Su Xiaohui told her husband to take their child to wash up while she slipped into the bedroom to take a call from her best friend, Zhang Qiu. “Xiaohui, I had someone look into it,” Zhang Qiu said. “That deposit slip you sent me? It’s definitely in Zhou Sen’s name.” At that, Su Xiaohui’s heart sank. But just as she was about to speak, Zhang Qiu continued. “But the withdrawal slip is a fake! It was Photoshopped!” “Fake?” Su Xiaohui froze, then let out a long sigh of relief. “Could you have just said that all at once? You scared me to death. Never mind, I’m hanging up now.” With that, Su Xiaohui ended the call. She’d been telling herself she was being paranoid, and now, she could finally relax. She remembered her husband mentioning a new car and how she’d shut him down, saying they didn’t have the money. It all clicked into place now—why he would photoshop a withdrawal slip and hide it under the mattress. She felt a mix of exasperation and a dull ache in her heart. His car was a cheap one they had bought right after they were married, for a few tens of thousands of dollars. Later, when they were doing better financially, they’d bought another for a little over two hundred thousand, but she was the one who always drove it. He’d always said a poor teacher like him didn’t need anything fancy, and besides, the best things should always go to his wife. Thinking of this, the ache in her chest deepened. When the family sat down for dinner, she couldn't help but bring it up. “Weren't you talking about getting a new car? There’s a car show next week. We should go take a look.” Zhou Sen froze for a moment, then quickly shook his head. “No, no, I was just talking. My current one still runs fine.” “Lele starts elementary school next year,” he added. “We’ll have a lot of expenses, so we should save where we can.” Hearing him put their child first yet again only strengthened her resolve to get him a new car. She didn’t mention the fake withdrawal slip. Instead, she said, “Don’t worry about the money.” “I’m on the list for a promotion this time. If all goes well, I’ll be moving up, and the pay will be better.” “Your car is seven or eight years old. It’s really time for a new one.” “It's settled,” she declared. “We're going to look at cars next week.” Zhou Sen looked pleased, but more than that, he was moved. “Honey, you’re the best.” Since they’d decided to get a new car, they couldn't just replace it with something in the same price range; it would have to be something over two hundred thousand dollars. So, the next day, Su Xiaohui took her lunch break and went to the bank next to the hospital. She brought their IDs, their marriage certificate, and their bank cards, planning to consolidate their savings and funds to see how much they could free up. Most of her money was in fixed-term deposits, with not much in her checking account—maybe a few tens of thousands. She also had some mutual funds she could check on. As Su Xiaohui was running the numbers in her head, the bank teller spoke. “Hello, ma'am. Across these cards, you have two hundred fifty thousand in fixed-term deposits, forty-eight thousand in checking, and a little over thirty thousand in mutual funds.” “Alright, I'd like to redeem the mutual funds, please,” Su Xiaohui said. A colleague had recommended she buy the funds. She didn’t know much about them, having invested twenty thousand dollars and then forgotten about it. The return was surprisingly good. “Ma'am, the fund you invested in is performing very well right now. It might not be the best time to redeem it,” the teller advised. “I need the money urgently,” Su Xiaohui said. The teller looked at her, a little puzzled. “If you need cash, you could always use the money in your husband's account first.” “My system shows he has another card with nearly fifteen million in cash, and it’s all in a checking account!” Su Xiaohui didn't remember walking out of the bank. The moment the teller had said those words, she had shot to her feet in disbelief. Fifteen million! A figure she couldn't even fathom. Where did Zhou Sen get that kind of money? Seeing the look of utter shock on her face, the teller must have realized their mistake and quickly tried to backtrack, claiming they'd misread the screen and confused her husband's account with someone else's. But Su Xiaohui wasn't an idiot. Who would believe such a flimsy excuse? She pressed for more information, but the teller refused to say another word. The sun was blindingly bright outside, but all Su Xiaohui felt was a cold, spreading darkness within her.