Cleaning the attic was supposed to be a simple chore. Little did I know, it would spark a wild chain of events that would change my life forever! My husband, Jeff, exploded in anger when he thought I had tossed out an old jacket. That jacket held secrets that would unravel everything I thought I knew about our marriage.
It was a crisp autumn afternoon when I finally decided to tackle the attic. For years, it had been a dumping ground for everything: holiday decorations, old toys, and clothes we hadn’t touched in decades. I had been meaning to clean it out forever, but what I discovered would turn my world upside down.
Like everything else, cleaning the attic had been pushed aside time and again. Jeff often said that most of the stuff up there was just junk. Last year, he even told me to throw away his old high school jacket, which had been left forgotten in a pile of boxes.
With that in mind, I began pulling things out. I found a broken lamp, stacks of our kids’ old school projects, and of course, Jeff’s old jacket. I barely looked at it before tossing it into the “dump” pile. It was faded and torn in places, with a musty smell that made me wrinkle my nose. Not exactly a treasured keepsake!
That evening, we sat down for our usual dinner. The air smelled delicious, filled with roasted chicken, but something felt off. Jeff, my husband of twenty years, was unusually quiet. He picked at his food, and I decided to break the silence.
“I cleaned out the attic today,” I said, trying to keep the mood light. “I threw out a bunch of our old junk.”
Jeff froze. His fork stopped mid-air and clattered onto his plate. “What JUNK?” he shouted, his voice sharp, eyes wide like I’d just said the house was on fire.
“Just some old stuff from the attic. Why?” I tried to keep my tone casual, but his sudden panic made my heart race.
Without another word, he shoved his chair back and hurried upstairs, almost knocking it over. Confused and worried, I stayed behind, listening as I heard him rummaging through boxes, muttering angrily to himself.
Moments later, he stormed back down, fists clenched and eyes blazing. “Where’s my old school jacket?” His voice was low, almost a growl, and I could see the tension radiating off him.
“Uh, I probably tossed it,” I replied. “It was in the pile for the dump.”
His face drained of color, and I could almost see his heartbeat throbbing in his temple. “You THREW it away?” he thundered, shaking with barely contained fury. “I told you to throw out the junk, not that jacket!”
I stood there, confused and a little frightened. “Jeff, last year you said that jacket was trash! You literally said it belonged in the dump!”
He let out a bitter laugh that chilled me to the bone. “Well, guess what? The day I married YOU was a curse!”
His words hit me like a punch in the gut. Before I could respond, he stormed out of the house, snatched his car keys, and peeled out of the driveway.
For a moment, I was too shocked to react! But then a voice in my head urged me to follow him. I grabbed my purse, 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 it. But why? There had to be more to it than just nostalgia. And what did he mean about our marriage being a “curse”?
I parked and hurried after him, spotting him frantically digging through piles of trash. I had never seen him like this before—so on edge, so wild! My heart raced as I approached him.
“Jeff, what is going on? Why are you doing this?” I demanded, my voice trembling.
He stopped digging and turned 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, trying to process what he was saying. Fifty thousand? In a ratty old jacket?
His words echoed in my mind. “For US.” I felt a knot tighten in my stomach. Something felt off. Really off.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
“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 really hiding from me or what else he was doing behind my back!
I went along with his story, watching him sift through the heaps of trash, his hands getting filthy. I felt twisted inside. Despite wanting to believe him, his story wasn’t adding up, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
After hours of searching, we never found the jacket. Jeff finally slumped down in defeat, refusing to look at me.
We drove home in silence, each of us in our own thoughts. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong. Once home, Jeff went straight to the bedroom without a word.
I sat on the couch, staring blankly at the wall. What was it about that jacket? Why was he acting like this? Was there really money in the jacket?
An hour passed, and I heard Jeff’s voice, low and hushed, coming from the bedroom. I crept up to the door, leaning in to hear what he was saying.
“I don’t have the money anymore,” Jeff said. “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 ran cold. “US?” He wasn’t talking about me. He was talking about someone else!
I pushed open the door, unable to contain my anger any longer. “WHO are you talking to, Jeff?”
His face turned pale as he looked at me, phone still in hand. “Stacy… I…”
“No,” I cut him off. “Who were you going to buy a house with?”
He didn’t answer, just stared at me, his 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 steady. “The kids and everyone are going to find out the truth about who you really are. You called me useless to your mistress, Jeff…”
It all made sense now.
Jeff’s face twisted with 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 my old sewing machine for a new project.
As I sifted through the boxes, my hand brushed against something soft and 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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