Judy and her family get into the habit of saving money in a “family stash jar,” which is used for emergencies or family outings. But soon, she starts noticing that someone in the family has sticky fingers, helping themselves to the money. Judy has to figure out who it is and what is the reason for such dishonesty.

I’m sure that it’s the same for most families. But in our family, honesty is the foundation of everything. I’ve always trusted my husband, Ethan, my 24-year-old son, Josh, and my 17-year-old daughter, Emma, implicitly.

A smiling older couple | Source: Midjourney

So, when money started disappearing from our family stash, it felt like a punch to the gut. We’d always kept a communal jar of cash for emergencies or spontaneous outings, but lately, large sums had been vanishing without explanation.

“I must be losing my mind,” I said out loud to myself when I noticed that the jar looked a little different from when I had last put in some money.

A jar of money on a counter | Source: Midjourney

At first, I thought that it was a simple miscalculation. But as the missing amounts grew from a $50 here, $100 there, and eventually $300 in one go, I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

“Who has sticky hands?” I asked the empty kitchen.

It gnawed at me, the uncertainty and suspicion creeping into my thoughts. I hated feeling this way about my family.

“Are you sure that it’s someone from the house?” my best friend, Misha, asked me when we met for cheesecake and wine.

“It has to be,” I said. “We don’t have a helper, and the gardener does come, but he only works outside. I don’t think he’s ever seen the inside of the house. If someone is stealing from the jar, then it has to be family.”

Misha nodded.

“Then you should install a hidden camera. Do it as close to the jar as possible,” she said.

Which is exactly what I did. I took the uncomfortable step of installing a hidden camera in the living room where we kept the stash.

Two days after setting the camera, I noticed that another $300 was missing!

A person holding a little camera | Source: Midjourney

“Seriously, Misha,” I said. “It’s just gone. Vanished. Disappeared. But there were some of Emma’s hairpins left next to the jar. I hope it was a coincidence and that my daughter isn’t a thief!”

“Did you install the camera like we spoke about?” she asked on the phone.

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m sitting at my laptop and waiting for it to load. I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”

Finally, the footage loaded, and what I saw left me stunned.

It wasn’t either of my children, thank goodness.

It wasn’t even Ethan, my husband.

Nope.

It was Josh’s wife, Lily, sneaking into our living room, taking the money, and then, to my utter disbelief, placing a few of Emma’s hairpins near the jar.

“What on earth is this?” I exclaimed, looking at Lily’s image on my screen.

To be completely honest, I wasn’t sure that I liked Lily to begin with. She and Josh had dated for a short while before he was convinced that she was the love of his life.

“I will marry her, Mom,” he told me when he asked for my mother’s ring.

An antique ring | Source: Midjourney

“But it’s so soon,” I replied, not wanting my son to be married so quickly, but also not wanting to part with the ring.

“It is,” he agreed. “But I’ve never wanted anything more. And it’s the same for Lily.”

In the end, we agreed to their little wedding in our backyard because it was better to have reservations about my new daughter-in-law while keeping my son close.

That evening, I decided to talk to my husband. He needed to know what was going on.

“Ethan, are you busy?” I asked, walking into him watching TV.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” he asked, immediately turning his attention to me.

“I found out who’s been taking the money,” I said. “I have proof if you need it.”

“Who?” he asked simply.

I knew that he was trying to figure out which of our kids did it.

“Lily.”

“Lily?” he exploded. “How could she?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t know why she felt the need to do it,” I said. “But we need to handle the situation carefully. For now, I’ve moved the jar to my closet, and I’m not going to say anything. I don’t want to cause a bigger issue right before her birthday. Josh has been planning for it for so long.”

Ethan nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “I understand that. But she cannot get away with it.”

The following days were tense. Every time I saw Lily, my heart ached with betrayal. Despite our reservations about their marriage, we had no ill intentions toward her.

She chatted and laughed with us over dinner as if she hadn’t been stealing from us all along. And still, I helped my son sort out the final details for Lily’s birthday party.

One day, I confided in Josh, without revealing the real culprit, about the missing money.

“Josh, do you think that there’s any chance Emma could be involved?” I asked cautiously as we did the dinner dishes together.

Josh frowned, shaking his head.

“Em? No way, Mom. She’s got a part-time job, and she’s saving up for college. She wouldn’t steal from us. If she were really strapped for cash, she could just ask us.”

I nodded, relieved that he trusted his sister as much as I did.

“You’re right. It’s just that money keeps disappearing. And I don’t understand it. I don’t know who else it could be.”

Josh sighed deeply.

“I don’t know either, Mom,” he said. “But I’ll keep an eye out.”

Two weeks later, it was Lily’s birthday, and we had an entire outdoor event planned in our backyard.

“This is amazing, Mom,” Josh said, looking around at the setup. “Lily is going to love this. And the food! You ordered all of her favorites.”

A birthday setting in a backyard | Source: Midjourney

I smiled at Josh. He had worked so hard to do this special thing for his wife. The least I could have done was support him throughout and help whenever he needed me.

“Thank you, Judy,” Lily said just before we all sat down to eat. “I can tell that you had a big part to play in this entire thing!”

After the cake was served and Lily had opened her birthday presents, I stood up, holding my glass of champagne.

“I’d like to make a toast,” I announced, smiling as everyone gathered around.

“I’ve prepared a little video as a special surprise for the birthday girl,” I said, clicking play on the projector’s remote.

The screen lit up with the words: Happy Birthday, Thief!

Gasps filled the air as the footage played, showing Lily sneaking into the living room and taking the money. The shock on her face mirrored the disbelief in the room.

“Lily, is this true?” Josh asked, his eyes wide.

“I can explain!” she said. “I didn’t mean for it to go this far!”

“How could you?” Josh asked. “And I saw you place those hairpins, trying to frame Emma. How could you stoop so low?”

“Why, Lily?” Emma asked from her seat. “What did I ever do to you?”

Lily sobbed, unable to answer. The room was heavy with tension.

Ethan stepped forward, his voice firm.

“Lily, you’ve broken our trust. We welcomed you into our family, and this is how you repay us?”

Lily looked around, her eyes glazing over.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“What did you use the money for?” Ethan demanded.

Slowly, Lily held up her hands.

“My nails,” she said. “And to get coffee and food…”

I couldn’t believe what I had heard.

“I can’t stay married to someone I no longer trust,” Josh told Lily, who burst into a fresh set of tears.

The fallout was intense, but it brought our family closer than before.

A close-up of an older woman | Source: Midjourney

What would you have done?