Our son and his girlfriend (both 26) have been together for two years and currently live together. We’ve always thought she was a pleasant young woman — kind, polite, and she seems to make our son happy, so we never had any reason for concern.
Our son runs his own law firm, which he’s been working hard to build from the ground up. We’re incredibly proud of him and fortunate enough to have been able to help by giving him a start-up loan. His girlfriend works in retail and seems genuinely content in her job.
A few months ago, during a visit to their apartment, we decided to order some dinner. Since she was placing the order from her phone, we handed her our credit card so she could pay for the meal. It was clear to us that this was just for that one order — nothing more.
However, as it turns out, she added our card to her Apple Pay without our knowledge and continued using it for months.
We didn’t notice right away — not until our accountant reviewed our statements and pointed out several charges we didn’t recognize. After looking deeper, he discovered that:
Our son’s girlfriend had linked our card to her phone, and
She had spent approximately $17,000.
We were absolutely stunned. When we confronted her, she immediately became defensive, first denying it — and then, to our shock, saying she deserved to use the money. She even argued that since we hadn’t noticed for four months, it shouldn’t matter to us.
We told her plainly that she had to repay every cent or we would have no choice but to report it as theft. She admitted she didn’t have the funds to pay us back. When we approached our son, he offered to repay us himself, even though we knew it would be a serious financial strain on him.
But the truth is — this isn’t about the money. It’s about trust and the fact that she stole such a large amount from people who treated her like family.
Our son insists her actions were caused by “stress,” but she still refuses to take responsibility. We’ve decided to file a police report, not out of spite, but in the hope that this experience teaches her that actions have consequences.
We keep asking ourselves — are we doing the right thing? Or are we in the wrong for taking legal action against someone who was, until recently, like a daughter to us?
(Note: They’re not married — I just refer to her as our daughter-in-law for simplicity.)