Chapter 2: What Was Already in Motion
Inside the black sedan, I finally let myself breathe.
My attorney, Richard, glanced at me from the driver's seat.
"You sure about all of this, Claire?"
"More sure than I've ever been about anything."
He nodded slowly and handed me a manila envelope from the center console.
"Then you'll want to see what came in this morning."
I opened it.
Inside were bank statements.
Twelve months of them.
Evan's private account — the one I was never supposed to know existed.
My hands didn't shake.
I had already cried every tear I had.
What I felt now was something colder and much more useful.
"He moved the money before he filed," I said.
"Three weeks before," Richard confirmed.
"And there's something else."
He tapped the second document in the envelope.
I pulled it out.
It was a property deed.
A house I had never seen.
Registered in Kelsey's name.
Eighteen months ago.
Six months before Evan told me our marriage was over.
I sat very still.
Outside, I could hear Evan shouting at someone near the courthouse steps.
His voice was getting louder.
Then my phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
One message.
*Claire.
There's something you don't know yet.
About the baby.
Call me.*
I stared at those words for a long time.
Then I looked up and saw Barbara standing at the courthouse entrance, watching the sedan.
May you like
Her expression wasn't angry anymore.
It was frightened.
