Denise and Mitch were with their friends Tony, Tina, and Greg at a bar. Mitch was proudly talking about working on classic cars. “Fixed up an old Mustang and a vintage Chevy,” he boasted. “A Mustang? Man, that’s impressive,” Tony whistled while the rest were just as impressed. Denise was skeptical about Mitch’s claims, considering their financial difficulties with the auto repair shop, which was in her name due to his bad credit history. But she remained quiet, letting him have his moment. When Mitch went to get another round of drinks, a beautiful woman approached him and handed him a note, which Denise saw. Upon Mitch’s return, she quickly snatched the note and read it aloud, “Thanks for last night? He tried to dismiss it, saying, “Den, it’s just a prank. Tony set it up.” “Yeah, just a joke to lighten the mood,” Tony chuckled, but Denise heard the brokenness in the sound. A message notification interrupted the strained atmosphere. Denise’s phone lit up, and she glanced at the screen. A sinking feeling gripped her as she opened the message, revealing a video.
It unfolded like a nightmare – Mitch and the hot woman in his auto repair shop, an intimate encounter illuminated by the dim light. Shaken by the evidence of Mitch’s betrayal, Denise decided to confront the woman directly. Despite his protests, she marched out of the bar into the parking lot, where it looked like the woman was fleeing. “Hey! Get back here!” Denise yelled, chasing after her. The woman, quick on her feet, escaped in her car, leaving Denise coughing at the smoke left behind. The next day, she decided to investigate Mitch’s finances for any signs of infidelity, hoping to find evidence of expensive gifts or dinners. She powered on his old laptop, which still contained all his saved passwords, and began her search. In less than fifteen minutes, Denise discovered something far more alarming than an affair. Photographs, car parts invoices, and car registration papers with matching VINs were visible in his files. Unlike her husband, she wasn’t a fool. These were not legal acquisitions. They revealed Mitch’s involvement in criminal activities. She almost wished he had been cheating instead. “Hey, Denise. What brings you here?” Carlos, one of the mechanics, asked when Denise arrived at the auto shop. She needed her husband to tell her the whole truth. “I’m looking for Mitch. Where is he?” Denise demanded, her anger barely contained. Carlos pointed her towards the back. She found him arguing with a man in the alley behind the shop. On a whim, she secretly recorded their conversation, capturing Mitch’s visible frustration. “I can’t use parts that are already broken. Come on, at least give me something I can work with,” Mitch argued, his voice filled with desperation and defiance. But the man he was arguing with got angry and waved a crankshaft threateningly at Mitch. “You’re lucky we’re even giving you this,” he snarled. Mitch protested the quality of the parts. “Look at that cylinder head cover…it looks like it was pried off with a crowbar. ”The man retorted, unphased, “Take it or leave it, Mitch. You owe us.” He threw the crankshaft at the floor and walked off.