Chapter 7 - WHAT A GOOD HUSBAND LOOKS LIKE
The video had been recorded eight months earlier.
Jason stood in our kitchen talking to Diane.
"She won't leave," he said. "She has nowhere to go."
Diane laughed.
"Everyone has somewhere to go when you make home unpleasant enough."
"And Lily?"
"Lily stays with us."
"Emily will fight."
"Then we make her look unstable. You work in compliance, sweetheart. Documentation is everything."
Jason looked straight toward the hidden camera.
"That's why I'm documenting."
I closed the laptop.
For three years I had wondered why every disagreement seemed to happen near one particular corner of the kitchen. Why Diane repeated insults after I ignored them. Why Brooke always had her phone nearby.
They weren't losing control.
They were producing evidence.
Naomi leaned back.
"We have enough for sanctions, possibly criminal referrals. But I need to know motive. Why Lily? Why not just push you out?"
I knew the answer only halfway.
Jason's father, Thomas Bennett, had died before our wedding. He left a family trust worth millions.
Jason received distributions, but the controlling shares in Bennett Packaging wouldn't transfer until he had a biological child.
"Lily triggered something," I said.
Naomi's eyes narrowed.
We obtained the trust agreement that afternoon.
When Lily turned two, 18 percent of the company transferred into a custodial trust for her benefit.
If Jason had sole custody, he would control those voting rights until she was twenty-five.
If I retained custody, an independent trustee would control them.
Diane's birthday had been five days after Lily's second birthday.
Not random.
Timed.
Then Naomi found an amendment filed two months earlier.
It carried my signature.
It named Jason sole manager of Lily's trust.
I had never signed it.
May you like
The witness signature beneath mine belonged to someone I knew very well.
Brooke.
