Ive got to tell you what happened, just so you know Im alright. My husband, Mark, dumped me out in the storm about thirtyseven miles from our house in Surrey, thinking it would be a lesson for me. I remember hitting the record button on my phone and slipping it back into my pocket the second his silver Jaguar pulled up at the deserted layby. The air smelled like a thunderstorm, and he didnt even turn the engine off.
Get out, he said coldly. Maybe a walk home will remind you who you belong to.
I was out there, rain pelting me, no signal, far from any help. He didnt realise Id been recording him for eight months, and that my brother Russell was waiting nearby, just like wed arranged.
Three hours earlier wed been celebrating our anniversary at an expensive restaurant. I asked him why £10,000 had vanished from our joint account. That was enough to get him to kick me out of the car. By then I already knew the money and the jewellery hidden under the bed were meant for my halfsister Poppy his new assistant.
Ill walk, I said calmly. He smirked and drove off. As his headlights faded, I headed for the old petrol station where Russell was waiting.
Got everything? he asked.
Every word, I replied.
That recording was the proof my solicitor, Beatrice Browley, had been waiting for. Poppy was just a piece of a bigger scam Mark had been funneling our money into offshore accounts, planning a divorce. But that night would be his undoing.
I spent the night in a budget hotel, posing as a deserted wife. The hotels report would be an official record. Meanwhile, our court accountant Mabel uncovered three more Cayman accounts. By morning the judge had already scheduled an emergency hearing.
In the courtroom the playback was crystal clear: Maybe a walk will teach you respect. Marks face went pale. Beatrice presented documents showing millions being transferred. Right then an agent from the Financial Conduct Authority burst in with an arrest warrant for financial fraud.
A few seconds later Poppy stormed in, shouting, You said you were divorced! I have the messages! The judge ordered Marks arrest, froze all his assets and handed me full ownership of the house. He tried to protest, but it was too late.
A month later I received a cheque for £1.2million from the authorities. With that money and the seized assets we set up the Phoenix Foundation a safe haven and legal aid charity for women whove suffered financial abuse.
Russell now runs the charity, Mabel tracks the scams, and Poppy now sober and aware leads the support groups. A year and a half on, the office walls are covered in thankyou cards from women weve helped.
Now the rains tapping on my windows again, and I think back to that night he left me in the storm, convinced hed broken me. His lesson turned into my rebirth. He tried to strip me of my power, but I ended up right at the eye of the hurricane.
