🎄The Beachhouse! (5 Part series)

As I went through the mail in my apartment, which I shared with my husband, there was a letter from a law office. Opening the letter, thinking I had forgotten a bill for something, I read that my great Aunt had left me a beach house in Central Florida. Reading the letter, I read the address for the beach house and discovered it was only thirty minutes away from our apartment. I called the law office, and I made an appointment to speak with the lawyer about the letter. They made an appointment for the following morning. I knew of the beach house from visiting my great Aunt when I was a child; however, I never thought she would leave it to me, as it had been years since we had seen each other.

I started to feel excited and looked forward to my husband Mike coming home so I could tell him about our luck. When Mike walked into the apartment, he looked like he was having a bad day, and I thought the news would cheer him up.

He looked at me and tiredly asked, "Why are you so cheerful?"

"Well, I have some news," I said. "Babe are you alright? You seem a bit down?"

He gave a sigh of annoyance and said, "You are making something out of nothing. What is the news?"

"Do you remember my Great Aunt Edna?" I asked.

He thought for a moment and asked, "The one who dyed her hair the weird colors?"

"That is the one," I said. "Apparently, she passed away and left me a beach house."

"So what are you going to do?" He asked. "Are you going to sell it? Or are you going to keep it and move us there so you can kick me out when you're in a mood?"

"Mike, where is this coming from?" I asked. "I thought we could use it as a weekend retreat. Or since it's thirty minutes away, we could move there and not have to pay rent. You have been working yourself to exhaustion, and this will give us wiggle room. Have time to send with each other and not have to pay ungodly rent anymore."

He went into the bedroom muttering under his breath, "Why would I want to do that?"

I got up to follow him, and he shut the door in my face. Turning, I sat on the couch. After a few minutes, he came out and said, "I have to go out for work."

Before I could say anything, he left, and I sat there thinking for a few minutes. I picked up my phone, and after the second ring, she answered. She laughed and said, "Mandy, I was going to call you. You must have been reading my mind."

I chuckled and said, "Lex, I need your advice."

"Sure, Mandy," She said. "This sounds serious."

For the next thirty minutes, I explained everything about the beach house and told her about Mike's reaction. She sat quietly for a moment and asked, "Did you ever change the prenup that he forced you into?"

"No," I said. "It still states that if either of us cheats, the other has to pay a hundred grand, and any inheritance received stays with that partner in case of a divorce."

She was quiet for a moment and asked, "Could he be having an affair?"

"I want to say no," I said. "But after tonight, it is a possibility."

"I will be there in twenty minutes," She said. "We are going out."

When Lexi arrived, she asked me, "Did you ever take the Find My Device location when we had to pick Mike up when he broke down?"

Looking at my phone, I said, "No, his device is listed."

"Where is he?" She asked.

Pulling up the location, I noticed it was at a house ten minutes from ours. I said, "Not at a restaurant."

She took my phone and said, "Alright, let's go."

We pulled up in front of the house, and Lexi asked, "You know this is not a business dinner."

I took a breath and said, "I know."

We watched, and I took my camera on my phone and started a video. In the windows, Mike appeared and a few seconds later a young woman wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. I said, "Well, he is going to be very unhappy." 

Setting up a text message, I sent it to Lexi and him. The label said, "Well, I guess Mike was not working all this time. At least we have the pre-nup."

Lexi got out of the car and checked the mail box. She took a picture of a letter in it, then she pulled away from the house, and a few moments later, Mike called. He was mad as he yelled, "You followed me."

"Not at first," I said. "But you lied to me. How long, Mike?"

He laughed and said, "This will never hold up in court."

"Do me a favor," I said. "Thank Misty, for the two hundred thousand dollars. I get my 100,000 back, and I get the money you put in for cheating. I would suggest you stay away for a few days."

"WHat proof do you have," He yelled.

"We took pictures and videos," I said. "Also, I downloaded your locations for the last month. We have pictures of you both and her name and address. So, Mike, we can be civilized, or we can do this the hard way it is up to you."

He laughed and said, "You can't touch me."

"But I have the pre-nup, which I filed when you forgot to," I said. "I figured you were busy; however, since you pushed so hard, I figured it would be smart. You get what you brought in and all your inheritances, I get what I inherited from my parents, aunt, and grandparents. If you want the apartment, I will be glad to remove my name from it. We have no kids, and all our accounts are separate. It can be an easy divorce, Mike. There is no going back from this."

After i hung up, Lexi said," I will stay in the guest room in case he comes home."

Nodding I asked, "What did I do to cause this?"

"Nothing," She said. "He is an asshole."

We get back to my house and went inside. Putting on some pajamas, we watched some tv and ate icecream from the container. when we both started yawning and I went to my room and Lexi went to the guest room. Laying in bed I thought to myself that my life was going to change forever.

Chapter 2

The next morning I woke up to Lexi making breakfast for us. She handed me a cup of coffee and asked, "How did you sleep?"

Sitting in a chair I said, "Horribly."

"What are your plans for today?" she asked.

"I have to meet with the lawyer about the inheritance," I said. "I might as well ask if they offer divorce services."

"Do you want me to go with you?" she asked. "I can call out from work."

"I cannot ask you to take off a day," I said.

She smiled and said, "Tough, I already did and told them a family emergency."

"Well the appointment is in an hour," I said. "We need to get ready and out the door."

We each took our plate and went to get ready. Twenty minutes later we were heading out to my car. Heading to the lawyers office we found parking and headed inside. When we walked in the receptionist took my name with a smile and said, "It will be a few minutes."

We sat talking and a few minutes later a elderly man came out and said, "Mandy I am sorry for the delay I had to take a call, I am Mr. Jenkins an old friend of your aunt."

Standing up I shook his hand and said, "Mr. Jenkins it i apleasure to meet you. I was surprised to get your letter. This is my friend Lexi."

We sat down and he looked at us and said, "You have known each other a long time. I remember your aunt mentioning the chaos you two would cause."

We both chuckled and Lexi said, "Our reputation proceeds us."

"Before we begin Mr. Jenkins," I said. "Does your office offer divorce lawyers."

He gave a warm smile and said, "I can help you with that as well. Please tell me you have a pre-nup."

"I do," I said taking a copy of the document out and handing it to him. "I discovered that my husband has been unfaithful and that is a deal breaker for me."

He read the document and he said, "This was filed at the courthouse correct?"

"Yes," I said. "He forgot and I did file this a week after we married. The funds are in an account with the courthouse as well. He thinks that it will not hold up in court. Can you please give me some good news."

He looked at me and said, "Give me a moment."

Picking up his phone he made a call. He gave the document number and started to smile. He asked the person on the phone to check the money that was submitted and ensure that the account is put on lockdown, as well as the prenup, and the soon-to-be ex-husband was trying to get out of the agreement. When he hung up, he turned back to us and said, "The account with the funds is locked until your divorce is completed. Your husband tried to have the documents removed and the account emptied. The clerk explained you would have to come in and state you wanted to end the prenup and empty the account. You're a lucky gal, your aunt paid ahead and left a retainer for me to handle what you would need. So before we get to the inheritance, let us get this divorce started. I do need to ask though, are you sure you want this?"

"Yes," I said as my phone rang. "Lexi, you know my house set up, can you answer some questions for me?"

Standing up I walked to the back of the room and answered the call,"Hello?"

"Good morning miss is this Mandy?" The voice asked.

"Yes it is," I said.

"Oh good," She said. "This is Mary Ellen at Branches Credit Union. Your husband is in the bank trying to withdraw a large amount on his emergency card. Did you authorize this?"

"I most certainly did not," I said. "Please deny this and any transaction from anytime after eight last night. We are in divorce proceedings, and he is trying to steal from me. I was going to remove him from everything when I got home from the lawyer's office."

"I will lock all your accounts from here," She said. "Please start all the removals now, as he seems to be in a rush. I will follow up with you later today."

I hung up and walked to my bag, grabbing my tablet. I said, "He is trying to steal everything now."

I had a folder labeled accounts and started logging into each one and removing him from the cards he had emergency cards for. Mr. Jenkins said, "If you find charges that are not meant to be there let me know we will add that to the divorce decree."

Calling the storage facility that held my parents estate I explained to the worker that I needed to change the code immediately due to someone trying to steal from me. She said, "I changed the code and will send it to your phone now."

After she confirmed my phone number and put a lock on the account so only I could get information on the account. When I was finished removing him from all my accounts I said, "I see some charges that are not mine. So far I think its around four thousand in charges."

"You will send me a list of those charges," Mr. Jenkins said. "I will help you sort them. If they are not true emergency charges then he will have to pay you back."

After another thirty minutes and said, "I will have this divorce filed later today and will submit all the evidence that you have on the infedelity. Since you do not own a home together, have no children and your car is in your name you should have no issues with a quick divorce. There is only a thirty day cool down period which will start today."

He called in his assistant and said, "I need these divorce papers drawn up immediately. Please make sure everything is ready in the next hour or so. This gets moved to the front of your work."

He nodded and said, "Sure thing boss."

When he left the room Mr. Jenkins said, "Now for the fun stuff. Let us talk about your inheritance."

My phone rang again and I noticed it was my work. I said, "I am so sorry."

Answering it I said, "Hello?"

"Many it is Scott are you alright?" My boss asked.

"Physically yes," I said. "Heart broken though. Whats going on?"

"Scott was at the resort today trying to use your discount with a young woman," He said. "But your employee account shows he was removed. I know you do not work till later this week, so I figured I would check in."

Giving Scott the abbreviated version of what was going on, he let out a low whistle and said, "I will handle it on our end. Let me know if there is anything you need. We are a work family here, and we don't tolerate this stuff."

We ended the call and said, "He tried taking Missy to the resort. This man has no shame."

Mr. Jenkins said, "Well he will not be at your beachhouse, nor will he be able to touch the rest of the estate your Aunt left you."

"Estate," I asked.

"The beachhouse was just the beginning," He said. "You also inherited 3.4 million dollars and four storage containers of items from the various homes she owned, plus an investment account in the amount if 1.5 million. Plus two cars and a boat."

"Oh my god," I said. "The beach house, though, did it get damaged from the last hurricane?"

"No," He said. "The home is along a river with a beach and is raised. The water did not breach the bottom floor of the home. You are thankfully inland enough that the water took the beach for a few days, but the home was fine."

He handed me a set of keys along wth a folder and said, "Mandy, you are officially a homeowner. The insurance has a five-year credit courtesy of your Aunt. This envelope contains all the information you need for the home and accounts. Only you can sign for the accounts. When my assistant is done with the divorce papers, I will need you to swing through and sign them."

I said, "I think we are going to check out the house and see what needs to be done. That way I can start packing everything up I am keeping in the apartment."

Mike called me while we were in the office and I picked up and said, "What Mike."

"Pack my belongings from the apartment," He said. "I am moving in with Missy."

"I am not your maid Mike," I said. "I am at my Lawyers office now and have to go to the beach house to get an idea of where I am moving to. I have blocked all your access to my accounts and as you made some rather large purchases that were not for emergencies, you will have to pay me back. My lawyer will be handling all of the amounts to present to the judge."

"The prenup will not hold up in court," He said. 

"Yes it will Mike," I said. "It was notorized and filed within thirty days of our wedding. In our state, it is valid and you cannot touch anything I inherited. I filed for the divorce and I would suggest you get a lawyer because they are on the way to the courthouse."

"I thought you wanted kids and a family," He said.

"I did when I thought you were a faithful husband," I said. "I know this affair has been going on for over three months, and there are no second chances. She can have you, and I will begin packing up the house when I am free. All contact should be limited through our lawyers."

"Well," He said. "I hope you are ready to lose everything."

"By Mike," I said.

Mr. Jenkins said, "I read the pre-nup, and he cannot take it from you. The only sections were where you keep your inheritance, the items you purchased on your own, and your own financial accounts."

We left and I drove us to the beachhouse. Pulling up in the driveway I said, "It looks empty."

Going up the stairs to the front door, I opened the door, and we walked in. There was a stack of boxes leading to the stairs that said, "Belongings of Edna. I was instructed to empty the drawers, cabinets, and closets and pack away the belongings until you wanted to look through them. The only things in the rooms are furniture. Mr. Jenkins."

Lexi looked at the note and said, "That will make it easier to move in."

Going upstairs, I found a large master suite and two bedrooms across the hall with a bathroom in between. In the hall was a large storage closet with shelves and a linen closet as well. At the end of the hallway there was a door that led to the second-floor screened patio. going back downstairs I looked around the living room, A large kitchen, pantry, office, bathroom, laundry room and another screen porch that connected to the wrap-around porch. I said, "This place is perfect to start over at."

We went to the side door that held the garage. Going down the stairs I saw it held a truck and jeep. Outside the side door, we saw a pontoon boat that was sitting under the carport.

Lexi said, "This place is move-in ready. You do not have to worry about anything."

Smiling I said, "I guess we go into town and get some lunch while we wait for me to sign the divorce papers."

Opening the folder Mr. Jenkins gave me I saw the note for the debt card on the account listed, mad money and the amount from the most recent statement. Putting the card in my wallet I said, "Lunch is on Aunt Edna and I believe a shopping trip to Target is in order to personalize the house. I know I will be bringing my things, but I want to start with new things here."

Lexi said, "Oh a shoppin trip will be fun."

Going into the office, I placed the folder in the top drawer of the desk and found the key that locked it. When we headed back to town, I called the leasing office and asked what it would cost to cancel the lease. Explaining to the worker about the divorce and the move, she said, "If Mike comes in to sign paperwork that he is leaving as well we will not charge a fee. As it's the end of the month I see you already paid for next month, so you have till the end of next month to move. The sooner you are out the sooner we can paint and clean the carpets. Some personal advice, I know you do not use the storage locker for your apartment. Place Mike's belongings in it so he cannot start a fight with you. Once you sign you are moved out and we see the apartment is empty, he will be charged rent until the storage for your apartment is emptied. We also take pictures when you leave, in case there is an issue."

When I hung up Lexi said, "Cracker Barrel for lunch, as you love the store. Target is also in the same plaza as well as the Dollar Tree. We can go from place to place until Mr. Jenkins calls you. If we have to check out and go back, we can. Then we can bring everything to the house and start putting it away."

We ate lunch and then I looked around the gift store picking up some things for the new house. When we got back to my car Mr. Jenkins called to say that the papers were ready. We headed back to his office, and he walked me through the papers and had me sign where I needed to. When I was done, he handed me a copy of everything I signed and said, "We will call you when we get a date. I am going to push to have it done soon."

When we left we headed back to the Dollar Tree, we grabbed everything I would need from there and went into target. We had just started filling the first cart when I heard, "Mike, you should make her buy your groceries, it is the least she could do when she block you from your money."

Behind us was Missy and Mike. I smiled and said, "Well, Missy, the cards he has been using were all mine and he had no money in there to use. Mike wastes his money, which you will soon find out, and although he does work he spends a lot on himself. If you will excuse me I am trying to shop for my new house. Also, Mike, I spoke to the apartment complex. I will be packing starting tonight, and all your things will be moved into the storage unit next to our apartment. If you do not sign the papers, YOU will be charged for the rent as they will take pictures once I move out."

Walking away Lexi and I had a system, we would fill a cart and then after I checked out Lexi would bring everything to the car. We did this three times and I loaded down my SUV. When we headed back to the SUV the last time Mike approached me and said, "Spending my money?"

"No," I said. "I am using some of my inheritance from Aunt Edna. Worked out great as I cannot wait to move into my new home, it is perfect. Now excuse me I have to go unpack this and pick up boxes for the apartment. I want to be out as soon as possible."

We loaded the remaining items into my SUV and left with Mike staring at us. After picking up some cold drinks we spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and setting up the house. Before dinner, we had everything unpacked and headed back to my apartment after picking up a bunch of boxes. Lexi went to go home and told me she would call me later. I sat down at the kitchen table and made a list of what needed to be done.

Master bedroom, masterbath, mikes closet, my closet, guest room, guest clost, gameroom, gameroom closet, kitchen, pantry, bathroom, dining room, living room, living room closet, hall closet, linen closet, laundry room, laundry room closet, patio.

Then I started to change my address on all my accounts to the beach house. When that was done, I heated up a frozen pizza for dinner and changed my address with the post office. Taking the boxes into the game room I removed my PS 5 and boxed it up, along with all of my games. Once that was done I Started a new box labeled living room for my place and Mike on the other. I emptied the drin fridge we had and placed that next to the dining room table along with my PS 5. I made sure all of Mikes stuff was packed and in the storage closet when I filled boxes. Moving everything as I cleaned. No second guesses or regrets. When sleep started catching up with me, I made sure I placed all of Mikes things into the storage unit and sent a text, "I started with the game room. Your items are in the storage closet, same key as the apartment. I will be packing all day tomorrow. Please come get your things when you can."

Looking around the game room I was pleased with how much I got done. I went to the laundry room and packed the items I washed and switched the wash load of things I had from the bedroom to the dryer. Placing the box on the dining room table labeled linen closet I went to take a shower. By the time I got out and double checked the locks I was falling asleep. Putting the TV on to listen to a show as I went to sleep my phone alerted that there was movement infront of my video camera. Looking at the screen, I saw Mike and Missy there getting Mikes belongings out of the storage unit. Staying awake until they were done. I made sure to copy and time-stamp the video and save it in case he tried to start something. Then I fell into a deep sleep.

Master bedroom, masterbath, mikes closet, my closet, guest room, guest clost, gameroom, gameroom closet, kitchen, pantry, bathroom, dining room, living room, living room closet, hall closet, linen closet, laundry room, laundry room closet, patio.

Mandy- Main

Mike- husband (Missy- Mistress)

Lexie- Best Friend

Mr. Jenkins- Lawyer