Chapter 8: What Renata Knew That I Didn't
We met at a coffee shop six blocks from Caleb's apartment.
Renata arrived before me.
She was younger than I expected — late twenties, dark hair pulled back, a baby on her hip who looked at me with Julian's eyes.
I sat down across from her.
Neither of us spoke for a moment.
"I didn't know about you," she said finally.
"I want you to know that first."
"I know," I said.
"Caleb told me."
"He told me you were separated.
That the marriage had been over for years and you were just working out the details." She looked down at the baby.
"I believed him because he was very convincing and I was very stupid."
"You weren't stupid," I said.
"He's very good at this."
She looked up.
"He did the same things to me.
Not the — he never hjt me.
But the isolation.
Telling me my friends didn't understand our relationship.
Making me feel like I needed his permission to make decisions." She shifted the baby on her hip.
"When I found out about you, I felt sick.
Not because of you.
Because I realized everything he'd told me about you was probably what he was telling you about me."
"He said you were unstable," I said.
"That you'd become obsessed with him after a brief involvement and that he'd had to involve lawyers."
Renata let out a short, humorless breath.
"He told me you were controlling and that you'd threatened to ruin him if he tried to leave."
We sat with that for a moment.
"I have more documents," she said.
She reached into the bag beside her and placed a manila envelope on the table.
"His brother Marcus has been acting as a silent partner in three of the LLCs.
But there's one I found that Diane Marsh doesn't have yet.
It's a property in Florida.
He bought it eleven months ago.
I think it was the exit plan."
I opened the envelope.
The deed was there, along with a series of wire transfer records.
"He was going to disappear," I said.
"I think so.
Take the money, take the Florida property, and let both of us try to chase him through courts he'd already prepared for." She looked at me steadily.
"I'm not doing that.
I have a son.
He deserves a father who is accountable, even if he's not present."
"What do you want from all of this?" I asked.
She didn't hesitate.
"The same thing you want.
For him to not be able to do this to anyone else."
I slid the envelope into my bag.
"I'll get this to Diane today," I said.
"She's filing for the asset freeze tomorrow morning.
When she does, his attorney is going to call him, and he's going to know we have more than he thought."
Renata nodded.
She looked down at her son, who had fallen asleep against her shoulder.
"What's her name?" she asked quietly.
"Your daughter."
"I don't know yet," I said.
"He had a name picked.
I'm not using it."
Renata almost smiled.
"Good."
I stood to leave.
She looked up at me.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"For all of it."
May you like
"So am I," I said.
"But not for this part."
