Chapter 13 - Patricia’s Choice
The recording was ten minutes long.
It had captured a conversation in Daniel’s car.
Apparently, he had accidentally activated the voice recorder while the old phone was connected to Bluetooth.
At first, the conversation was ordinary.
Then Patricia said my name.
Jennifer is exhausted, Daniel.
She has a newborn coming.
Daniel answered.
Exactly.
Patricia sounded uneasy.
I’m not helping you take her house.
My heart stopped.
Daniel laughed.
It isn’t her house.
It’s ours.
Patricia responded.
Then divide it properly.
Daniel became irritated.
You don’t understand how much she’ll demand once lawyers get involved.
Then Patricia said something that mattered.
I notarized the loan because you told me it was for medical bills.
I will not do anything else.
I paused the recording.
Chloe looked at me.
“So she knew about the loan.”
“Yes.”
“But maybe not the whole plan.”
“Maybe.”
I played the rest.
Daniel pressured her.
Patricia resisted.
Then he said:
If Jennifer asks, tell her the papers were routine refinancing.
Patricia did not agree.
But she did not refuse either.
The recording ended.
I sent it to Claire.
Then I called Patricia.
She came to my parents’ house that afternoon.
For the first time since Lily’s baptism, she asked permission before picking up her granddaughter.
I said no.
Not cruelly.
Simply no.
Patricia sat across from me.
“You heard the recording.”
“Yes.”
She closed her eyes.
“I was a coward.”
I did not rescue her from the statement.
She continued.
“I knew Daniel was moving money.”
“I did not know about Chloe.”
“I did not know Noah was his.”
“But you knew he was preparing for a divorce I didn’t know existed.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“He kept saying he would tell you himself.”
“For eight months?”
“I was afraid if I pushed him, he would cut us off from Lily.”
“She wasn’t even born.”
“I know.”
Her voice cracked.
“I kept choosing the easier conversation.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Most betrayals did not begin with one enormous choice.
They grew from dozens of easier conversations.
One silence.
One excuse.
One signature.
One decision not to ask another question.
Patricia wiped her eyes.
“I want to fix what I can.”
“Then tell the truth.”
“To whom?”
“Everyone who asks.”
She nodded.
“And Daniel?”
“Especially about Daniel.”
She swallowed.
Then she reached into her purse.
“I already started.”
She handed me an envelope.
Inside was a written statement admitting she had improperly notarized the loan documents.
There was also a copy of an email Daniel had sent her.
I read it.
My hands went cold.
The subject line was:
If Jennifer finds out.
The email contained instructions.
Delete old messages.
Say the loan was my idea.
Say I was aware of Carter Consulting.
Say my pregnancy had made me forgetful.
Daniel had built a defense months before I discovered the affair.
At the bottom was one final line.
We only need enough doubt to keep her from getting everything.
I looked at Patricia.
“When did he send this?”
“Four months ago.”
The exact week I found Chloe’s messages.
Daniel had known I might discover him.
And while I was quietly gathering evidence, he had been preparing to rewrite reality around me.
Then Claire called.
May you like
Her first words changed the entire case.
“Jennifer, the police are executing a search warrant at the house.”
