Chapter 16 - SUSAN'S FIRST SECRET
Susan hadn't gone back to Robert.
She'd gone to a domestic violence advocacy center, where a counselor helped her make a safety plan and contact Angela.
She was calling from a private room, and she asked us not to share the address.
“I've never had a place he couldn't walk into,” she said.
“I wanted one night of that.”
At the bank, Susan had requested records for accounts she was legally entitled to review.
She found years of transfers she didn't recognize.
Money Robert claimed was going toward their home loan had been moved into his contracting account instead.
The newest payment was to a small marketing consultant, made two days after our family dinner.
The invoice listed a service called REPUTATION RESPONSE PACKAGE.
It didn't prove every accusation we'd made, but it explained how the edited video had spread so quickly.
Robert had paid someone to promote it.
Susan mailed copies to Angela, who preserved them and advised her about the disputed signatures.
Then she asked to speak to David alone.
I stepped outside and waited by the garden.
When David emerged, his face was wet.
“What did she say?” I asked.
“That she loves me.”
I waited.
“And that love isn't a reason to lie for me anymore.”
I looked toward the dark windows of my mother's house.
For the first time, I understood that Susan wasn't simply escaping Robert.
She was refusing the part of herself that had learned to apologize for his cruelty.
On Sunday, Rachel reviewed the full recording with me one more time.
The video showed Robert throwing the belt at David and ordering him to strike.
It showed my open hands after I redirected the swing.
Then, while everyone argued, Robert stepped toward the camera and muttered to David, “That clip will cost her the job.”
I hadn't heard those words in the room.
Now they played in perfect, terrible clarity.
May you like
Rachel shut her laptop.
“Tomorrow,” she said, “the judge hears his version and ours.”
