Updated Feb 25, 2026 • ~5 min read
POV: Gabi
One week later.
Brandon texts “Giselle” again.
Brandon: Miss you. Dinner tonight? I have good news about the investment opportunity.
Translation: He needs money desperately.
I text Nix.
Me: He wants to meet again.
Nix: This is it. Final meeting. We end this tonight.
Me: How?
Nix: Confront him. Record his reaction. Then FBI moves in.
Me: I’m ready.
I’m not ready.
But I’m doing it anyway.
NIX
Agent Morrison and I are coordinating.
“Mrs. Moreno will confront him at the restaurant. Get him to admit everything on camera. Then we arrest him.”
“What if he runs?”
“We have agents at every exit. He’s not going anywhere.”
I check my watch.
7:45 PM.
Gabi should be arriving soon.
My phone buzzes.
Gabi: I’m here. Going in.
Me: We’re right outside. You’ve got this.
GABI
I walk into the restaurant.
Different look this time.
No disguise.
My real hair. My real makeup.
Jeans and a blazer.
Wedding ring visible.
Brandon is at the bar.
Waiting.
Checking his phone.
I walk up behind him.
“Hi, husband.”
He turns.
Sees me.
Confusion.
Then recognition.
Then panic.
“Gabi? What are you—”
“Surprised?”
“I don’t understand—”
“You’ve been texting with Giselle, right? Trying to scam her out of ten thousand dollars?”
His face goes white.
“That was… that was YOU?”
“All me.”
People are starting to stare.
“Let’s talk outside,” he hisses.
“No. I want to talk right here. Right now.”
I pull out my phone.
Open the recording app.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure I get every word.”
“Gabi, put the phone away—”
“How many, Brandon? How many women have you scammed using my identity?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about—”
“Don’t LIE to me! I have everything. The messages. The bank records. Testimony from SEVEN victims. The FBI is involved.”
FBI.
The word hits him like a bomb.
“FBI?”
“Wire fraud. Identity theft. Conspiracy. You’re looking at federal prison time.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“Am I?”
I pull up the email from Agent Morrison.
Show him.
“They’ve been building a case for months. And tonight? Tonight they’re arresting you.”
Panic.
Full panic.
“Gabi, wait. Let me explain—”
“Explain what? That you gambled away our savings? That you used MY face to catfish women? That you scammed them out of hundreds of thousands of dollars?”
“It’s not—it wasn’t—”
“That you called our marriage the BIGGEST MISTAKE OF YOUR LIFE?”
He flinches.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Yes you did. You told Giselle—told ME—that I was holding you back. That I never supported you. That I was too busy with my photography to care about your business.”
“I was trying to impress her—”
“By trashing me? Your WIFE?”
“Gabi, please—”
“Do you even love me? Did you ever?”
He’s quiet.
“Answer me, Brandon.”
“I don’t know.”
The words cut deeper than I expected.
“You don’t know.”
“I thought I did. But then everything got complicated and—”
“Complicated how? When you started stealing? When you started lying? When?”
“When I started losing.”
Finally.
Truth.
“The gambling.”
He nods.
“I thought I could win it back. All of it. I just needed one big score.”
“So you scammed innocent women.”
“I was desperate.”
“And you used me. My face. My identity. My life.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?”
I laugh.
It sounds manic.
“You destroyed our marriage. Our finances. My reputation. Seven women are traumatized because of you. And you’re SORRY?”
“What do you want me to say?!”
“I want you to admit it. On record. All of it.”
“I’m not—”
“Say it or I walk out of here and let the FBI arrest you with ZERO cooperation from me. Say it and maybe—MAYBE—I’ll tell them you confessed.”
He’s trapped.
“Fine. FINE. I used your photos. I catfished women. I took their money. I gambled it. I lied about the business. I cheated on you with Kennedy and two others. I did all of it.”
Every word recorded.
“Why?”
“Because I was in debt. Gambling debt. Bad people were threatening me. I needed money fast.”
“So you became a con artist.”
“I became desperate.”
“There’s a difference?”
“Apparently not.”
We stand there.
In the middle of a crowded restaurant.
“I loved you,” I whisper. “I would have helped you if you’d just ASKED.”
“I couldn’t. You would have judged me.”
“I’m judging you NOW. For lying. For stealing. For destroying everything.”
“Are you going to divorce me?”
I look at my wedding ring.
Twist it off my finger.
“Already filed. Papers are being served tomorrow.”
I hand him the ring.
“Keep it. Or pawn it. Or gamble it away. I don’t care anymore.”
“Gabi—”
“Goodbye, Brandon.”
I turn to leave.
“Wait.”
I stop.
Don’t turn around.
“For what it’s worth—I really am sorry. For all of it.”
“It’s not worth anything.”
Then I walk out.
NIX
Gabi exits the restaurant.
Straight into my arms.
She’s shaking.
“I did it.”
“You did it.”
“I got everything.”
“I know.”
Behind us, FBI agents move in.
Enter the restaurant.
Thirty seconds later: They emerge with Brandon.
Handcuffed.
Gabi turns.
Watches.
Brandon sees her.
Mouths: I’m sorry.
She doesn’t respond.
Just watches as they put him in the car.
“How do you feel?” I ask.
She thinks.
“Free.”
END OF ACT ONE
Reader Reactions