Chapter 4 - Chloe
I met Chloe in a coffee shop thirty miles from my mother’s house.
Rebecca did not want me going alone.
So she sat two tables away pretending to work on her laptop.
Chloe arrived ten minutes late.
She looked nothing like the woman I had spent four months imagining.
I expected someone polished.
Confident.
Maybe smug.
Instead, she looked exhausted.
Dark circles beneath her eyes.
Hair pulled into a loose knot.
A diaper bag over one shoulder.
A sleeping infant strapped against her chest.
She stopped when she saw me.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then she said:
“His name is Owen.”
I looked at the baby.
Something in my chest twisted.
Not because I hated him.
I couldn’t.
He was a baby.
He had not betrayed anyone.
“He’s Daniel’s?” I asked.
Chloe’s eyes lowered.
“Yes.”
The answer hurt despite everything I already knew.
“How sure?”
“We did a test after he was born.”
My throat tightened.
“So Daniel knows.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Six weeks.”
Lily was three months old.
Owen was just over two months.
Our pregnancies had overlapped almost completely.
I sat down.
Chloe remained standing.
“You can leave if you want.”
“I almost did.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because he scared me.”
That got my attention.
She sat across from me.
“I’m not going to pretend I’m innocent.”
“Good.”
She flinched.
“I knew he was married.”
“Good start.”
“He told me you were separated emotionally.”
“He slept beside me every night.”
“I know that now.”
“He attended childbirth classes with me.”
“I know.”
“He painted Lily’s nursery.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“How?”
“Pictures.”
I went still.
“What pictures?”
“He sent them to me.”
Of course he did.
The nursery I had chosen.
The crib my mother bought.
The walls Daniel and I painted pale green.
He had apparently turned my pregnancy into material for conversations with his mistress.
“What did he say?”
“That he was doing what he had to do until after Lily’s baptism.”
Again.
The baptism.
“Why was that date so important?”
Chloe hesitated.
“I thought it was because of his parents.”
“What did he tell you?”
“That his mother is deeply religious.”
“She is.”
“That she would never forgive him for leaving before Lily was baptized.”
“That sounds plausible.”
“It did.”
I leaned back.
“What else?”
“He said his company was considering him for a promotion.”
I knew that too.
“He said the executives cared about stability.”
“That sounds like Daniel.”
“So he needed to look married.”
“Yes.”
Chloe stared at her coffee.
“I thought after the baptism, he would file.”
“He didn’t need to.”
“What?”
“I had already filed.”
Her eyes lifted.
“I know.”
“Daniel told you?”
“He called me from the hotel.”
I almost laughed.
“When?”
“Right after you left.”
“What did he say?”
Chloe hesitated.
“That you had trapped him.”
I felt nothing.
Maybe I had finally run out of surprise.
“What else?”
“That you stole Lily.”
My voice sharpened.
“I took my daughter to my mother’s house.”
“I know.”
“He told me you were having a breakdown.”
“There it is.”
Chloe swallowed.
“Jennifer…”
“What?”
“He has been saying that for months.”
I stared at her.
“He told me you had severe depression during pregnancy.”
“I didn’t.”
“He said your doctor was worried.”
“My doctor wasn’t.”
“He said you sometimes forgot where you were.”
I laughed.
“That’s new.”
“He said you left the stove on.”
“I did once.”
My stomach tightened.
I had been seven months pregnant.
Daniel called from work and told me the smoke alarm was going off.
I rushed downstairs.
A saucepan had boiled dry.
I had cried from embarrassment.
Daniel hugged me.
Told me pregnancy brain happened.
Later that night, he asked me to tell the story again while his phone sat faceup on the dresser.
I suddenly understood why.
“What videos?”
Chloe looked around.
“Daniel showed me clips.”
“Of what?”
“You crying.”
“I know about that one.”
“You yelling.”
“I know.”
“You falling asleep on the couch with Lily.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“He said you fell asleep while holding her.”
My blood turned cold.
“I never fell asleep holding Lily.”
“He showed me.”
“Describe it.”
“You were on the couch.”
“Was Lily on my chest?”
“Yes.”
I remembered.
One week after coming home from the hospital.
My mother had been sitting three feet away.
Lily had fallen asleep against me.
I closed my eyes for perhaps five minutes while Mom watched us.
Daniel had walked into the room and taken a picture.
He later told me I looked peaceful.
“He cropped my mother out.”
Chloe stared.
“What?”
“My mother was sitting beside me.”
“He told me you were alone.”
Rebecca was suddenly beside us.
“I need you to repeat everything you just said.”
Chloe looked startled.
I introduced them.
She almost left.
Then Owen moved against her chest.
She placed one hand over his back.
And stayed.
For the next hour, Chloe talked.
Daniel told her I suffered unpredictable mood swings.
Daniel told her I resented Lily.
Daniel told her he was afraid to leave the baby alone with me.
Daniel told her he was quietly creating records because someday he might need to protect his daughter.
Then Chloe said something worse.
“About three months before Lily was born, he asked me whether I would be willing to testify.”
My mouth went dry.
“To what?”
“That I had witnessed your behavior.”
“You had never met me.”
“I told him that.”
“What did he say?”
“That eventually I would.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Did he ask you to lie?”
“Not directly.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Chloe thought.
“He said, ‘By the time we need you, there will be enough context.’”
Rebecca wrote it down.
“Did he explain what that meant?”
“No.”
I looked at Chloe.
“Why are you telling me this now?”
Her eyes filled.
“Because two nights ago, he asked me to say you threatened Owen.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He wanted me to say you called and told me to keep my baby away from Lily.”
“I have never called you.”
“I know.”
“He wanted you to lie in court?”
“He said it wouldn’t go to court.”
Rebecca’s face hardened.
“What did he say would happen?”
“That your lawyer would get scared and convince you to settle.”
My skin prickled.
“What settlement?”
Chloe looked at me.
“He said you would agree to let Lily stay primarily with him.”
I stared at her.
“Why would I agree to that?”
“Because he said once the financial records came out, you would be afraid.”
I almost stood.
“What financial records?”
“He said there was debt in your name.”
My pulse began pounding.
“He created that debt.”
“I know.”
“Did you know before?”
“No.”
“Did you know he was paying your expenses with money from our accounts?”
“I knew he was helping.”
“Did you ask where it came from?”
She looked away.
That was answer enough.
My anger returned.
“You didn’t care.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“You didn’t care.”
“No.”
At least she admitted it.
Chloe wiped beneath one eye.
“I wanted to believe what he told me.”
“So did I.”
That silenced both of us.
Before we left, Chloe opened her phone.
“There’s one more thing.”
She found an audio recording.
“What is it?”
“Daniel called me after the baptism.”
“Did you record him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was starting to think he was lying.”
She pressed play.
Daniel’s voice filled the space between us.
Angry.
Breathing hard.
“She planned the entire thing.”
Chloe:
“What are you going to do?”
Daniel:
“What I should have done months ago.”
Chloe:
“What does that mean?”
Pause.
Then Daniel said:
“I’m done protecting her.”
Chloe:
“Daniel, you said the custody stuff was only backup.”
Daniel:
“It was.”
Chloe:
“Was?”
Another pause.
May you like
Then my husband spoke seven words that changed the entire divorce.
“Now I’m going to make it necessary.”
