Chapter 4 - THE AGREEMENT
Daniel denied it immediately.
“She’s lying.”
Chloe laughed bitterly.
“You told me you loved me.”
“That doesn’t mean I promised any legal arrangement.”
“You drafted one.”
The room seemed to shrink around us.
I looked at Chloe.
“What agreement?”
She reached into the diaper bag hanging from her shoulder.
Daniel moved toward her.
Robert stepped between them.
“Sit down.”
It was the first time I had ever heard Daniel’s father speak to him like that.
Daniel stopped.
Chloe removed several folded pages.
“I never signed it.”
She handed them to me.
The first page had no attorney letterhead.
Just names.
Daniel Reynolds.
Jennifer Reynolds.
Chloe Matthews.
And a proposed private family settlement.
I scanned it once.
Then again.
The language was dressed up to sound reasonable.
Daniel would acknowledge financial responsibility for Chloe’s son.
I would agree that certain marital assets could be used for that child’s support.
In exchange, Daniel would remain married to me and “preserve the stability of the Reynolds household.”
I almost admired the arrogance.
He had designed a contract where betraying me became a favor.
I looked up.
“You expected me to sign this?”
Daniel shook his head.
“That is not mine.”
Chloe pointed to the bottom.
“Your initials are on every page.”
Patricia sat down heavily.
Robert took the document from my hands.
His face reddened as he read.
Daniel turned to Chloe.
“You came here to destroy me.”
She stared at him.
“No.”
Then she looked at me.
“I came because this morning someone showed me the messages you sent Jennifer while you were telling me something completely different.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
He knew then that his worlds had finally collided.
Chloe continued.
“You told me Jennifer didn’t love you anymore.”
I said nothing.
“You told me she wanted a divorce after the baby was born.”
My jaw tightened.
“You told me she had agreed you could help raise my son.”
Patricia closed her eyes.
Chloe’s voice cracked.
“And you told me the money you sent was yours.”
That mattered.
I asked, “You didn’t know it came from our joint account?”
“No.”
Daniel scoffed.
“Convenient.”
Chloe turned on him.
“You showed me screenshots of an account with only your name.”
I looked at my attorney’s investigator, Mark, standing near the doorway.
He gave me a small nod.
We had found those screenshots too.
Daniel had cropped my name from the account.
Robert dropped the agreement onto the table.
“Why would you do this?”
Daniel looked around the room.
At his parents.
At his coworkers.
At Chloe.
At me.
Then something in him changed.
The apologetic mask disappeared.
“You all want an explanation?”
His voice became cold.
“Fine.”
He pointed at me.
“Ask Jennifer why every major asset we have is protected in her name.”
The room went quiet again.
Daniel smiled without warmth.
May you like
“There.”
“That’s the part she didn’t put in her folder.”
