My Wife Drained Our Son’s College Fund and Fled With Her Lover – Then My 10-Year-Old Son Spoke Up and Said…

I thought about that. Part of me wanted Jessica to face real consequences for what she’d done, but another part, the part that was still Tyler’s father, knew that having his mother in prison would damage him in ways I couldn’t predict.

“Let’s hold that option in reserve,” I said. “If she fights the divorce or tries to go after custody, then we press charges. Otherwise, I just want her out of our lives“.

Jessica didn’t fight. She signed the divorce papers without argument, probably because her lawyer explained exactly how much trouble she was in. The settlement gave me full custody, the house, and all marital assets. Jessica got nothing except the agreement that we wouldn’t press charges if she disappeared quietly. She took the deal.

Last I heard, she was living in Arizona, working as a receptionist at a chiropractic office, sharing an apartment with two roommates. Blake Sutherland was long gone, probably moved on to his next victim. Sometimes karma works exactly the way it should.

Tyler adjusted surprisingly well to the new normal. We sold the house—too many memories—and moved to a smaller place closer to his school. I cut back my work hours to be more available for him. We started having dinner together every night, talking about his day, his interests, his worries.

One evening, about 2 months after Jessica left, Tyler was working on his laptop at the kitchen table while I cooked dinner. He looked up suddenly and said,

“Dad, I need to tell you something“. “My stomach clenched. What is it?“.

“I didn’t just move the money to protect it,” he said slowly. “I also moved it because I was angry at Mom, like really angry. I wanted her to hurt the way she hurt us“.

I turned off the stove and sat down across from him.

“Tyler, that’s a completely normal way to feel“. “But it wasn’t right,” he continued. “What Mom did was wrong, but what I did was kind of wrong too. I took something that wasn’t mine to take, even if she’d stolen it first. Two wrongs don’t make a right. That’s what you always say“.

“You’re right,” I agreed. “But you were also protecting your family. Sometimes we have to make hard choices, and not all of them are going to be perfect. What matters is what we learn from them“.

“I learned that I never want to be like Mom,” Tyler said firmly. “I never want to lie to people I love or steal from them or choose money over family“.

“Then you’ve learned the most important lesson,” I said. “And Tyler, I’m proud of you. Not for what you did with the money, but for how you handled discovering the truth. A lot of kids would have fallen apart. You stayed strong“.

His eyes got watery.

“I was scared, Dad. Really scared. I thought if Mom left, you might leave too, that maybe I’d end up in foster care or something“.

I pulled him into a hug.

“I’m never leaving you, buddy, never. We’re a team, you and me. We look out for each other“. “Forever?” he asked, his voice muffled against my shoulder. “Forever,” I promised.

3 months later, I got an unexpected call from Patricia Hoffman.

“Andrew, you need to hear this. Jessica filed a petition to modify the custody arrangement. She wants visitation rights“. “What? She signed away her rights!“.

“She signed a temporary agreement. Legally, she can petition for modification after 6 months. Her lawyer is arguing that she’s completed anger management therapy and financial counseling. They’re saying she’s a changed person who deserves a relationship with her son“.

“Absolutely not,” I said. “She abandoned him, Patricia. She stole from him“.

“I know, and we have all the documentation to prove it. But a judge might still grant supervised visitation. Courts generally favor maintaining parental relationships when possible“.

I felt sick. After everything Jessica had done, after all the progress Tyler had made, now she wanted to waltz back into his life.

“What does Tyler want?” Patricia asked. That was the question, wasn’t it? I’d been so focused on protecting Tyler that I hadn’t asked him what he actually wanted. That evening, I sat him down and explained the situation. Tyler listened carefully, his face serious.

“What do you think?” I asked. “Do you want to see your mother?“.

He was quiet for a long time.

“Can I ask you something first?“. “Anything“. “If I say yes, will you be mad at me, and if I say no, will that make me a bad person?“.

“Tyler, neither answer would make you bad or make me mad. This is your choice. Your feelings matter more than anything else“.

He chewed on his lip, thinking.

“I don’t know if I want to see her. Part of me misses Mom, the way she used to be before Blake, but another part of me remembers how she looked at me the morning she left, like I was just something in her way. I don’t know if I can forget that“.

“You don’t have to decide right now,” I said. “We can tell the judge you need more time to think about it“.

“No,” Tyler said suddenly. “I want to decide now. I want to see her once, just to hear what she has to say. But Dad, I need you to be there. I don’t want to be alone with her“.

“Of course. Whatever you need“.

The supervised visitation was arranged for 2 weeks later at a neutral location: a family counseling center with a therapist present. Jessica arrived early, looking nervous. She’d lost weight, looked tired, older somehow. Tyler and I walked in together, his hand gripping mine tightly.

When Jessica saw him, tears immediately filled her eyes.

“Tyler, honey, you look so grown up,” she said, taking a step toward him. He didn’t move closer. “Hi, Mom“.

The therapist, a woman named Dr. Sarah Chen, directed us all to sit. The room was designed to be comfortable: soft chairs, warm lighting, but the tension was suffocating.

“Tyler,” Dr. Chen said gently. “Your mother has asked for this meeting because she wants to talk to you, but this is your time. You can say as much or as little as you want. You can ask questions or just listen, whatever feels right to you“.

Tyler looked at his mother.