Claire sank into a chair.
“The rest of your daughters’ account.”
The wedding ended without vows.
Two hours later, I sat in my attorney Naomi Reed’s office with Edward, Claire, Ruth, and both girls in the waiting room with Naomi’s assistant.
Naomi placed Claire’s phone inside an evidence bag.
“Who had access to the education account?” she asked.
“Max did before the divorce,” I said.
“His access was removed in the final order.”
Claire twisted her engagement ring.
“He told me the account belonged to him.”
“Then why did he need her signature?” Naomi asked.
Claire stared at the floor.
“He said it was an administrative form.”
“You saw her name?”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing?”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“I wanted to believe him.”
I pushed my chair back.
“You wanted my husband, my place in his home, and a wedding paid for by my daughters.
Believing him was convenient.”
Claire flinched.
“You’re right.”
“I don’t need you to agree with me.
I need the truth.”
“He kept copies of everything in a blue folder.
Bank statements, your old tax returns, even medical letters.”
“Where is it?”
“In his home office.”
“That used to be my home.”
The office door opened before Naomi could answer.
Max walked in with Grant behind him.
“You tracked Claire’s phone,” Edward said.
Max ignored him and looked at me.
“We need five minutes alone.”
“No,” Naomi replied.
“Anything you say will be heard by counsel.”
“I’m still her family.”
“You stopped being my family when you used our daughters’ savings,” I said.
Max placed an envelope on the desk.
“I can repay the $38,400 within thirty days.”
“And the remaining $61,000?”
“Untouched.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“Because the transfer failed.”
Max turned on her.
“You’re involved too.
Think carefully before you pretend otherwise.”
Naomi opened his envelope.
Inside was a proposed agreement.
“You want her to surrender primary custody in exchange for repayment?”
“I want stability for my children.”
“You took their education money,” I said.
“And you brought a man into their lives immediately after the divorce.”
Edward leaned forward.
“I have never been alone with her daughters.”
“That won’t matter when your employer learns you opened private mail and used it to create a public spectacle.”
“Our employer received an envelope addressed to her,” Edward said.
“Reception logged it, and I handed it to her unopened.”
“You hid it inside your little gift.”
“With Owen’s permission, after he called to explain why it mattered.”
Max’s mouth tightened.
“I can still make this unpleasant for both of you.”
Naomi slid the proposed agreement back.
“You should stop speaking now.”
“No.
She needs to hear what happens if she rejects my offer.”
He looked straight at me.
“I will request emergency custody.
I will submit her medical history.
I will call coworkers, neighbors, and anyone who saw her fall apart after I left.”
My hands curled around the arms of my chair.
“You watched me struggle after Lily was born, and now you want to use it against me?”
“I want the girls with the stronger parent.”
“The stronger parent doesn’t ask a ten-year-old to spy on her mother.”
His face changed for only a second.
Naomi noticed.
“What did you ask Sophie to record?”
“Nothing.”
Claire slowly removed her engagement ring.
“He gave Sophie a smartwatch last month.”
Max reached for her phone on Naomi’s desk.
“Give me that.”
Naomi pulled the evidence bag away.
Claire put the ring beside it.
“He said the watch was for safety, but he kept checking the recordings.”
Max’s phone began ringing.
He glanced at the screen and declined the call.
It rang again.
Naomi’s assistant opened the door.
“The bank’s security officer is on the line.
Someone requested the remaining $61,000 twenty minutes ago.”
“That’s impossible,” I said.
“I’m the only authorized custodian.”
Naomi switched the call to speaker.
