Chapter 3 - The Mother Who Helped Him
Margaret stared at Daniel as if she were seeing a stranger wearing her son’s face.
“I gave you my stamp.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“You’re confused.”
“I am not confused.”
“You don’t remember what happened.”
“I remember perfectly.”
Margaret pushed her chair back.
“You came to our house in May.”
Robert frowned.
“I was in Denver.”
“Yes.”
Margaret nodded.
“You were visiting your brother.”
She looked at me.
“Daniel arrived after ten.”
Her voice shook.
“He said Jennifer had been sick all day.”
I remembered that night.
I had been sick.
I had spent most of the evening vomiting from a brutal combination of pregnancy nausea and a stomach virus.
Daniel had gone out around nine.
He told me he was buying electrolyte drinks.
He returned almost two hours later.
He had forgotten the drinks.
I had been too exhausted to question him.
Margaret kept talking.
“He had several documents.”
She looked at Daniel.
“He said you had already signed them.”
Daniel crossed his arms.
“You’re remembering it wrong.”
“You said they were refinancing papers.”
“That’s what they were.”
“No.”
She pointed toward my phone in Rachel’s hand.
“That is not a refinancing document.”
Daniel glanced toward the hotel security officers.
They remained several yards away.
No one was physically restraining him.
But the existence of witnesses seemed to keep him cautious.
Margaret’s voice broke.
“You asked me to stamp a page because you said your usual notary was unavailable.”
Daniel sighed.
“Mom.”
“And I asked where Jennifer was.”
“Stop.”
“You said she was asleep.”
“Stop talking.”
The sharpness of his tone made Margaret flinch.
Robert saw it.
His face changed.
“Don’t speak to your mother like that.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
He looked around.
“Now everybody joins Jennifer.”
“No one is joining me.”
I closed the folder.
“They’re hearing you.”
Daniel turned toward me.
“You think this makes you innocent?”
The question surprised me.
“Innocent of what?”
His smile was strange.
“Exactly.”
Rachel stepped between us slightly.
“Daniel, you should be very careful about what you say next.”
He ignored her.
“You’ve been planning this for months.”
“Yes.”
“I knew something was wrong.”
I almost admired the audacity.
“You were having an affair, stealing money, and apparently fabricating financial documents.”
I tilted my head.
“But you noticed something was wrong with me?”
“I noticed you changed.”
“I stopped trusting you.”
“You stopped being a wife.”
A few people audibly reacted.
Michael swore under his breath.
My mother stood with Lily still asleep against her.
Her face was pale with anger.
I looked at Daniel.
“What did being a wife require?”
“Don’t.”
“No, tell me.”
I stepped closer.
“Was it staying quiet when the emergency savings disappeared?”
Daniel said nothing.
“Was it recovering from childbirth without the night nurse we had saved for because you sent the money to Chloe?”
His jaw tightened.
“Was it paying for this party?”
“Jennifer.”
“Was it smiling while you stood in front of your coworkers and pretended to be a devoted husband?”
“Enough.”
“Or was it signing fake paperwork I never saw?”
Daniel suddenly kicked the chair beside him.
It toppled backward.
The noise echoed through the ballroom.
Lily woke and started crying.
I turned immediately.
My mother carried her farther away.
Hotel security stepped forward.
“Sir, you need to calm down.”
Daniel looked at them.
“I’m leaving.”
Rachel shook her head.
“You may leave.”
She paused.
“But you may not remove financial documents, shared property, or the child from this hotel.”
Daniel laughed.
“The child?”
His eyes moved toward Lily.
“She’s my daughter.”
My body stiffened.
Rachel noticed.
“So far, no one has disputed that.”
Daniel’s eyes returned to me.
Something about the way he looked at Lily bothered me.
Not because he looked loving.
Because he looked calculating.
I moved closer to my mother.
Daniel saw me.
“You’re not taking her.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“You’re not taking Lily away from me.”
Rachel spoke immediately.
“No custody order currently prevents Jennifer from leaving with the infant she has primarily cared for since birth.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You already knew there would be a custody fight?”
“I assumed there could be.”
He turned toward me.
“You planned to steal my daughter.”
“No.”
I looked down at Lily.
“I planned to protect her.”
Daniel’s mouth twisted.
“From what?”
I almost answered.
Then Rachel touched my arm.
A warning.
Do not disclose everything.
That had been part of our plan.
The folder on the table contained evidence of the affair and financial misconduct.
It did not contain the most serious thing I had found.
Because three weeks after Lily was born, I had started reviewing our smart-home history.
Daniel had forgotten that our security system kept a log of doors opening and closing.
He had also forgotten about the nursery camera.
One night at 2:13 a.m., while I had been asleep after feeding Lily, Daniel entered the nursery.
He remained there for seven minutes.
That alone was not suspicious.
He was her father.
What bothered me was what happened afterward.
He went downstairs.
He opened my locked desk drawer.
Then he used our home printer.
At 2:28 a.m., he entered the nursery again.
The camera had captured only a partial view.
Daniel stood beside Lily’s crib holding a stack of papers.
Then he leaned toward her and whispered something.
The audio was weak.
I had listened to it dozens of times.
Rachel had sent the clip to an audio specialist.
The enhanced version arrived that morning.
I had not yet listened to it.
Rachel had told me not to until after the baptism.
Daniel stepped toward Lily now.
Michael moved in front of him.
Daniel stopped.
“This is ridiculous.”
His face flushed.
“She is my child.”
Robert stared at his son.
“Then start acting like a father.”
Daniel turned on him.
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know you took money meant for your daughter.”
“That money was mine too.”
“You used it for another woman.”
Daniel’s mouth tightened.
Robert continued.
“And now I find out your mother gave you her notary stamp.”
“I didn’t forge anything.”
Margaret stared at him.
“Then show us the original.”
Daniel went still.
Rachel noticed.
“What original?”
He looked at her.
“The agreement.”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
“At home.”
“Where?”
“My office.”
Rachel looked at me.
I shook my head.
I had searched his office carefully.
I had never seen it.
Daniel noticed.
“See?”
He smiled.
“She doesn’t know everything.”
That sentence was meant to frighten me.
It worked.
Because confidence had returned to his face.
He was hiding something else.
Rachel lowered her voice.
“Jennifer, we should leave.”
This time I agreed.
My mother carried Lily.
Michael collected my bag.
Rachel took the folder.
As we started toward the ballroom exit, Daniel called my name.
I kept walking.
“Jennifer.”
I stopped near the doors.
I hated that I did.
But I wanted to know what he would say.
Daniel stood beside the ruined head table.
His parents were behind him.
His sister was crying silently.
Half the guests had already taken out their phones.
Daniel looked at me.
Then he smiled.
Not warmly.
Not apologetically.
It was the smile he used when he believed he was one move ahead.
“You forgot one thing.”
“What?”
“The house.”
I said nothing.
“You can’t just take Lily and disappear.”
“I’m not disappearing.”
“You think that lawyer can keep me out?”
Rachel stepped forward.
“She can if a judge signs the temporary order.”
Daniel’s smile remained.
“You might want to check the deed first.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
He spread his hands.
“According to you, I do nothing but forge paperwork.”
Rachel took out her phone.
“Jennifer, we’re leaving.”
Daniel laughed.
Then he called after me.
“You should ask your lawyer who owns your house now.”
I turned.
He looked almost pleased.
My mother whispered.
“Jennifer, come on.”
We walked out.
The hallway outside the ballroom felt unnaturally bright.
Rachel was already making a call.
Michael took Lily from my mother while I opened the county property app on my phone.
I entered our address.
The page loaded.
For a moment, I thought I had typed it wrong.
The owner listed was not Daniel.
It was not me.
It was not both of us.
The property had been transferred six weeks earlier.
The new owner was an LLC.
BENNETT HOLDINGS GROUP.
My hands went cold.
Bennett.
Chloe Bennett.
I looked through the glass ballroom doors.
Daniel was still standing inside.
Watching me.
He raised his glass slightly.
Then my phone vibrated.
A text came from an unknown number.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE FOLDER CLOSED.
I stared at it.
A second message arrived.
May you like
ASK CHLOE WHO REALLY OWNS YOUR HOUSE.
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