Chapter 17 - The Counterattack
The courtroom changed instantly.
Daniel leaned toward his attorney.
Chloe continued.
“He said the charges were temporary.”
“He said Jennifer was trying to ruin both of us.”
“He said we could take Noah to Mexico and wait until everything calmed down.”
Claire asked, “When did he say this?”
“Two nights ago.”
“After surrendering his passport?”
“Yes.”
The judge frowned.
“How did he plan to travel?”
Chloe looked uncomfortable.
“He said he had another way.”
Daniel’s attorney asked for a recess.
The judge denied it.
Claire continued.
“Did he ask you to do anything else?”
Chloe nodded.
“He wanted me to say Jennifer knew about us.”
My throat tightened.
“What did you tell him?”
“I said no.”
“And then?”
“He threatened to seek custody of Noah.”
Daniel stared at her.
Chloe’s voice shook.
“He said he had paid for everything during my pregnancy and could make me look financially dependent and unstable.”
There it was again.
The same system.
Different woman.
Different vulnerabilities.
Same Daniel.
He never loved weakness.
He collected it.
Then Chloe did something I did not expect.
She apologized to me from the witness chair.
Not dramatically.
Not for sympathy.
“I knew more than I admitted at first.”
She looked directly at me.
“I knew Jennifer was still in the house.”
“I knew Lily was coming.”
“I convinced myself the marriage was already over because that made what I was doing easier to live with.”
I nodded once.
It was not forgiveness.
But it was truth.
And truth had become valuable.
After the hearing, Detective Lewis was waiting.
Daniel was taken back into custody over alleged violations of his release conditions.
His lawyer argued.
His mother cried.
His father stood against the wall looking defeated.
I held Lily.
For the first time, Daniel did not try to speak to me as officers led him away.
He looked at Chloe instead.
She looked down at Noah.
Claire touched my arm.
“We’re not done.”
“What now?”
“Harrison finished its internal audit.”
The total had grown.
$63,400 was only what they first identified.
The revised number exceeded $180,000.
Some transactions were legitimate reimbursements.
Many were not.
But one payment concerned me more than all the others.
$22,000 had been transferred to Carter Consulting the week before my hospitalization during pregnancy.
The memo line read:
PROJECT LILY.
I stared at Claire.
“What is Project Lily?”
“We don’t know.”
“Was it related to the baptism?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“The baptism wasn’t booked until months later.”
My chest tightened.
Claire handed me another document.
The transfer had been followed by payments to a private medical concierge company.
Then to a data-storage service.
Then to the investigator who followed me.
Daniel had named the operation after our unborn daughter.
I felt sick.
“What was he doing?”
Claire shook her head.
May you like
“We’re trying to find out.”
And for the first time since the folder opened, I wondered whether the affair had ever been the center of Daniel’s plan at all.
