My daughter spent $20,000 on my card for her husband’s “dream cruise vacation,” smirked, and said, “You don’t need the money anyway.” I just smiled and told her, “Enjoy it.”

Money.

I tried 500,000.

The screen unlocked.

My stomach dropped.

He’d been thinking about that number for so long he’d made it his passcode.

I had maybe three minutes.

I opened his apps. FanDuel. DraftKings. BetMGM. Caesars Sportsbook. Three crypto trading apps I didn’t recognize.

I opened FanDuel and checked the transaction history. The numbers scrolled down the screen—hundreds of bets, thousands of dollars, most of them losses.

I screenshotted everything, sent the images to my email, and deleted the sent items from his tablet.

DraftKings was worse. $50,000 lost over six months.

BetMGM: $30,000.

I found a notes app and opened it.

A spreadsheet.

Total losses, 18 months: $83,000. Current debts: credit cards, $12,000. Personal loan (Mom co-signed): $15,000. Rico loan shark: $32,000. Total owed: $59,000.

I kept scrolling and found screenshots of text messages. He’d saved messages from Rico and another number labeled V.

Rico: You got one more week, Brandon. Then we come for what’s ours.

V: Your wife’s mommy rich. Right. Time to make a withdrawal.

Brandon: Working on it. Got a plan. Just need time.

Rico: Time costs extra. $32,000 is now $35,000. Interest adds up.

I heard footsteps on the stairs.

I closed everything, powered off the tablet, and set it back on the couch exactly where it had been.

Brandon walked into the kitchen, hair still wet, smiling. “Morning, Dorothy. Coffee smells great.”

I smiled back. “Good morning. Sleep well?”

“Like a baby,” he said.

I watched him pour coffee. Watched him scroll through his phone—probably checking those same betting apps. Watched him sit on the couch and pick up his tablet like it was the most natural thing in the world.

He had no idea I’d just seen everything: $83,000 in gambling losses, $32,000 owed to people who sent messages like “We know where you live,” a personal loan I’d co-signed that he’d defaulted on, credit cards maxed out, and a $500,000 life insurance policy with my forged signature.

The math was simple.

They owed $59,000. The insurance would pay $500,000, clear the debts, and walk away with $441,000.