Chapter 8 - The Other Woman Knew Everything
Natalie Brooks opened the condo door wearing Ryan’s college sweatshirt.
That answered one question immediately.
She looked at me, then at Daniel standing beside me, and went white.
“Emily.”
“Don’t say my name like we’re friends.”
“I didn’t know you were coming.”
“That’s usually how surprises work.”
Daniel stepped in.
“We’re not here to threaten you,” he said. “We’re here because funds connected to Mrs. Mitchell may have been used to purchase this property.”
Natalie gripped the doorframe.
“I don’t own this place.”
“Who does?”
“Ryan said his family company.”
“My father’s company,” I said.
Her eyes dropped.
She looked scared, not smug.
“How long?” I asked.
She whispered, “A year.”
I laughed without humor. “Sophie is six months old.”
“I know.”
“You came to the hospital.”
Tears filled her eyes. “He told me the baby might not be his.”
The lie was so disgusting I forgot how to breathe.
“He told you what?”
“He said you had admitted to cheating. He said he was staying until the DNA test because your grandmother controlled family money.”
Daniel’s attention sharpened. “Did he discuss Evelyn’s transfers?”
Natalie looked at him.
Then at me.
“Yes.”
“He told me your mother managed an inheritance account. He said once the divorce was done, the money would be clean.”
“Clean?”
“That was his word.”
She went inside and returned with a laptop.
“I kept messages.”
Hundreds of them.
Ryan complaining about me. Ryan telling Natalie to be patient. Ryan saying Linda was “handling Emily.” Ryan joking that I could not leave because I had no money of my own.
Then we reached a message from three weeks before Sophie was born.
RYAN: AFTER THE BABY COMES, WE MOVE FAST.
NATALIE: WHAT IF SHE FIGHTS?
RYAN: SHE WON’T HAVE THE MONEY.
NATALIE: AND IF EVELYN FINDS OUT?
RYAN: LINDA SAYS SHE CAN KEEP THEM APART.
Natalie wiped her face. “I thought he meant divorce money. I swear.”
I believed she was guilty of sleeping with my husband.
I also believed she had not understood the whole machine.
Then Daniel opened one more message.
It had been sent nine days ago, minutes after the $42,000 transfer.
RYAN: PHASE TWO IS FUNDED.
Natalie stared at the screen.
“What is phase two?” I asked.
She whispered, “I never asked.”
But in the next message, Ryan had attached a photograph.
May you like
It was a picture of me carrying Sophie out of our pediatrician’s office.
Taken from across the street.
