My Son Left Me to Freeze in a Cabin After Taking My Money – He Had No Idea of the Surprise Ahead

The Mask of the Loving Mother

But the hardest part remained: pretending. Acting as if my heart was not broken into a thousand pieces.

As if I did not know that my only son wanted me dead. That same afternoon, Ethan called me.

“Mom, Jessica and I were thinking about taking you to a friend’s cabin for a few days. You know, so you can rest, get some fresh air. It would do you good to get out of the city.”

His voice sounded so convincing, so concerned. I could almost believe he actually cared.

“Oh, my love, what a lovely thought.”

I replied in the sweetest tone I could manage.

“But I do not want to be a bother. I know you two are busy.”

“It is no bother, Mom. We insist. It is all arranged. We leave in two and a half weeks. Pack warm clothes; it is going to be cold, but you will love the place. It is very peaceful.”

Peaceful. What a beautiful word for isolated, remote, perfect for abandoning someone.

“Thank you, son. You are so good to me.”

The words scraped my throat like ground glass, but I said them because that was my part of the plan—to make him believe he had already won. The following days were a silent torture.

Ethan came to visit more often, always smiling, always attentive. He brought me flowers, helped me with my groceries, and asked me how I was feeling.

It was all a show, and I played my part so well. I cooked for him, asked about his work, and told him how much I loved him.

Two actors in a macabre play, each believing they were fooling the other. But while I acted during the day, at night I met with Catherine and Vincent.

The Circle of Betrayal

The investigator was a thin man in his 50s with eyes that missed no detail. In our first meeting, he showed me photos of Ethan going in and out of pawn shops, and Jessica meeting a man in coffee shops.

He showed me documents of debts I knew nothing about.

“Your son owes money, Mrs. Peterson—a lot of money.”

Vincent said, laying the papers on the table.

“About $30,000 between loans and credit cards. And your daughter-in-law, well, she has her own agenda. The man she is meeting is named Ryan. He works as a waiter at a high-end restaurant, but from the looks of it, she is passing him money—a lot of money.”

My stomach churned. Did my daughter-in-law have a lover?

Did Ethan know, or was she playing him just as expertly?

“There is more.”

Vincent continued.

“I have been tracking their movements for five days. They bought plane tickets to the Maldives—just two tickets in the names of Ethan and Jessica. They leave on the exact same day they plan to leave you at the cabin. But here is where it gets interesting: Ryan also bought a ticket to the same destination for the day after.”

Catherine and I looked at each other. The full picture was starting to form, and it was worse than I had imagined.

Jessica was not just planning to steal my money with Ethan; she was planning to abandon him, too, to take everything and run off with her lover. My son was an idiot—a cruel idiot, but an idiot nonetheless.

“We need more evidence.”

Catherine said.

“Something we can use legally. Vincent, can you record a conversation between them—something that proves the plan?”

“Already did.”

Vincent pulled a small recorder from his briefcase.

“Last night in their apartment, they talked about everything—how they are going to leave you, changing the locks, transferring the money. They even mentioned that if you do not survive the cold, it would be easier because there would be no police report. It is all here.”

My hands trembled as I reached for the recorder. Catherine stopped my hand before I could press play.

“Do not listen to it, Margaret. Not now. You have to keep a clear head. We have what we need. Now comes the final part: the strike.”

“What are we going to do?”

I asked, though a part of me already knew the answer.

“We are going to let them take you to the cabin. You are going to act as if you know nothing. And when they get to the airport thinking they have won, the police will be waiting for them with this recording, with the fraudulent documents, with everything. We are going to destroy them legally before they even step on the plane.”

“But I will be alone in that cabin.”

I said.

“What if something goes wrong?”

“You will not be alone. Vincent is going to follow them from a distance. The moment they leave you there, he will come for you. He will get you out of there within a few hours. We just need Ethan and Jessica to believe they have won long enough for them to get to the airport.”

It was risky. It was painful. But it was perfect. I nodded slowly.

“Let us do it.”