Chapter 15 - Patricia Under Oath
Patricia testified first.
She wore navy blue.
Conservative jewelry.
No visible emotion.
Daniel watched from counsel table.
Jennifer watched him watching his mother.
Patricia claimed she barely understood Westbridge.
She claimed Daniel handled everything.
She claimed Jennifer had always been “volatile about money.”
Rachel approached calmly.
“Mrs. Carter, do you recognize this phone number?”
Patricia glanced at the exhibit.
“Yes.”
“Yours?”
“Yes.”
Rachel handed copies to opposing counsel.
Then projected the archived messages.
Patricia’s face changed.
MAKE SURE JENNIFER NEVER HAS ACCESS TO THE WESTBRIDGE FILES.
The courtroom became very quiet.
Rachel asked.
“Did you send that?”
Patricia swallowed.
“I don’t recall.”
Rachel displayed the next message.
EMILY TRUSTED YOU TOO.
DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES.
“Do you recall that?”
Patricia looked at Daniel.
The judge noticed.
“So noted.”
Daniel’s attorney objected.
Overruled.
Rachel continued for forty minutes.
By the end, Patricia’s earlier affidavit had become a liability.
The judge rejected Daniel’s attempt to exclude Jennifer’s evidence.
She also referred concerns about false testimony to the appropriate authorities.
Outside the courtroom, Daniel confronted his mother.
Jennifer saw them through the glass doors.
No sound reached her.
But Daniel’s face was furious.
Patricia shoved a finger against his chest.
Then walked away.
The alliance was cracking.
For Jennifer, it should have felt like victory.
Instead, she felt empty.
Rachel touched her shoulder.
“You did well.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You refused to disappear.”
That evening Jennifer put Lily to bed and finally cried.
Not for Daniel.
For the marriage she thought she had.
For the pregnancy she could never remember without Chloe’s messages.
For the baptism photographs that would always contain a lie.
Then her phone rang.
Emily.
“You need to turn on the news.”
Jennifer did.
Local business headlines were reporting that federal investigators had executed search warrants at Carter Development and several related properties.
Crosshaven.
Westbridge.
The condominium.
Daniel’s office.
Patricia’s home.
Robert’s home.
Jennifer felt cold.
This was no longer a divorce with complicated finances.
A federal investigation had begun.
Minutes later, Daniel called.
Jennifer declined.
He texted.
YOU CAUSED THIS.
Then another.
IF MY FAMILY GOES DOWN, DON’T THINK YOU WALK AWAY CLEAN.
Rachel immediately told Jennifer to save the messages.
Police were notified.
A temporary protective order was requested.
Daniel’s supervised visits with Lily were suspended pending review.
For the first time, Jennifer felt afraid of what desperation might make him do.
At 11:43 p.m., her security camera sent an alert.
Someone was standing outside her house.
Jennifer opened the live feed.
It was not Daniel.
It was Robert.
He held a cardboard box.
May you like
And when Jennifer spoke through the camera, Robert said only four words.
“I brought the originals.”
