When I returned home, I found my furniture up for grabs — a spiteful stunt by my ex-husband that spectacularly backfired

When Gina and her husband, Brendan, decide to split up, she takes a moment away from the drama by staying with her parents for a weekend. But when she returns, she finds all her belongings scattered across the lawn. With luck on her side, Gina finds a priceless item belonging to her ex-husband. Read on as she gets her revenge…

After Brendan, my husband, and I decided to split, he turned into a completely different person overnight. The man I once knew, the one I shared years of my life with, had vanished altogether.

In his place stood someone bitter and spiteful.

“You’re complaining about how I behave? About how I speak?” Brendan shouted.

“I’m just saying that you need to calm down when you’re talking to me. Screaming won’t make your point come across better,” I said, holding my head.

“Oh, please, Gina,” he bellowed louder. “You made me this way! All of your ridiculous demands and constant whining. Please, just go live your life.”

And so I did.

But as the divorce was in process, Brendan and I tried to sort out our things, ready to make a clean break.

“Just let me pack these things up, Gina,” Brendan said one day as he was going through my bookshelf.

“You’ll just take my things with you,” I countered. “I have to settle my own things first.”

“Suit yourself,” he said.

But things only got uglier. And the emotional rollercoaster had me in a constant state of nausea and uneasiness. So, I decided that I would spend the weekend at my parents’ house to clear my head.

“Yeah, run away to your parents,” Brendan said snidely as I packed an overnight bag.

“They’re better than you,” I said, walking out the door.

And honestly? It was the right call. I needed space to process everything, including the fact that I was going to be alone for the first time in twelve years. As much as Brendan and I needed to be apart, I couldn’t see my future clearly.

I also just wanted my parents to baby me for the weekend.

“Oh, Gina,” my mother said as she took out a tray of delicious roast lamb. “All you need to do is eat and rest. Whatever you want to eat, just tell me and I’ll make it. And if you want anything from the store, just tell Dad. He’ll do a quick run for you.”

I exhaled slowly. I was exactly where I needed to be.

“Are you sure a divorce is the way to go?” my father asked me over dinner.

“Yes,” I said sadly. “I think that if there was a time to reconcile, it was a long time ago. And we definitely missed it. Brendan and I can’t see eye-to-eye anymore. I don’t think that there’s any more love left.”

“You do what you need to do, baby,” my mother said. “If your mental health is screaming for a clean break, then that’s exactly what you need to do.”

I allowed myself to take long walks, taking Pippy, my parents’ dog, with me. I just wanted to clear my head and allow myself the space I needed to breathe.

“You’re doing the right thing,” I told myself. “There’s nothing wrong with a fresh start.”

But as I pulled into our driveway on Monday morning, ready to find Brendan and his things gone, I found something even more shocking.

All my furniture, everything that I had collected from before I met Brendan and some things while we were together, was scattered all over the lawn. A large, hand-painted sign that read “Free Stuff!” stood proudly in front of the chaos, inviting anyone passing by to help themselves to my belongings.

“What the actual hell is this?” I muttered, slamming the car door shut.

This just couldn’t be real. I stared at my coffee table, the couch I found at a flea market, and even my grandmother’s old rocking chair. All of it, just sitting there, baking in the sun, waiting to be snatched by strangers.

I kicked the sign so that it lay flat. And then I pulled out my phone, my hands shaking wildly as I dialed Brendan. The phone rang three times before he finally picked up.

“Hey, what’s up, Gina?” he answered, his voice casual, almost smug.

“What’s up?” I echoed. “What’s up?”

“Yeah, that’s what I asked,” he said.

“Are you kidding me? Why is all my furniture on the lawn? Are you absolutely out of your mind?”

There was a pause before he replied.