PART 2 OF 3

The Long Con

Watching your cheating boyfriend drain his savings on your cousin while you reap all the benefits? Priceless.

Chapter 9: The Spending Begins

Over the next few weeks, Jake became completely obsessed with Vicki. He started canceling our plans, staying out later, coming home with this smug look on his face. All while Vicki reported back every detail to me and Teresa.

The money spending started small. Dinners at expensive restaurants. Small gifts. Concert tickets.

But Vicki was strategic. She’d casually mention jewelry she liked while they were walking past a store. Next thing you know, Jake’s dropping $500 on earrings to impress her.

She’d talk about a weekend getaway spot she’d always wanted to visit. Suddenly Jake was booking hotels and making plans.

Here’s the brilliant part: Vicki would “accidentally” leave these gifts at his place, claiming she didn’t want to lose them. But really, so he couldn’t ask for them back later. Then she’d bring them straight to me.

I now had a collection of expensive jewelry, designer bags, and even a watch—all purchased with money Jake claimed he was saving for “our future.”

Chapter 10: The Spa Day Funded by Betrayal

One weekend, Jake told me he had a business conference in a beach town two hours away. What he actually had was a romantic weekend with Vicki at a luxury resort.

Vicki somehow convinced him she needed $800 in spending money for spa treatments and shopping. He handed it over without question.

That money funded my spa day with Teresa at a local place while he was gone. We got the works—massages, facials, mani-pedis, all on Jake’s dime.

We even posted pictures on social media. Jake never looked at my accounts anymore, so he had no idea I was enjoying a luxurious spa day while he thought I was at home doing his laundry.

The irony was delicious.

Chapter 11: The Recordings

Things got more complicated—and more painful—when Jake started telling Vicki about his “horrible girlfriend.” Meaning me.

Vicki would record their conversations (legal in our state with one-party consent) and send them to me.

Hearing him call me desperate, clingy, and totally oblivious made me want to burn his entire life to the ground.

But the worst was when he told Vicki he couldn’t wait to be done with “dead weight” and that the only reason he hadn’t broken up with me yet was convenience. He literally called me his “Roomba that also pays rent.”

When I heard that recording, I smashed a glass against the wall. Teresa had to come over and help me clean it up before Jake got home.

But even through the pain, the benefits of our scheme kept piling up.

Vicki convinced Jake to buy her a new iPhone because hers “kept dying.” She immediately gave it to me since my screen was cracked. Designer shoes in “her” size—which was actually my size. A weekend yoga retreat that she never attended—I went with Teresa instead, laughing the entire time about how Jake was funding my relaxation.

Chapter 12: The Mountain Resort Switcheroo

Around the two-month mark, Vicki started Phase Two of our plan. She began talking about how stressed she was at work, how she needed a real vacation. She strategically mentioned places she’d always wanted to visit—coincidentally, places I had wanted to go.

One night, Jake broke down in fake tears (courtesy of Vicki’s acting skills) about how she’d never been able to afford a real vacation. Jake, trying to be the hero, immediately offered to help.

By the end of the night, he’d booked a weekend trip to an amazing mountain resort three hours away. All expenses paid. All non-refundable.

Then came the genius part.

The day before the trip, Vicki called Jake sobbing. Her grandmother was in the hospital, and she couldn’t possibly go away that weekend. Jake was devastated. But Vicki, being so thoughtful, suggested he take the trip anyway since it was non-refundable and he’d been working so hard.

Jake reluctantly agreed, telling me he was going on a “guy’s fishing trip” that weekend.

The minute Jake left for work Friday morning, I packed my bags, picked up Teresa, and we drove to the exact resort Jake had booked.

We checked in using the reservation Jake had paid for. The front desk didn’t even blink when I showed my ID. The reservation was under Jake’s name but didn’t specify guest names.

We spent the entire weekend in luxury. Spa treatments, gourmet meals, hiking with a private guide—all charged to Jake’s credit card. We even ordered room service and charged it to the room.

Meanwhile, Jake was texting Vicki about how disappointed he was but how he was “making the best of it” on his fake fishing trip.

Chapter 13: The Birthday Bag

One of my favorite scams was the birthday present scheme. Vicki mentioned that her “best friend’s birthday” was coming up and she wanted to get something special but was short on cash.

Jake immediately offered to help. He ended up buying an expensive designer bag that Vicki had picked out—which she promptly gave to me for my actual birthday, which was the following week.

I carried that bag everywhere, including on dates with Jake. He complimented it once, saying it looked expensive.

“Oh, Teresa got it for me,” I said with a smile.

Technically not a lie.

His savings account was dwindling, and he’d started complaining to me about “unexpected expenses at work” and how we might need to “tighten our belts for a while.”

The audacity.

Chapter 14: The Proposal

Three months into our operation, Jake did something I never saw coming.

He proposed to me.

I came home one evening to find him pacing the living room, looking nervous. My heart dropped—had he somehow found out about our scheme?

But no. This delusional man got down on one knee and pulled out a ring box.

He started saying how he’d been distant lately because he was “working through personal issues,” but had realized I was the one he wanted to spend his life with. That sometimes people don’t appreciate what they have until they almost lose it.

I was literally speechless.

This was his plan? Lock me down with an engagement while continuing to see Vicki on the side? Or was he planning to break things off with her?

The ring was tiny—nothing like what he’d once promised. Clearly, his finances were worse than I thought.

I did what any self-respecting woman in my position would do: I burst into tears (not entirely fake—they were tears of rage) and told him I needed time to think.

Jake was crushed but tried to hide it. He even suggested I go stay with my parents for a few days to “clear my head.”

He was trying to get me out of the apartment so he could have Vicki over.

I pretended to agree, packed a bag, and went straight to Teresa’s place.

Chapter 15: The Loan Request

A week after the proposal, Jake called me sounding stressed. He needed to talk about something important in person.

We met at a coffee shop. I wore a tiny microphone from Teresa’s journalism days so she and Vicki could listen from Teresa’s car parked nearby.

What Jake wanted to talk about was money.

He confessed he’d made “some bad financial decisions” and was in serious trouble. Maxed-out credit cards, loans, borrowed money from friends. He needed my help to get back on track.

Specifically, he wanted me to take out a loan in my name to consolidate his debts.

He promised he’d pay it back. That it would only be temporary. That it could be “the first step in our life together,” proving we were a team.

I sat there, stunned at the audacity. This man had spent thousands on another woman, lied to my face for months, and now wanted me to go into debt to solve the financial problems he’d created trying to impress my cousin.

It took everything in me not to throw my hot coffee in his face.

Instead, I told him I needed to think about it. That it was a big decision. That I was still processing his proposal and this added a whole new complication.

The desperation in his eyes as I left was almost pathetic. Almost.

Chapter 16: The Bora Bora Dream

Meanwhile, Vicki had been planting seeds about a dream vacation she’d always wanted to take. Some tropical resort with private bungalows over the water. Places where rooms cost $1,000 a night.

Jake took the bait completely. Started researching options, figuring out how to afford it.

That’s when we discovered he’d been moving money from our joint account—money that was supposed to be for bills and our future—into his private account to fund his double life.

He’d been stealing from me to romance my cousin.

Finding those transfers was like being punched in the stomach all over again. But it also made me more determined than ever to finish this.

Over the next few weeks, I watched Jake sell his possessions to fund the trip. His prized vintage guitar collection? Sold on eBay. The expensive watch his grandfather left him? Pawned. His crypto investments? Liquidated at a loss.

All while telling me we needed to cut back on “luxuries” like my morning coffee and Netflix subscription.

Chapter 17: The Final Preparations

The vacation was scheduled to start in exactly two weeks. Everything was booked. All non-refundable. All under both their names.

While Jake was planning his romantic getaway, I was quietly preparing my exit strategy. I’d found a new apartment with Teresa’s help. I’d been moving my important documents and sentimental items there little by little. I’d redirected my mail to a PO box. I’d opened a new bank account where Jake had no connections.

The stress of maintaining the charade was getting to me. Playing the supportive, oblivious girlfriend while watching Jake destroy his finances for another woman was exhausting.

Teresa noticed I was struggling and insisted we treat ourselves to a mental health day using our revenge fund money. We went to a hot springs resort—ironically, a place Jake had once promised to take me for our anniversary but claimed we couldn’t afford.

The day at the hot springs was exactly what I needed. Soaking in mineral pools, getting massages, drinking champagne at 11 AM—all while knowing Jake was at work, stressed about money, completely unaware that he was funding my relaxation.

Poetic justice.

Jake had financially destroyed himself trying to impress a woman who was giving everything back to his girlfriend.

And he had no idea what was coming.