silent.

I pushed the louvered door open and stumbled out of the supply closet. My knees shook violently. I leaned against the drywall to keep from collapsing.

Seven years.

My heart shattered into a thousand jagged pieces. I had loved him. I had built him. I had sacrificed every dream I ever had so he could sit in that corner office.

And he was going to leave me with nothing but debt and a prison sentence.

Tears blurred my vision. I wiped them away fiercely. I refused to cry over a man who viewed my destruction as a punchline.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

I pulled it out. A text message glowed on the screen. It was from Marcus, the senior loan officer at the bank.

*Mrs. Miller, the $3M commercial loan funds have fully settled in the holding account. As the sole guarantor, you now have full authorization access. Let me know if you need assistance with any wire transfers.*

I stared at the screen.

Rainer thought I was an idiot. He thought I was just a useful tool to be discarded.

He was planning to transfer the money offshore tomorrow morning.

I typed a reply to Marcus.

*Hi Marcus. I need to initiate a wire transfer immediately. All of it.*