Chapter 10 - The Woman Before Me
Natalie agreed to meet me.
Not because investigators asked.
Because she had seen my name in the news.
We met in Rachel's conference room.
Natalie was forty now.
Calm.
Successful.
Completely unsurprised by what happened to me.
“When I saw the headline, I knew.”
I looked at her.
“Why didn't you report him?”
“I did.”
My stomach dropped.
Again.
Another woman who had reported.
Another story rewritten.
Natalie had called police after Adrian shoved her.
There were no witnesses.
No cameras.
Adrian said she attacked him first.
Eleanor arrived before officers finished interviewing them.
She told police Natalie was under enormous stress.
Then Charles produced text messages showing Natalie had once written.
I FEEL LIKE I'M LOSING MY MIND.
She had written it during a week when her father was dying.
The family used it to suggest instability.
No charges were filed.
Then Adrian apologized.
He cried.
He promised therapy.
Natalie almost stayed.
Until Charles asked again about the house.
“I realized the apology wasn't about what he did.”
She looked at me.
“It was about getting the deal back on track.”
I understood that perfectly.
“Did Adrian ever tell you about Maya?”
“No.”
“Did he tell you about the basement?”
“No.”
“Did he tell you his family had financial problems?”
“He told me they were wealthy.”
Of course.
Natalie handed Rachel a folder.
“I kept everything.”
Emails.
Texts.
Draft agreements.
A message from Eleanor stood out.
FAMILY ASSETS SHOULD NOT REMAIN DIVIDED BY TECHNICALITIES LIKE PREMARITAL OWNERSHIP.
I read it twice.
Technicalities.
My condo.
Natalie's house.
Maya's inheritance.
Technicalities.
Then Natalie handed me one final page.
A handwritten note Adrian left after their breakup.
I'M SORRY I LET MY FAMILY CONVINCE ME THAT LOVING ME MEANT PROVING YOU TRUSTED US FINANCIALLY.
My throat tightened.
He had understood.
Years before he met me.
He had understood exactly what his family was doing.
And he had repeated it anyway.
That revelation hurt differently.
I had spent days wondering whether Charles and Eleanor had shaped Adrian so completely that he could not see the pattern.
Now I knew.
He saw it.
He simply chose to benefit from it.
Natalie looked at the bandage near my temple.
“He hit you harder than he hit me.”
I said nothing.
“But it wasn't the first time he believed violence could end an argument.”
Her voice remained quiet.
“Don't let anyone tell you he became that man at the dinner.”
“He was already that man.”
“He just finally did it where everyone could see.”
That afternoon, prosecutors received Natalie's prior police report.
Adrian's attorney immediately requested a meeting.
He wanted a plea agreement.
The assault case was getting worse.
But the larger financial investigation was getting worse too.
Charles and Eleanor were now subjects.
May you like
Marcus was being questioned.
And for the first time, Adrian had to decide whether protecting his parents was worth protecting the people who had taught him how to become exactly like them.
