The attorney explained that the financial records contained enough evidence to pursue recovery of the money and investigate the suspicious transactions. David also discovered that Clara had told her own family that she regularly paid my expenses. She had even shown them photographs of grocery bags and flowers, claiming they were gifts she had purchased for me. I recognized some of those photographs. The food had actually come from St. Mary’s Church. Clara had taken credit for donations made by people who didn’t even know her. David was heartbroken by how thoroughly she had deceived him.

A formal meeting was arranged with the attorney, and Clara was asked to explain the discrepancies. For the first time, she stopped pretending everything was a misunderstanding. She admitted that she had kept the money, insisting she deserved it because she had managed the household while David worked. But she couldn’t explain why she had repeatedly claimed the funds were reaching me. David told her their marriage was over. He also began arrangements to recover the money through the appropriate legal process. When he returned to my house, he placed an envelope on my kitchen table. Inside was something I never expected: the first payment toward restoring what had been taken from me.