Chapter 11

The handwriting was shaky and uneven, and a few of the words had been blurred by tear stains.I stared at that sentence for a long time without saying anything.That afternoon, I went to the grocery store downstairs. I slowly pushed a cart through the aisles, tossing in whatever caught my eye, from imported snacks I'd always thought were too expensive to a couple of packs of beer—things I'd never let myself splurge on before. By the time I reached the register, my cart was overflowing. The cashier was a young woman. After ringing everything up, she glanced at the pile of groceries and smiled. "That's quite a haul.""Just moved into a new place," I said. "Figured I'd celebrate.""Well, congratulations."I thanked her and walked out carrying two heavy bags.The sun was warm, and a light breeze stirred the air.Summer was almost here.That weekend, I invited Frank and a few of the guys out to a lake beyond the city for a day of fishing.We set up several rods along the bank,

Chapter 12

I was taken aback."How did you get my number?"The woman gave a bitter laugh. "Howard used to hand out your business card to everyone. He'd tell people you were his brother-in-law and that if anything went wrong, all they had to do was call you, and you'd take care of it."I rubbed my forehead. "So why are you calling me?" She hesitated before answering.Howard owed her 80 thousand dollars and had been dodging her for months. Back when Linda was still around, he kept promising that his sister would pay the money back for him. But now that Linda had moved back to her hometown, Howard had simply disappeared."Mr. Dwayne, I'm not asking you to pay his debt. I just wanted to know if you have any idea where Howard is. I'm taking him to court, and I need an address so he can be served the papers." I gave her the address of the last place I knew Howard had rented.After hanging up, I leaned back in my chair, stared at the ceiling, and let out a quiet laugh.Howard had finally reac

Chapter 13

Howard forged a supply contract and posed as a building-materials supplier to scam another construction company out of a 150-thousand-dollar deposit.The whole scheme was laughably amateurish. The company's accounting department spotted the discrepancies that same afternoon and immediately called the police.Howard was arrested at the train station.He'd bought a ticket to a city hundreds of miles south and had been planning to disappear. He hadn't even told his own mother he was leaving.When Karen got the call from the police, she fainted on the spot.Howard was eventually sentenced to four years in prison.The fraud involved a substantial amount of money, and he showed little remorse. The investigators also uncovered several questionable financial dealings from his past. Taken together, it was enough to earn him a lengthy sentence.After Howard went to prison, Karen fell apart.Linda lasted less than two months at the grocery store in her hometown.At home, Karen cried cons

Chapter 14

Not long after I moved into my new place, I met Claire Sullivan.She was the project manager for one of our clients. The first time we met was at a project kickoff meeting. She represented the client, and she came prepared with a long list of demanding requirements. By the time she was halfway through, several people on my team were already looking tense. Claire noticed.She simply smiled and looked across the table at me."Mark, I know we're asking a lot. But if this were easy, we wouldn't have hired your company to do it."That one sentence immediately changed my impression of her. After the meeting, we went out for dinner together. She ordered sensibly. A few entrees for the table and nothing excessive. When the check came, she reached for her wallet and suggested we split it. I told her I would take care of it.She didn't argue or make a show of insisting. She just smiled. "Alright. Then dinner's on me next time." And there was a next time.For our second date,

All Chapters of My Wife Used My Dream to Fund His Brother: Chapter 11 - Chapter 14

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14