Chapter 9 - CHLOE FINALLY CALLED ME
Daniel’s attempt to wipe his laptop failed.
Not completely.
The company maintained cloud backups.
Robert’s IT team began restoring them.
The process uncovered years of emails Daniel probably believed were gone.
But before those emails became useful, Chloe called me.
It happened Tuesday night at 11:17.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then a text appeared.
Jennifer, please answer.
My heartbeat changed.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a woman spoke.
“Jennifer?”
I knew her voice from the recording.
“Chloe.”
She exhaled.
“I’m sorry.”
I said nothing.
“I know that doesn’t mean anything.”
Still nothing.
She continued.
“I didn’t know at first.”
“Know what?”
“That you were still together.”
I almost laughed.
“You attended my husband’s company Christmas dinner two years ago.”
Silence.
I remembered her.
I had not known who she was then.
Daniel introduced her as an old college friend.
Chloe finally said, “He told me your marriage was over.”
“While I was standing beside him?”
“He said you were keeping up appearances.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
“He told me you had separate bedrooms.”
“We did not.”
“He told me Lily was an attempt to save the marriage.”
I swallowed.
Lily had taken us almost a year to conceive.
Daniel had cried when the pregnancy test turned positive.
He had kissed my stomach before there was anything to see.
I hated him most when memories contradicted reality.
Chloe continued.
“I believed him.”
“For how long?”
“Too long.”
“That isn’t a number.”
“Five months.”
“And after that?”
She went quiet.
“After that, you knew.”
“Yes.”
I appreciated the admission more than another excuse.
“Why are you calling?”
“Because Daniel is lying to both of us.”
I almost smiled.
“That stopped being news four months ago.”
“No.”
Her voice tightened.
“You don’t understand.”
“What?”
“Mason.”
My body went still.
“What about him?”
She started crying.
Not loudly.
Not theatrically.
Just one broken breath after another.
I waited.
Finally, she said, “Daniel thinks Mason is his.”
I frowned.
“Isn’t he?”
Silence.
“Chloe.”
“I don’t know.”
That surprised me.
“What does that mean?”
“My divorce wasn’t finalized when I got pregnant.”
“So Mason could be your ex-husband’s?”
“Yes.”
“Does Daniel know?”
“He knows there was a possibility.”
“That isn’t what you said.”
“He knew at first.”
“At first?”
Chloe inhaled shakily.
“Then he stopped wanting to hear it.”
I sat at the edge of my mother’s guest bed.
Lily slept in a bassinet nearby.
“What are you telling me?”
“Daniel started acting like Mason was definitely his.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You slept with him.”
“I still don’t know.”
There was desperation in her voice.
“He needed the baby to be his.”
That sentence bothered me.
“What do you mean?”
“He talked about starting over.”
“That sounds obvious.”
“No.”
She lowered her voice.
“He talked about how people respected fathers.”
I frowned.
“He said being a family man helped at work.”
The baptism.
The clients.
The speeches.
The public image.
I began to understand.
Chloe continued.
“He said after your baptism party, everything would change.”
“What exactly?”
“He would move money.”
“Whose?”
“He never said.”
“Try again.”
She went quiet.
Then she said, “He mentioned your father’s company.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“What did he say?”
“That once the shares were sold, nobody could control him.”
“Who is nobody?”
“His father.”
“And me.”
Another silence.
“Yes.”
I stood.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Is Daniel there?”
“No.”
“Has he been there today?”
“Yes.”
My skin prickled.
“When?”
“This afternoon.”
“What did he want?”
“He wanted the recording.”
“The one you emailed me?”
“Yes.”
“How did he know you had it?”
“I told him.”
I stared at the wall.
“Why?”
“He called me after the baptism.”
“What did he say?”
“That you had ruined everything.”
My laugh was bitter.
Chloe continued.
“He wanted to know what I gave you.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I hadn’t given you anything.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he scared me.”
There was something in her voice I had not heard before.
I stopped.
“What did he do?”
“He didn’t touch me.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“He said if I helped you, he would make sure Mason had nothing.”
I looked at Lily.
“That sounds like Daniel.”
“He said he would deny being Mason’s father.”
“He may not be.”
“I know.”
The sadness in her voice was complicated.
“He wanted me to sign something.”
“What?”
“A statement.”
“About me?”
“Yes.”
My entire body tightened.
“What did it say?”
“That you knew about us.”
I almost laughed.
“Of course.”
“And that you approved the payments.”
“Anything else?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“That you were emotionally unstable during pregnancy.”
I closed my eyes.
The same story.
Built from multiple directions.
Marianne’s notes.
Baby monitor photographs.
Chloe’s statement.
Daniel had been constructing a legal narrative before I knew I needed one.
“Did you sign?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it was a lie.”
“You were comfortable sleeping with my husband but drew the line at lying in court?”
She did not become defensive.
“No.”
Her voice became small.
“I drew the line too late.”
For some reason, that answer mattered.
“What do you want from me?”
“I want to give you everything.”
I sat again.
“Everything?”
“Messages.”
“I already have months of them.”
“Not the other phone.”
My heartbeat changed.
“What other phone?”
“Daniel gave me a phone.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“Why?”
“So your phone records wouldn’t show our calls.”
I stared at the floor.
Of course he had.
“Do you still have it?”
“Yes.”
“What is on it?”
“Messages.”
“What kind?”
“Money.”
“Custody.”
“Your shares.”
“His mother.”
Each word landed separately.
Then Chloe whispered the last one.
“And Lily.”
I stopped breathing.
“What about Lily?”
Chloe did not answer.
“Chloe.”
“There’s a message Daniel sent the night she was born.”
I gripped the phone.
“What does it say?”
Her voice trembled.
“He said he wished she had been a boy.”
I closed my eyes.
That hurt.
But not enough to explain Chloe’s fear.
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“He said if Mason was his son, everything would be easier.”
I waited.
She whispered.
“Then he said his father would finally have the grandson he wanted.”
My chest tightened.
“Robert never cared whether Lily was a girl.”
“I know.”
“Then why would Daniel say that?”
“I don’t know.”
I heard movement on Chloe’s end.
A door.
She went silent.
“Chloe?”
Nothing.
Then a man’s voice in the background.
“Who are you talking to?”
Daniel.
Chloe whispered.
“Oh God.”
The call ended.
I immediately called back.
No answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
Then a text came through.
Not from Chloe.
From Daniel.
Stay away from her.
A second message arrived.
She is not your witness.
May you like
Then a third.
And that phone belongs to me.
