Chapter 14 - Jenna Under Oath
Jenna arrived for her deposition wearing a cream-colored suit and the same expression she had worn at my anniversary dinner.
Cold.
Superior.
Untouchable.
For the first twenty minutes, she denied almost everything.
She claimed JMH Consulting was legitimate.
She claimed Northstar Property Services performed real renovation consulting.
She claimed she had no knowledge of forged signatures.
Then Olivia showed her the group messages.
Jenna’s attorney asked for a break.
Olivia refused unless Jenna needed one.
Jenna stayed.
That was her mistake.
Pride had always been her weakness.
“You wrote, ‘Just get the signature,’ correct?”
“I don’t remember.”
“It is your phone number.”
“I send many messages.”
“You also wrote, ‘If she leaves, make sure she leaves with nothing.’”
Jenna shifted.
“That was sarcasm.”
“You repeatedly joked about financially destroying your sister-in-law?”
“We didn’t get along.”
Olivia placed another document on the table.
“This invoice claims your company provided project management services to Rachel Carter Events.”
“Yes.”
“What services?”
“Consulting.”
“Describe one.”
Jenna paused.
“Vendor strategy.”
“Which vendors?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Name one employee who performed this work.”
Silence.
“Name one meeting.”
Silence.
“Name one written deliverable.”
Jenna’s face reddened.
Then Olivia produced bank records showing that three days after receiving $62,000 from my business, Northstar paid a kitchen contractor exactly $61,400.
The contractor had renovated Jenna’s home.
Her attorney whispered urgently.
Jenna stopped answering.
But the damage was done.
Then came the slap.
“Did you strike Rachel during the anniversary dinner?”
Jenna looked directly at me.
“She provoked me.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“She insulted me in front of my family.”
“Did you slap her?”
Jenna’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
My entire body relaxed.
For months, she had tried to rewrite that moment.
Now the truth existed under oath.
Olivia continued.
“What did Rachel do immediately before you struck her?”
Jenna hesitated.
“She told me to leave.”
“From whose house?”
Silence.
“Ms. Bennett?”
“Rachel’s.”
“And after striking Rachel, what did you say?”
Jenna stared at the table.
“I don’t remember.”
Olivia played Emma’s recording.
You need to remember your place.
The room went still.
Jenna’s face changed.
For the first time, she looked embarrassed.
Not because she had hit me.
Because everyone could hear what she truly believed.
Olivia leaned forward.
“When you told Rachel to remember her place, what place did you mean?”
Jenna’s attorney objected.
But the question remained.
Jenna looked at me.
Something bitter flashed in her eyes.
Then she said it.
“She married into our family.”
There it was.
Not concern.
Not misunderstanding.
Hierarchy.
She believed being a Bennett gave her authority over me.
Even inside my own home.
Even over my own money.
Even over my children.
When the deposition ended, Jenna rushed out.
I remained seated.
Olivia gathered her papers.
“That went well.”
I looked toward the empty chair.
“No.”
May you like
I breathed slowly.
“It went exactly the way it needed to.”
