A month later, I saw my car parked outside a small grocery store two towns away. My heart nearly stopped. I pulled over and waited, unsure whether I was angry, relieved, or terrified. Then she walked out holding her little boy’s hand. She looked thinner than before, but she was smiling. When she spotted me, all the color disappeared from her face. She immediately started apologizing, saying she knew what she had done was wrong and that she had planned to repay every cent.

Before I could say anything, she opened the trunk. Inside were several envelopes with my name written on them. She explained that the “car savings” she had taken had not been spent on herself. She had used part of the money to rent a tiny apartment, buy food, and hire a lawyer. Her husband had been threatening to take their son away if she tried to leave, and she had been too frightened to tell anyone where she was going. She said taking my car had been the only way she could disappear before he found out.