Chapter 10 - HIS SECRET RECORDINGS
Daniel believed the flash drive would save him.
It nearly did the opposite.
Three days after the baptism, we sat in a conference room with attorneys.
Daniel looked freshly shaved.
Calm.
Professional.
He had transformed from the man who punched a chair into the respectable executive husband again.
His lawyer, Mr. Gaines, placed the flash drive on the table.
“My client has serious concerns about Mrs. Carter’s emotional condition.”
My attorney, Rachel, didn’t blink.
“What concerns?”
Gaines opened a laptop.
“We have recordings.”
Daniel looked at me.
Confident.
The first recording played.
My voice.
Eight months pregnant.
Crying.
“I can’t do everything by myself, Daniel.”
His voice answered gently.
“You need to calm down.”
Then my voice, louder.
“I am calm! I’m asking you to come home!”
The recording ended.
Gaines folded his hands.
“This is one of many.”
Rachel looked bored.
“Play another.”
Daniel’s confidence flickered.
The next clip was from two weeks after Lily’s birth.
I sounded exhausted.
“I haven’t slept in thirty hours.”
Daniel said,
“You’re getting irrational.”
“I asked you to hold your daughter for twenty minutes.”
My voice cracked.
“I need a shower.”
The clip ended.
Rachel looked at Daniel.
“That’s your evidence?”
Gaines frowned.
“There are recordings of yelling.”
“From a postpartum mother asking her husband for help?”
Daniel spoke.
“She was unstable.”
Rachel opened her own laptop.
“Interesting.”
She clicked a file.
Daniel’s voice filled the room.
The same conversation.
But longer.
He had only kept his edited version.
Mine came from the baby monitor.
A monitor Daniel had forgotten automatically saved audio.
His voice:
“I can’t deal with this every night.”
Me:
“She’s your baby too.”
Daniel:
“I worked all day.”
Me:
“So did I before maternity leave.”
Daniel:
“You wanted a child.”
Me:
“We wanted a child.”
Then Daniel:
“You’re acting crazy again. Keep going. This is useful.”
Silence.
Daniel’s lawyer slowly turned toward him.
Rachel paused the recording.
“Useful for what?”
Daniel said nothing.
Rachel continued.
“We have thirty-six files like this.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“You recorded me?”
I laughed.
“The baby monitor recorded both of us.”
Rachel leaned toward Gaines.
“Your client appears to have deliberately provoked his postpartum wife while collecting edited audio for future custody litigation.”
Gaines removed his glasses.
“Daniel…”
Rachel wasn’t finished.
She opened another file.
This one was a voicemail Daniel had accidentally left on Chloe’s phone.
Chloe had sent it to me after the baptism.
Daniel’s voice:
Once Jennifer loses it enough, I’ll have what I need.
The room went silent.
Daniel stared at the table.
His lawyer whispered,
“You didn’t tell me about this.”
Daniel snapped,
“It’s out of context.”
Rachel smiled.
“We love context.”
Then she pushed a thick packet across the table.
Bank records.
Transfers.
The attempted home refinance.
The insurance change.
His secret support of Chloe.
“And,” Rachel said, “we have evidence Mr. Carter moved marital assets without his wife’s knowledge.”
Daniel’s lawyer looked sick.
I watched Daniel realize his plan was collapsing.
But he still had one card left.
He leaned back.
“Fine.”
Then he looked at me.
“You want to talk about secrets?”
My chest tightened.
He smiled.
“Ask Jennifer where she was every Thursday morning for the last three months.”
Rachel looked at me.
Daniel continued.
“Go ahead.”
May you like
His smile widened.
“Tell them about the man you’ve been meeting.”
