Chapter 7 - The Other Woman Was Not the Twist
I found the affair almost accidentally.
Daniel’s financial discovery included restaurant charges and hotel expenses inconsistent with work travel.
Her name was Elise Warren.
Thirty-nine.
Commercial broker.
Married once.
No children.
The affair had been going on almost a year.
I expected that revelation to feel enormous.
It didn’t.
Compared with watching him discuss my drugged tea with his mother, adultery felt almost conventional.
Elise eventually cooperated through counsel.
Daniel told her he intended to leave me after Bennett Regional Storage was stabilized.
She believed the refinancing was legitimate.
At first.
Then he began saying strange things.
“Claire is fragile.”
“She may not be able to manage the building much longer.”
“My mother helps with her medication.”
That last statement made investigators interested.
Elise had also seen a folder in Daniel’s office labeled:
POST-CLOSING.
Inside:
Divorce attorney notes.
Apartment projections.
Custody schedules.
A draft lease for a condo.
He planned his life after me before asking me to finance it.
Elise cried when she realized.
I felt almost nothing.
She asked through counsel whether I hated her.
I answered:
“No.”
Not because I forgave her.
May you like
Because by then hatred had become expensive.
Daniel had used enough of my energy.
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