Chapter 14 - Robert Chooses His Son
Rachel called Robert’s decision catastrophic but not fatal.
Jennifer called it predictable.
Robert met her once afterward.
He came alone.
“I am trying to protect hundreds of employees.”
Jennifer stared at him.
“You are protecting yourself.”
“Both can be true.”
He looked older than ever.
“If the company collapses, innocent people lose jobs.”
“And your solution is to help Daniel hide evidence?”
“No.”
“You withdrew the lawsuit.”
“I settled.”
“With a man who forged your signature.”
Robert’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t understand the exposure.”
Jennifer stood.
“I understand perfectly.”
She gathered Lily’s diaper bag.
“You believed accountability was important until it reached your own door.”
Robert flinched.
Jennifer walked away.
Daniel’s legal strategy became aggressive immediately afterward.
He challenged Jennifer’s requests for exclusive use of the marital home.
He demanded expanded custody.
He accused her of alienating him from Lily.
He even claimed the baptism confrontation had been staged to damage his reputation.
Rachel dismantled those claims with supervised visitation records and text messages.
Still, the attacks were exhausting.
Jennifer returned to work part-time.
She cared for Lily.
She attended depositions.
She answered discovery requests.
Her life became a calendar of feedings, legal deadlines, and evidence.
Then Daniel made his cruelest move.
He filed a motion arguing that Jennifer had improperly accessed his private messages.
He demanded the screenshots be excluded.
Rachel expected it.
What she did not expect was Daniel’s attached affidavit.
Patricia swore under oath that Jennifer had previously discussed “financially destroying Daniel” and had threatened to manipulate evidence.
Jennifer stared at the document.
“She’s lying.”
Rachel nodded.
“I know.”
“I never said that.”
“I know.”
Jennifer felt anger burn through her.
Patricia had rocked Lily to sleep.
She had sat beside Jennifer during pregnancy.
She had called her daughter.
Now she was willing to accuse Jennifer of fabricating evidence to protect Daniel.
The hearing was scheduled for Friday.
On Thursday night, Jennifer received an unexpected visitor.
Chloe.
She held Evan against her chest.
“I have something.”
Jennifer let her inside.
Chloe opened an old message archive Daniel thought she had deleted.
One conversation was between Daniel and Patricia.
Patricia wrote:
MAKE SURE JENNIFER NEVER HAS ACCESS TO THE WESTBRIDGE FILES.
Daniel responded:
SHE TRUSTS ME.
Patricia answered:
EMILY TRUSTED YOU TOO.
DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES.
Jennifer felt the room go silent around her.
The messages were dated two years before Jennifer discovered the affair.
Patricia had been discussing her long before the baptism.
Long before Lily’s birth.
Jennifer looked at Chloe.
“Will you testify?”
Chloe hesitated.
Then looked down at Evan.
“Yes.”
May you like
The next morning, Patricia entered court believing Jennifer was about to lose crucial evidence.
She had no idea Chloe was sitting outside the courtroom with seven years of archived messages.
