Chapter 13 - PRESTON FINALLY HEARD HIS OWN VOICE
There are few things more uncomfortable than listening to yourself say something you no longer want to admit you believed.
Preston experienced that three weeks later.
His deposition took place in a conference room in Washington.
Rebecca sat across from him.
Daniel sat beside him.
A court reporter occupied the end of the table.
The recording had already been authenticated through Brielle.
Preston knew it existed.
He still hoped Rebecca would not play it.
She did.
His own laughter filled the room.
“She’ll give up almost anything if she thinks it protects the girls.”
Preston stared at the table.
Then came Brielle’s question.
“What if Lena fights?”
His own voice answered.
“If she gets difficult, I’ll ask for fifty-fifty custody.”
Rebecca stopped the recording.
She looked at Preston.
“At the time of this conversation, did you genuinely intend to exercise equal physical custody?”
Daniel shifted.
Preston answered.
“I don’t remember exactly what I intended.”
Rebecca pressed play.
Brielle’s voice.
“I thought you said you didn’t want that.”
Preston’s recorded response came immediately.
“I don’t.”
Rebecca stopped it again.
“Does that refresh your recollection?”
Preston’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
“What was your intention?”
“To negotiate.”
“Using your daughters?”
“No.”
Rebecca looked toward the court reporter.
Then back at Preston.
“The recording literally contains you describing custody as leverage.”
“I was talking casually.”
“Do you regularly joke about taking custody of children you do not intend to parent?”
Daniel interrupted.
“Objection to characterization.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Let me rephrase.”
She leaned closer.
“Why did you believe threatening equal custody would cause Lena to surrender financial claims?”
Preston remained silent.
The court reporter waited.
Daniel whispered.
“You need to answer.”
Preston looked at Rebecca.
“Because Lena prioritized the girls’ stability.”
Rebecca nodded.
“And you intended to use that priority to obtain property?”
“I didn’t say that.”
She played the next part.
Brielle asked.
“What do you want?”
Preston’s recorded voice answered.
“The investment properties.”
Rebecca stopped.
Nobody spoke.
Preston’s face reddened.
Rebecca continued.
“Did you eventually ask for fifty-fifty custody?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because we reached another agreement.”
“What changed?”
Preston did not answer.
Rebecca waited.
“What changed between this recording and the agreement granting Lena primary custody?”
He looked away.
“Brielle became pregnant.”
“And you believed she was carrying your son.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Preston said nothing.
Rebecca continued.
“Is that why you stopped using custody as financial leverage?”
“No.”
“What was the reason?”
“I decided Lena was better positioned for primary custody.”
“When?”
“I don’t remember.”
Rebecca slid a text-message printout across the table.
It was Preston messaging Daniel.
Give her the weekday time if she drops the Lake Fairfax property claim.
Another.
I’ll probably be busy once the baby comes anyway.
Another.
If she wants Europe permission, fine.
Less logistics for me.
Preston stared at the messages.
He had sent them.
There was no escape.
Rebecca asked quietly.
“Were Ava and Grace less important to you because you believed you were about to have a son?”
Daniel objected.
Preston answered anyway.
“No.”
Rebecca held his gaze.
“Then explain your behavior.”
He could not.
For the first time in the deposition, Preston stopped trying to protect himself.
He looked toward the recording device.
Then said.
“I can’t.”
Rebecca did not expect that.
Daniel turned toward him.
Preston continued.
“I cannot explain it in a way that makes it acceptable.”
The room became quiet.
Rebecca waited.
He spoke again.
“I grew up believing a son meant something different.”
Daniel said nothing.
Rebecca did not interrupt.
“My father grew up believing it too.”
“My grandfather made the family name feel like a job.”
Preston swallowed.
“When Ava was born, I loved her.”
“When Grace was born, I loved her.”
“But part of me still believed I had failed at something.”
He closed his eyes.
“I never said that aloud.”
“Then Brielle told me she was having a boy.”
“And suddenly everyone treated me like I had finally accomplished something.”
Rebecca asked.
“So you rewarded that approval by abandoning responsibilities to your daughters?”
Preston opened his eyes.
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at him.
Rebecca went still.
The court reporter kept typing.
Preston continued.
“I didn’t think of it that way then.”
“But yes.”
Rebecca asked.
“And Lena?”
Preston’s face tightened.
“I treated her like she was in the way.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew me before all of this.”
“That made her inconvenient?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca nodded slowly.
“And the hidden assets?”
Preston looked down.
“I wanted to start the new life without feeling like I had lost financially.”
“So you concealed marital property.”
“Yes.”
Daniel placed one hand against his forehead.
Rebecca paused.
“Are you admitting intentional nondisclosure?”
Daniel immediately intervened.
“Take a break.”
Preston shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel whispered.
“Preston.”
“No.”
He looked toward Rebecca.
“I knew the accounts existed.”
“I knew they were not listed.”
“I signed anyway.”
Rebecca stared at him.
“Why are you admitting this?”
Preston gave a tired laugh.
“Because there is apparently a recording, spreadsheet, transfer, message, or nine-year-old child ready to correct me every time I lie.”
Nobody laughed.
He continued.
“And because I’m tired.”
The deposition ended early.
Daniel was furious.
“You just handed Rebecca the fraud claim.”
Preston stood in the hallway.
“She already had it.”
“You admitted intent.”
“She had evidence.”
“Evidence can be challenged.”
“Should it be?”
Daniel stared at him.
Preston continued.
“I did it.”
His attorney lowered his voice.
“Are you trying to punish yourself?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Preston looked toward the elevator.
“I’m trying to stop becoming the man everybody needs proof against.”
Daniel said nothing.
The elevator doors opened.
Preston stepped inside.
Before they closed, Daniel asked.
“What happens next?”
Preston looked at him.
“I pay what I owe.”
It sounded simple.
It was not.
The financial settlement that followed was brutal.
I received seventy-five percent of the concealed marital assets.
The Halloway funds returned entirely to me because they originated from separate inherited property.
The girls’ education accounts were restored with interest.
Preston paid my legal fees.
He surrendered his claim to one investment property.
The Northline condominium was sold.
Brielle received nothing from the sale because she had contributed no funds and her beneficial interest depended on an agreement with Preston that could not supersede the marital fraud order.
By the time everything was resolved, Preston had lost nearly $1.6 million.
But the number that affected him most was not financial.
It was two.
Two daughters.
Living thousands of miles away.
Neither one asking to return.
Thanksgiving approached.
Preston was entitled to request visitation.
He did not.
Instead, he sent a FamilyBridge message.
Would the girls prefer that I come to Ireland for two days rather than travel during the holiday?
I asked them.
Grace said yes.
Ava said.
“Maybe one day.”
I sent that answer.
Preston replied.
One day is okay.
No argument.
No guilt.
No demand.
Ava read the message herself.
“He didn’t get mad.”
“No.”
“Do you think Grandpa told him not to?”
I almost smiled.
“Maybe.”
Ava looked thoughtful.
Then she asked.
“Do people really change?”
“Sometimes.”
“How do you know?”
“Time.”
She nodded.
Then she said.
“I don’t want him to change just because he lost everything.”
Neither did I.
That was the question none of us could answer yet.
Was Preston learning because he finally understood the harm?
Or because for the first time, the harm had reached him?
We would not discover the answer until Brielle’s baby was born.
May you like
Because the night she went into labor, the person she called first was not Evan.
It was Preston.
