Chapter 5: What He Left in the Drawer
I stayed that night.
Jason didn't object.
He was too careful for that.
He made a point of offering me the guest room himself, carrying in an extra blanket, asking twice if I needed anything.
The performance was smooth.
He'd had practice.
After he went to bed, Claire came to the guest room and sat on the edge of the mattress.
"There's something else," she said.
"Tell me."
"In his desk.
The one in the office he keeps locked." She twisted the hem of her sleeve.
"Two weeks ago he left it open by accident.
I wasn't snooping.
I just saw."
"What did you see?"
"A folder.
It had my name on it.
And Lily's name.
And a name I didn't recognize." She paused.
"A woman's name.
Diane Cho."
"Who is Diane Cho?"
"I looked her up.
She's a family law attorney." Claire met my eyes.
"Specializing in custody."
I sat with that for a moment.
"He's been consulting a custody lawyer," I said.
"Before the baby is even born."
"Before the baby is born," she repeated.
"And Mom — there was a tab open on his laptop once.
I only saw it for a second before he closed it.
It was a forum.
Some kind of men's group.
The thread title said — " She stopped.
Swallowed.
"It said, 'How to establish sole custody when the mother is mentally unfit.'"
The word landed between us like something dropped from a height.
"He's building a case," I said.
"He's been building it."
"The supplements.
The controlled appointments.
Answering for me at the doctor.
All of it." Her voice was steady but her hands were not.
"If he can show that I've been unstable — that I needed managing — "
"He controls the baby," I said.
She nodded.
I stood up.
I needed to move.
"Claire, you need to call Dr.
Reyes in the morning.
Before the appointment.
You need to tell her about the folder and the forum.
She needs to know the full picture."
"She'll believe me?"
"She already believes you.
That's why she called me."
Claire was quiet for a moment.
"What if he finds out we talked to her?"
"He won't.
Not tonight." I looked at her.
"But Claire, listen to me carefully.
After this baby comes, you cannot go back to living like this.
Do you understand me?"
Her eyes filled.
She blinked it back.
"I don't have money of my own.
He controls the accounts."
"I know.
We'll figure that out.
But first — the birth.
We need to make sure you are safe in that hospital and that he does not control what the doctors know."
She nodded slowly.
"Can you get into that desk again?"
"Maybe.
If he leaves it unlocked."
"Don't force it.
Don't let him know you've been near it." I thought for a moment.
"But if it opens — I want you to photograph everything in that folder.
Every page.
Send it to me."
She looked at me like she was seeing something she hadn't expected.
"When did you become like this?" she said.
"When someone threatened my daughter," I said.
She almost smiled.
It was the first time all evening.
She went back to bed.
I lay in the dark and listened to the house.
At some point I heard Jason get up, walk down the hall, and stop outside Claire's room.
A long pause.
May you like
Then he walked back.
I stared at the ceiling until it was light.
