My name is Andrew Coleman. It is what law enforcement calls an AKA. The reason for that will be explained later. I led a normal life. I graduated high school in the middle of my class and then went to a public university.
I majored in marketing and upon graduation, I got a job in sales. I loved sales and I was good at it. 10 Years later, I was general sales manager for a regional company. I had never married so I was doing fairly well. economically. That's when I met Maryanne.
She was a divorce with a 10-year-old daughter. We fell in love and were married within a year of our first date. Maryanne had inherited a small real estate firm from her first husband. That's the way she told me she got it. I found out later it was part of the divorce settlement.
Things went smoothly for the first few years. I am telling the truth when I say I was a good husband and a great father to her daughter. I did not want kids and I had a vasectomy when I was 25 years old. Maryanne had her tubes tied after her first child. So there was no problem there.
The problem started when there was a recession followed by a pandemic then another recession. Her real estate business almost tanked almost but she saved it. She took on a silent partner. This partner was so silent that he was kept a secret. No one, not even me, knew his name.
That caused a problem in our marriage. Why can't I know who this guy is? That was a surefire way to start an argument that would end up with me sleeping in the spare bedroom for a night or two. Her answer was always the same. He wants to remain unknown.
If I told you he would not be unknown anymore, would he? This secret was driving me crazy. Why could she not tell me? I'm her husband for God's sake. I'm not going to tell anyone.
I felt I should know. After 3 months of this silent partner crap driving me crazy, I discussed it with my best friend. I had known Troy since grade school. He always had my back. This time, he also had a solution.
Troy owned his own business, an auto parts store. After a couple of break-ins, his insurance company demanded he put in an electronic surveillance system. He bought a deluxe spy package from the local spy shop and personally installed hidden cameras after closing one night. He discovered that the break-ins were an inside job. He suggested I do the same.