Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN IN THE DOORWAY
For one strange second, nobody moved.
Chloe stood beneath the ballroom lights wearing a pale blue dress and holding a baby carrier.
She looked exactly like the photographs from Daniel’s hidden messages.
Blonde hair.
Carefully applied makeup.
The same gold necklace I had once seen in a picture Daniel claimed came from a business dinner.
Except now I knew who had been sitting across from him.
Daniel stood so fast his chair scraped against the floor.
“Chloe.”
His voice contained something I had not heard all evening.
Fear.
Not affection.
Not surprise.
Fear.
Chloe looked from him to me.
“I received your message.”
Daniel turned toward me.
“What message?”
I folded my hands.
“I invited her.”
That was not entirely true.
My attorney’s investigator had contacted Chloe that morning after discovering something I hadn’t known when I first planned the confrontation.
Something important enough that Chloe had agreed to come.
Daniel stepped toward her.
“You need to leave.”
Chloe’s expression hardened.
“No.”
He lowered his voice.
“Not here.”
“That is exactly what you told me about the hospital.”
Patricia slowly stood.
“What is going on?”
Chloe looked at her.
Then at Robert.
Then at me.
“I was told Jennifer knew.”
A cold laugh escaped me.
“Knew what?”
“That Daniel was helping me.”
“Helping you financially?”
She hesitated.
“And emotionally.”
Daniel interrupted.
“Stop talking.”
Chloe finally looked at him.
“You said she understood.”
I watched the realization cross her face.
Daniel had lied in both directions.
To me, Chloe was an old friend going through a difficult divorce.
To Chloe, I was apparently a wife who had accepted whatever arrangement Daniel wanted.
Chloe adjusted the carrier.
The baby inside made a soft sound.
Daniel looked down.
Something changed in his face.
I saw it.
So did Patricia.
Her eyes moved from Daniel to the infant.
“Oh my God.”
Chloe shook her head.
“It isn’t what you think.”
Daniel spoke immediately.
“Exactly.”
I looked at him.
“You sound very sure.”
He turned toward me.
“Because I am.”
That surprised me.
For months, I had assumed Chloe’s baby was Daniel’s.
Every message pointed in that direction.
Every secret appointment.
Every bill.
Every promise.
Yet Daniel’s confidence now seemed real.
Chloe took a breath.
“The baby’s father is my ex-husband.”
A murmur spread through the room.
For one second, Daniel almost looked relieved.
Then Chloe continued.
“But Daniel told me he would help me prove otherwise.”
The relief vanished.
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Prove otherwise how?”
Chloe’s eyes filled with tears.
“He wanted my son legally connected to him.”
Daniel’s father stared at him.
“Why?”
Chloe looked at Daniel.
May you like
“Because he said once he had another child, he could force Jennifer into a financial agreement she would never sign otherwise.”
And suddenly I understood why my attorney had insisted Chloe come.
