Chapter 13 - The Husband Who Chose Wrong
Nathan spoke for almost an hour.
He began with debt.
Three years earlier, he had invested nearly six hundred thousand dollars into a restaurant project that collapsed.
He hid the loss from Leah.
Doreen found out.
She paid the debt.
Then she owned him.
“She kept reminding me that I owed her.”
Nathan stared at the floor.
“When you got pregnant, she told me Dad’s trust would activate if we had a boy.”
Leah held Eli.
“And you saw a solution.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
The word hurt more than another lie would have.
Doreen offered Nathan a position inside the family company.
She promised him access to trust-controlled investment opportunities.
But only if Leah did not control Eli’s guardianship.
“Why did she hate me?”
Leah asked.
Nathan shook his head.
“She didn’t.”
“That’s worse.”
“She thought you were independent.”
“She knew you wouldn’t let her control Eli.”
Leah looked at her son.
“So she decided to remove me.”
“At first she said she only wanted a guardianship agreement.”
“Then you refused to sign.”
“And everything escalated.”
Leah stared at him.
“What about the psychiatric records?”
“I told her about your nightmare.”
“My anxiety.”
“The arguments.”
Leah’s eyes filled with tears.
“You gave her pieces of my private life.”
Nathan’s voice broke.
“Yes.”
“And she turned them into a diagnosis.”
“Yes.”
“What about Simone?”
Nathan covered his face.
“I met her at a charity event.”
“My mother introduced us.”
Leah almost could not believe it.
“Doreen introduced you to the woman you cheated with?”
Nathan looked up.
“I think she wanted leverage.”
“She knew before you did.”
“Yes.”
Simone became pregnant.
Nathan panicked.
Doreen solved the problem by arranging her admission to Briar Glen and convincing Simone to conceal the pregnancy from her husband until paternity could be determined.
Then Leah went into labor early.
Eli was born first.
The trust activated.
Doreen’s plan shifted overnight.
“She told me you needed to be held for seventy-two hours.”
Nathan whispered.
“She said I would take Eli home.”
“Then she would file emergency custody.”
Leah looked at him.
“And you agreed.”
Nathan began crying.
“I told myself it was temporary.”
Leah’s face remained still.
“No.”
“You told yourself whatever allowed you to sleep.”
Nathan nodded.
“I know.”
Eli stirred.
Leah kissed his forehead.
Nathan stepped closer instinctively.
Leah immediately pulled the baby away.
“Don’t.”
Nathan stopped.
The pain in his face was real.
Leah did not care.
“You can love him.”
She spoke quietly.
“And still be dangerous to him.”
Nathan looked shattered.
Leah continued.
“You nearly handed our child to a woman who treated him like an account number.”
Nathan whispered.
“I’ll testify.”
“You’ll tell the police everything?”
“Yes.”
“Against your mother?”
Nathan looked toward the hallway.
May you like
For once, he did not hesitate.
“Yes.”
