Chapter 6 - THE MESSAGE THREAD
I lowered the phone.
Dominic saw my face.
“What happened?”
I looked at him.
“Give me your phone.”
He hesitated.
That was enough.
“Give it to me.”
“Vivienne.”
“My father has Amanda’s messages.”
His face drained.
I had never seen fear appear so quickly.
He reached into his pocket.
Then stopped.
“Some of those messages are out of context.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Of course they are.”
He handed me the phone.
I unlocked it.
His passcode was our daughter’s expected birth date.
That almost made me sick.
I searched Chloe’s name.
Thousands of messages.
Most were ordinary.
Family dinners.
Wedding planning.
Complaints about work.
Then I searched mine.
Vivienne.
The results appeared.
Chloe: She’s never going to sign willingly.
Dominic: I know.
Chloe: Mom says the trust can be challenged if she looks unstable.
Dominic: Stop putting that in writing.
My hands went cold.
Another exchange.
Chloe: Amanda can move the ring during the reception.
Dominic: Absolutely not.
Chloe: You said you needed leverage.
Dominic: Not like that.
Chloe: Then how?
Dominic: I said scare her, not destroy her.
I looked at him.
“You knew.”
“I told her not to do it.”
“You knew there was a plan to scare me.”
“I didn’t know about the ring until yesterday.”
“Yesterday?”
I almost shouted.
“And you still brought me here?”
“I thought Chloe dropped it.”
“You brought your eight-month-pregnant wife to a wedding after learning your sister was discussing framing her for theft.”
“I didn’t think she would actually do it.”
I stared at him.
That sentence summarized our entire marriage.
He never believed they would go far enough.
No matter how far they had already gone.
A car door closed outside.
My father entered the study moments later.
One glance at Dominic told him everything.
Arthur placed Amanda’s printed messages on the desk.
“Mr. Hale.”
Dominic stood.
“Arthur.”
“My daughter calls me Dad.”
My father’s voice was quiet.
“You can call me Mr. Laurent.”
Dominic looked away.
Arthur turned to me.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yes.”
“Then pack only what you need tonight.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You cannot take her away from me.”
My father looked at him.
“She is not property.”
“I’m her husband.”
“For the moment.”
Dominic flinched.
Arthur picked up the guardianship petition.
He read the first page.
Then the second.
I watched his face become colder with each line.
When he reached the handwritten note about the theft charge, he placed the document down very carefully.
“Who drafted this?”
Dominic hesitated.
“Stephen.”
“Stephen Whitmore?”
“Yes.”
Arthur nodded once.
Then took out his phone.
He made a call.
“Rebecca.”
A woman answered.
My father continued.
“Prepare emergency counsel for Vivienne.”
He looked at me.
“Family law, civil litigation, and financial crimes.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Financial crimes?”
Arthur looked at him.
“You attempted to create false evidence that could influence control of a trust worth more than your entire family’s combined assets.”
Dominic stared.
“How much?”
I closed my eyes.
Even now.
That was his question.
How much?
Not whether I was okay.
Not whether our marriage could survive.
How much.
My father gave him no number.
But Dominic finally understood what he had destroyed.
Arthur picked up another document.
Then stopped.
His eyebrows tightened.
“What is this?”
I looked.
It was a life insurance policy.
My name appeared under insured party.
Dominic was the primary beneficiary.
Coverage amount.
Ten million dollars.
Issue date.
Six months earlier.
I had never seen it before.
May you like
And the signature at the bottom looked exactly like mine.
Except I had never signed it.
