I’d been saving for a used car, stuffing twenty here, fifty there, for over a year. No one else knew where it was. I hadn’t even opened it in months.

I waited until the kids were napping, then went straight to my room. Closet door creaked open like it was warning me. My heart dropped. The box was gone.

I texted my sister:
Me: “Hey, did you move something from my room? That little silver box?”
Her: “What box? No idea what you mean ‍”
Me: “The one I keep in my closet. It’s missing.”
Her: “No clue. Maybe the kids got into it?”

I didn’t push. Not yet. But I knew she was lying.

I started watching more closely. The next time she dropped the kids off, she had a new Michael