After Jess forgets to leave lunch money for her son, Caleb, he reveals there’s a secret stash of money in a cereal box. How? Why? The family is struggling financially, so why would her husband keep this from her? So Jess sets out to uncover the truth…
I got up before dawn, my head still heavy from lack of sleep. Working mornings as a pastry chef was already exhausting, but with my second job later in the day, I was barely keeping up.
A woman in a bakery | Source: Midjourney
All I could think about was the day’s enormous checklist: bills, groceries, laundry, breakfast, and so much more. But it wasn’t until I was halfway through shaping the dough that it hit me.
I forgot to leave money for my son, Caleb,’s lunch.
I cursed under my breath and wiped the flour off my hands, fumbling for my phone. Sure enough, just as I reached for it, the screen lit up with a message from Caleb.
A woman baking | Source: Midjourney
Mom, no money for lunch?
My stomach immediately sank. Instead of responding to his message, I called him. I needed to hear his voice and know I’d made a mistake.
“Hey, Mom,” Caleb’s voice was soft, too soft for a twelve-year-old who should be worrying about his favorite video game, not lunch money. “I texted you. There’s no lunch money today.”
I leaned against the counter, guilt hitting me. I already felt so bad about not getting a chance to make Caleb homemade lunch, forcing him to get food from the cafeteria instead. I’d been forgetting more and more things lately; it was hard to keep track of everything.
A boy in a school cafeteria | Source: Midjourney
“Caleb, I’m so sorry, honey,” I said. “I completely forgot. I just wanted to do laundry before I had to leave.”
Lately, I’ve felt like everything is slipping away from me. Especially the things that matter most. I felt like crying over the batch of babka I was making.
“It’s okay, Mom!” Caleb said calmly. “I’ll just check the cereal box where Dad keeps the money. I don’t need much anyway.”
An upset woman standing in the kitchen of a bakery | Source: Midjourney
I froze.
“What?” I asked.
“You know, the cereal box,” he repeated. “The Cheerios? Dad sometimes keeps money in there. Sometimes inside the box, sometimes underneath.”
For a second, I didn’t know how to answer. My husband was hiding money? I almost asked Caleb to explain, but I didn’t want to open a can of worms. Not before Caleb had a full day of school to get through.
A box of cereal on a shelf | Source: Midjourney
“Okay,” I said. “Well, do it! And I’ll see you later, honey. I love you!”
“Okay, I love you!” Caleb chirped before hanging up, leaving me standing in the back of the bakery, my mind racing.
A cereal box with money in it? In my pantry? Why?
A distraught woman | Source: Midjourney
I could barely make it through the rest of my shift. My hands moved on autopilot as I took the loaves out of the oven, but my mind was racing.
How long had Marcus been hiding money? And why? We were getting by, every dollar carefully counted. I’d bought Caleb his new pair of sneakers at a discount store because Marcus had said we didn’t have enough money to spend.
We were behind on bills, the car needed repairs, and I was working two jobs to keep us afloat. I was the pastry chef at the bakery, and when most of my work was done, I would go to the 24-hour deli across the street and make all their sandwiches.
A pair of sneakers | Source: Midjourney
It was killing me. My back hurt more than it ever had during my pregnancy.
How could Marcus hide money like that without telling me?
The bakery was empty when I finished my shift, and I headed to the deli, still in shock from what Caleb had said. All I could think about was the envelope hidden in a cereal box, and why I had no idea it existed.
The exterior of a delicatessen | Source: Midjourney
When I finally got home later that evening, I didn’t even bother taking off my shoes. I went straight to the pantry, my heart pounding. Sure enough, there it was. An envelope, hidden under the box of Cheerios.
I took it out, shaking.
Cereal boxes on a shelf | Source: Midjourney
Inside was more money than I’d seen in months. Hundreds, maybe more.
It wasn’t just Caleb’s lunch money that I’m forgetting. No, it was enough to cover our car repairs, rent, and probably even some of our bills.
I stared at the pile of money, trying to take it all in.
A stack of dollars on a table | Source: Midjourney
Marcus had sat on it while I broke my back working twelve hours a day, thinking we were about to drown.
I could have yelled for Marcus, but I heard him on the phone in the office. It sounded like he was in a meeting, and I didn’t want to disturb him.
Instead, I pulled out some pieces of pollock and threw some broccoli and tomatoes onto a baking sheet. I had to feed my son.
A tray of food | Source: Midjourney
That evening, dinner was tense. I could barely look at my husband without my blood boiling, but I didn’t confront him.
Not yet.
I had to see how far he would go.
So I kept my voice steady when I talked about the car.
A woman sitting at a table | Source: Midjourney
“We need to check the transmission, Marcus,” I said. “It’s only going to get worse.”
Marcus didn’t even look up from his plate. Instead, he poured hot sauce over his fish.
“We’ll have to wait, Jess,” he said. “We don’t have the money right now.”
I stared at him. He’d said it so easily, so naturally, as if the hiding place in the cereal box didn’t exist, as if he truly believed it. Something inside me snapped.
A man sitting at a table | Source: Midjourney
The next morning, after my shift at the bakery, I did something I never imagined I would do.
I called a luxury spa and booked an appointment. A complete makeover. Hair, nails, massage, etc. It was reckless, thoughtless, and probably irresponsible, but I didn’t care.
The money was there and I was going to spend it.
A spa | Source: Midjourney
The whole day seemed surreal to me.
As the hairdresser worked on my hair, I thought about the envelope, the sleepless nights I’d spent worrying about bills while kneading dough before dawn, and the constant pain in my back.
And there was Marcus, calmly pretending we had nothing, sitting on enough cash to just tide us over.
When I got home, I hardly recognized myself.
A smiling woman | Source: Midjourney
My hair was styled in soft waves and my nails were painted a deep, rich red. I looked like someone who had it all together, someone who wasn’t just forging their own path every day.
Marcus walked through the door, his eyes widening as soon as he saw me.
“What did you do?”
“I found the money in the cereal box,” I said. “I’ve earned a day to myself.”
A shocked man sitting on a sofa | Source: Midjourney
His face drained of color.
“You shouldn’t have spent that money. It wasn’t meant for… for that.”
I felt the anger rising again.
“So what was the point, Marcus? Because I’ve been killing myself, thinking we’re barely scraping by, while you’re hoarding some kind of secret stash I have no idea about.”
Close-up of a woman | Source: Midjourney
“Jess, I wasn’t trying to hide it from you. I just… I didn’t want you to worry.”
“Worry about what?” I asked. “That’s all I do! I worry all the time. About everything!”
He sank into a chair, rubbing his face.
“My boss… he hinted that there would be layoffs soon. I wanted to have something on the side, just in case. I didn’t want to talk about something that might not even happen.”
A man frowning while sitting on a sofa | Source: Midjourney
“So, you lied to me?”
“I didn’t lie,” he said. “I just didn’t tell you.”
Marcus and I had always been honest with each other. At least, that’s what I thought. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. But I was hurt.
I was really hurt .
He looked up at me, his expression softening.
A woman standing in a dimly lit room | Source: Midjourney
“We’re supposed to be open and honest, Marcus. You should have trusted me enough to tell me the truth.”
“You’re right,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“Do you even realize what this is like? I’m here thinking we’re broke, working two jobs while you’re hiding money for some hypothetical future disaster? How could you not tell me?”
A frustrated man | Source: Midjourney
“I didn’t want to make things worse,” he said, shaking his head. “I thought keeping it to myself would be easier.”
“You thought it was easier, Marcus?” I said.
He didn’t say anything.
“What if you lost your job tomorrow, huh? What would happen then? Are you planning on bringing out your secret stash and saying, ‘By the way, I’ve been saving this all along’?”
A frustrated man | Source: Midjourney
“No… I mean, yeah. Maybe. I don’t know. I just wanted to protect you.”
“You’re not protecting me by keeping me in the dark, Marcus.”
I could see my words had slurred a little. But I wasn’t sure Marcus had really understood.
I wasn’t sure he understood how I felt about all this.
A distraught woman | Source: Midjourney
“We’re a team, Marcus. Or not?” I asked.
“We are, Jess,” he said. “I promise you we are.”
We sat there for a while, the weight of everything hanging in the air. Slowly, I began to calm down. Marcus had made a mistake, and I could see he really hadn’t meant to hurt me. But I was still hurt.
An upset man sitting on a sofa | Source: Midjourney
We still had a long way to go before confidence was fully restored.
The next morning, I promised him I wouldn’t raid any more cereal boxes without asking, and he swore there would be no more secret hiding places.
We may have had difficulties, but at least we were facing them together now.
What do you think?
A woman looking out the window | Source: Midjourney
What would you have done?
Read also: Parents stole their daughter’s college money to use for their son’s wedding — She decides to sue them
This work is inspired by real events and people, but has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the story. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or to actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims regarding the accuracy of events or character portrayals and are not responsible for any misinterpretations. This story is provided “as is,” and all opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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