Chapter 5 - The Cost of His New Life
I did not open the door.
Daniel stood beneath the porch light, staring directly into the security camera.
“We need to talk.”
I ended the call with the children after promising I would see them the next morning.
Then I activated the camera’s recording feature.
“You can speak from there.”
Daniel looked around the quiet street.
“Are you really going to make me stand outside my own home?”
“Yes.”
“I went to see Vanessa.”
“I assumed that.”
“She is upset.”
“That sounds difficult.”
“She thinks I lied to her.”
“You did.”
“I told her we were having problems.”
“You told her we were separated.”
“We were not happy.”
“I was.”
Daniel had no answer for that.
Perhaps he had never considered that I might have experienced our marriage differently.
He had mistaken my trust for ignorance.
“I never wanted to hurt you.”
“You wanted everything that hurt me.”
“You wanted the affair.”
“You wanted the vacation.”
“You wanted your family to accept her.”
“You wanted me at home believing you were a hero.”
“You just did not want the consequences.”
He stepped closer to the camera.
“I will end it.”
“No.”
His brows drew together.
“What do you mean?”
“I do not care whether you end it.”
“I am ending us.”
“Rachel, you are emotional.”
“I have never been more clear.”
His expression hardened.
“I spoke to Dad.”
“I’m sure he was very helpful.”
“We need to be practical.”
“There are financial issues you do not understand.”
I looked toward the documents spread across my dining table.
“I am beginning to understand them.”
Daniel became still.
“What did you take from my office?”
“Copies of records from our marriage.”
“You had no right to go through my private files.”
“Your private files were stored in our shared home.”
“You need to return the external drive.”
“Why?”
“It contains confidential hospital information.”
That was a lie.
The folders I had opened contained tax documents, property records, and account statements.
No patient names appeared anywhere.
“What else is on it?”
“Nothing that concerns you.”
“Then you should not be worried.”
He moved toward the door.
“Open this door now.”
“No.”
“You are creating legal problems for yourself.”
“You should discuss that with my attorney.”
Daniel stepped backward.
For a few seconds, the polished physician vanished.
I saw the frightened, selfish man beneath the white coat.
Then he forced his voice to soften.
“I know you are hurting.”
“Do not perform compassion for me.”
“I am trying to save our marriage.”
“You were planning to replace me.”
“That is not true.”
“You told the children I was moving to California.”
His eyes widened.
“Owen called you.”
“Sophie did.”
“They are confused.”
“They were lied to.”
Daniel glanced toward the street again.
“You should not involve them.”
“You involved them when you asked them to travel with Vanessa.”
“That trip was for the children.”
“To Paris?”
“To help them adjust.”
There it was.
The truth had slipped out.
“Adjust to what?”
He realized his mistake.
“Rachel.”
“Adjust to your new family?”
He did not deny it.
I looked at the man I had shared half my adult life with.
“Go to your father’s house.”
“This conversation is not over.”
“It is for tonight.”
I disconnected the camera.
Daniel remained on the porch for another ten minutes.
Then he drove away.
At six the next morning, Maya arrived with coffee and two paralegals.
We connected Daniel’s external drive to a secured laptop.
The first folder contained ordinary records.
The second contained investment statements.
The third was protected by a password.
Maya guessed his birthday.
It failed.
I entered Vanessa’s birthday, which I found on the hospital foundation website.
The folder opened.
Inside were hotel receipts, private messages, photographs, and flight confirmations.
There were also bank transfers.
Large ones.
Money had been moving out of our accounts for over two years.
May you like
The affair was eight months old.
Daniel’s financial betrayal had begun much earlier.
