My Wife Of 26 Years Framed Me To Die In Prison. I Found Her Secret Stash In Our Basement And Realized She’s Working With A Serial Conman. Now, I’m Planning A Date Night She’ll Never Forget. How Should I Execute My Revenge?

“Dad, I’m so sorry.”

We sat in the living room. Her on the couch, me in the armchair across from her.

The same seats we’d occupied a thousand times over the years. Family movie nights.

Homework help. Late-night talks when she was in high school and couldn’t sleep.

But this wasn’t one of those times.

“Tell me everything,”

I said gently. She took a shaky breath.

“Last November, I made a mistake. A huge mistake. I took $85,000 from client trust accounts at my firm.”

My chest tightened, but I kept my expression neutral.

“Why?”

“I had debts. Personal debts. I thought I could pay it back before anyone noticed. But then the firm started an internal audit and I panicked.”

She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater.

“And that’s when Damian found out.”

“How did he know?”

“He works with lawyers, financial consultants. He has connections all over the city. Someone at my firm tipped him off. I don’t know who. He contacted me, said he could help me cover it up, make the audit go away. I was desperate, so I believed him.”

“So what did he ask for in return?”

Marlo’s face crumpled.

“At first, nothing. He just said he was helping out of goodness. But then a few weeks later, he invited me to his apartment. Said we needed to discuss next steps. That’s when he showed me the video.”

I’d seen the video. Watched her cry and stumble over words while Damian directed her like a puppet.

But hearing her describe it made my blood boil all over again.

“He filmed you confessing.”

“Three times. He made me do it three times until I said exactly what he wanted.”

Her voice broke.

“He said if I didn’t cooperate, he’d send it to the state bar, to the firm, to everyone. I’d lose my license. I’d go to prison. So I did what he told me.”

“What did he want?”

“Information about you. Your work schedule. Your bank accounts. Where you kept important documents. He said it was just for financial planning in case Mom filed for divorce.”

She looked at me, her eyes pleading.

“I didn’t know he was going to frame you. I swear I didn’t know until it was too late.”

I leaned forward, elbows on my knees.

“Marlo, I need you to trust me. Can you get me evidence? Anything that proves Damian orchestrated this?”

She hesitated.

“He keeps everything on a private server. Encrypted. I don’t have access.”

“But you know where it is?”

She nodded slowly.

“His apartment. He has a home office. The server’s in there. I saw it once when I was dropping off paperwork.”

“He doesn’t know I noticed.”

Hope flickered.

“Could you get in? See…?”

“Maybe. He gave me a key once. Told me to water his plants while he was out of town. I never gave it back.”

She pulled a small key from her pocket, held it up.

“But Dad, if he finds out…?”

“He won’t. We’ll be careful.”

She stared at the key, her hand trembling.

“There’s something else.”

My stomach dropped.

“What?”

Marlo looked up at me, tears streaming down her face.