Chapter 13 - What Daniel Never Told Her
Daniel sat across from Emily at the kitchen table.
The same table where Margaret had attacked her.
The irony was not lost on either of them.
“The woman in the photo is an attorney,” he said. “Her name is Leah Monroe.”
Emily waited.
“Mom asked me to meet her because she said Dad left a problem in the trust.”
“What problem?”
“She claimed the language would cut Rachel out if my child was born before the trust was amended.”
Emily stared at him.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I thought it was family paperwork.”
“You met secretly with an attorney about a trust involving our child.”
“Yes.”
“Why secretly?”
Daniel looked miserable.
“Because Mom said you would misunderstand.”
Emily laughed in disbelief.
“Of course she did.”
“I know how that sounds.”
“It sounds like you let your mother decide what your wife was allowed to know.”
He took the hit without defending himself.
“What happened at the meeting?” Emily asked.
“Leah reviewed the trust and said Mom’s interpretation was wrong. Rachel wasn’t being cut out. Nothing needed to change.”
“And then?”
“Mom got angry. Leah ended the meeting.”
Emily looked at the picture again.
“Why would Margaret send this now?”
“To make you doubt me.”
“It worked for about ten seconds.”
Daniel nodded. “I earned those ten seconds.”
Emily looked at him for a long moment.
Then she handed back the phone.
“No more hidden meetings. Ever.”
“Agreed.”
Detective Ruiz called later that evening.
Police had searched the storage unit.
They found boxes of financial records, old company checks, copies of Daniel’s digital credentials, and a cheap laptop.
On the laptop were draft documents bearing Emily’s name.
There were also photographs taken through the windows of Daniel and Emily’s home.
Emily’s stomach turned.
“How long?” she asked.
Ruiz was quiet for a second.
“Some are dated five months ago.”
Five months.
Margaret had been watching them before the physical abuse escalated.
Ruiz continued.
“We also found a video file you should know about.”
Daniel put the call on speaker.
“What video?”
“It appears to show Mrs. Hale practicing the assault story she later gave police.”
Emily felt the hairs rise on her arms.
Ruiz said, “She recorded herself three days before the incident.”
May you like
Daniel stared at Emily.
Three days before Margaret hit her, she had already planned what she would say afterward.
