Chapter 4Cashing In On My Grave

For the next three days, I played the part.

I made breakfast at 6:30, left for work at 7:20, bought groceries at 6:00, and had dinner ready by 7:00. Mark would walk in, change his shoes, and ask what was for dinner. I’d tell him it was pasta or stir-fry. Everything was "normal."

But every day during my lunch break, I used my office computer to dig. I’m an accountant; I have a nose for paper trails.

On Monday, I checked our property records. We’d bought our suburban house three years ago. I’d put down $200,000 of the down payment; he’d put down $100,000. Both our names were on the deed.

Except, when I pulled the digital records at the County Recorder’s office, I found a title change filed two months ago.

The house was now in Mark’s name only.

Reason for Transfer: Death of Co-owner. Sole ownership vested in surviving spouse.

My hand froze on the mouse for a full thirty seconds.

It wasn't just the $80,000. He was stealing the house. The equity was worth at least $600,000.

On Tuesday, I dug into his finances. I knew his phone passcode—he thought I didn't, but the glass coffee table reflected his thumb movements every night. 1-9-7-8-6-3.

His Venmo and banking apps told the real story. Every month, there were four or five transfers to accounts with generic names like "Loan Servicing" or "Private Recovery."

The amounts ranged from $3,000 to $10,000. One month, he’d sent out $37,000.

I tracked the IDs. They weren't banks. They were offshore gambling sites and high-interest private lenders.

I went back six months. Mark had burned through nearly $230,000.

His salary was barely $7,000 a month. Where was the money coming from?

I checked his savings. $41.55.

Then I saw a linked account I didn't recognize—a regional bank in Nevada.

The balance was zero, but a transfer of $35,000 had gone out three days ago.

A $230,000 debt. A $7,000 income.

Suddenly, the death certificate made perfect sense. The $80,000 in benefits, the $600,000 in home equity—he wasn't just scamming his company. He was using my "death" to pay off his life.