Chapter 5 - Chloe’s Version
Chloe Bennett called me at 8:06 the next morning.
I almost didn’t answer.
Then I remembered Liam saying, Of course I hate her.
I wanted to hear the voice on the other side of that laugh.
“Hello?”
“Claire?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then:
“My name is Chloe.”
“I know.”
“I figured.”
Her voice wasn’t triumphant.
It was shaking.
“I need to talk to you.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“You slept with my husband while I was pregnant.”
“I know.”
“That eliminates most reasons I would ever need to hear what you have to say.”
“I sent the documents to Gregory.”
That stopped me.
“Why?”
“Because Liam lied to me too.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That doesn’t make us teammates.”
“I’m not asking it to.”
Hailey stirred in my arms.
Chloe continued.
“He told me you knew the marriage was over.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
“He said you were staying together until the baby was born because your family cared about appearances. He told me you had separate bedrooms.”
“We didn’t.”
“I know that now.”
“He told you I forced him into having Hailey?”
Silence.
“Yes.”
“Did that make sleeping with a married man easier?”
“No.”
At least she didn’t insult me by pretending innocence.
“I made a terrible choice,” Chloe said. “But there are things you need to know.”
I agreed to meet her in a public café.
Rachel came with me and sat two tables away.
Chloe arrived wearing jeans, a gray sweater, and no makeup. She looked younger than I expected.
Thirty, maybe.
She placed a folder on the table.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
She swallowed.
“My father and Liam were using each other.”
She explained that Charles Bennett wanted control over several Halston Ridge developments. Liam wanted the managing partnership. Chloe had introduced them socially, believing her father might help Liam professionally.
Then things became complicated.
Liam began sharing internal projections.
Land acquisition plans.
Bid numbers.
Negotiation strategies.
Charles used that information to position his own investments.
“You knew?”
“Not at first.”
“But eventually.”
“Yes.”
“And you stayed.”
Her eyes dropped.
“Yes.”
I appreciated that she did not manufacture excuses.
“When did you realize Liam was lying about me?”
“Three days ago.”
That surprised me.
“How?”
“He left his laptop open.”
Apparently, Liam had been drafting emails to an attorney.
Not merely divorce documents.
A proposed custody arrangement.
He wanted primary control over major financial decisions involving Hailey while limiting my ability to relocate.
“He told me you didn’t want to be a mother,” Chloe said.
My entire body went cold.
“What?”
“He said you had postpartum problems. That your sister was doing most of the childcare. That he was worried about leaving Hailey alone with you.”
For the first time since discovering the affair, I wanted to hurt him.
Not physically.
I wanted to destroy every lie he had constructed.
“He was building a case.”
Chloe nodded.
“There’s more.”
She pushed the folder toward me.
Inside were printed emails.
One was between Liam and a private investigator.
He had asked the investigator to document occasions when Rachel visited our house and when I left with Hailey.
Ordinary things.
A sister helping a new mother.
A mother taking her baby to pediatric appointments.
Liam intended to reshape them.
Another email was worse.
Liam had written:
Claire has been emotionally unstable since delivery. We may need documentation.
I read it twice.
“When did he send this?”
“Last week.”
My hands began trembling.
Chloe looked sick.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop saying that.”
She nodded.
“You’re right.”
I looked at the dates.
Then another realization struck me.
“If you discovered this three days ago, why were you messaging him yesterday like everything was normal?”
“Because I needed him not to know.”
That sounded painfully familiar.
“I copied everything I could. Yesterday morning I sent Gregory the company documents anonymously.”
“And your father?”
Her expression hardened.
“He knows now.”
“What did he say?”
“He called me disloyal.”
“Interesting definition.”
For the first time, Chloe almost smiled.
Then she reached into her bag and placed a small velvet box on the table.
I stared at it.
“What’s that?”
“Open it.”
Inside was a diamond ring.
Not enormous.
Elegant.
I recognized it.
My grandmother’s engagement ring.
I had given it to Liam two years earlier to have the setting repaired.
He told me the jeweler had lost it.
I couldn’t speak.
Chloe whispered, “He gave it to me three months ago.”
The café disappeared around me.
“He told me it belonged to his grandmother.”
I picked up the ring.
My grandmother had worn it for fifty-one years.
After she died, it was one of the few pieces of jewelry I kept.
Liam had watched me cry when he claimed it had been lost.
Then he had placed it on another woman’s hand.
Something inside me closed permanently.
Chloe pushed the box toward me.
“It’s yours.”
I put the ring away.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because yesterday I finally understood something.”
“What?”
“I thought I was the woman he was choosing.”
She looked at me.
“I wasn’t. I was another resource.”
Neither of us spoke.
She had her father’s vote.
I had my father’s business reputation.
My grandmother’s money was funding his exit.
Even Hailey could become leverage in a custody fight.
Liam did not love women.
He arranged people around his ambitions.
My phone rang.
Natalie.
I answered.
“Claire, are you somewhere private?”
“Private enough.”
“I received something from Liam’s attorney.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“He filed this morning.”
“For divorce?”
“Yes.”
I exhaled.
That wasn’t surprising.
Then Natalie continued.
“He’s also requesting temporary primary custody of Hailey.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“On what grounds?”
“Alleged concerns about your emotional stability.”
Across the table, Chloe closed her eyes.
Natalie continued.
“He included a statement from someone claiming to have witnessed concerning behavior.”
“Who?”
Paper rustled.
May you like
Then Natalie said a name I did not expect.
“Your mother-in-law.”
