Chapter 10 - THE MIDPOINT
The next forty-eight hours dismantled my entire understanding of my marriage.
Victoria had been preparing a petition claiming I could no longer manage my own affairs.
Dr. Ames had drafted language describing me as paranoid, emotionally unstable, and financially reckless.
Madison’s stolen messages would have been presented as proof.
Dominic had secretly recorded arguments after deliberately provoking me.
Only his calm responses remained in the edited clips.
My anger had been turned into evidence.
My fear had been turned into illness.
But the plan still required one thing.
A crisis.
Something dramatic enough to make their story believable.
The kitchen incident was supposed to become that crisis.
If I fought back, Dominic would claim I attacked him.
If I ran, Victoria would call police and describe me as unstable.
If I became hysterical at the hospital, Dr. Ames would request an emergency psychiatric evaluation.
Every path had been prepared.
Except the one I chose.
I pressed the switch.
That single decision destroyed their script.
Or so I thought.
Arthur asked Chloe to retrieve something from an old private bank vault.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
He insisted I open it.
The first document was a copy of the investigator’s report on me.
Dated seven months before I met Dominic.
The second was a photograph from the coffee shop.
The third was a handwritten letter from Victoria.
Dominic,
She has enough liquid assets to stabilize the company if the relationship progresses correctly.
Do not rush intimacy.
Build dependency first.
Arthur had stolen the original.
My hands shook as I read it.
Our first date.
Our engagement.
The house.
The vacations.
Even the neighborhood Dominic insisted we move into.
They weren’t chapters of a love story.
They were steps.
Then I reached the final document.
It wasn’t about me.
It was about Dominic.
A corporate life-insurance policy.
Twenty million dollars.
Beneficiary:
BENNETT STRATEGIC HOLDINGS.
I looked at Arthur.
“What is this?”
His face went gray.
“Victoria didn’t just plan to replace you.”
I looked back at the policy.
Arthur swallowed.
“She was preparing to replace Dominic too.”
Before he could explain, Chloe’s phone rang.
She listened.
Then she looked at Arthur.
“Your wife withdrew five million dollars this morning.”
Arthur stood.
“That’s impossible.”
“It happened.”
“Where did it go?”
“An offshore account.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Then whispered something I barely heard.
“She’s leaving.”
Chloe reached for her radio.
Arthur shook his head.
“No.”
“You don’t understand.”
“What?”
Arthur looked at me.
“Victoria never leaves loose ends.”
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And somewhere in that moment, I realized Dominic and I had something horrifying in common.
Neither of us had understood what his mother was truly building.
