Chapter 10 - The Woman at the Birthday Dinner
Natalie Pierce looked nothing like the villain I wanted her to be.
That was inconvenient.
She arrived wearing a gray coat and no makeup.
She looked terrified.
I had imagined confidence.
Cruelty.
Some woman who had knowingly smiled at me while taking my husband.
Instead, she looked like someone who had made terrible decisions and recently begun understanding the cost.
Rachel sat beside me.
Natalie’s attorney sat beside her.
Dad waited elsewhere.
This conversation belonged to me.
Natalie began.
“I’m sorry.”
I said nothing.
“I know that doesn’t matter.”
“It matters less than the truth.”
She nodded.
“Luca told me you were separated.”
I almost laughed.
“We shared a bed.”
“I know that now.”
“When did you learn?”
“The baby shower.”
I stared.
“You came anyway?”
Tears appeared.
“He begged me.”
“Why?”
“He said if I suddenly disappeared, you’d ask questions.”
My stomach turned.
“How thoughtful.”
Natalie looked down.
“I should have told you.”
“Yes.”
“I was ashamed.”
“Yes.”
She accepted it.
No excuses.
Oddly, that made hearing her easier.
“When did it start?”
“Last November.”
Seven weeks after we learned I was pregnant.
“Did he tell you about the baby?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Immediately.”
My throat tightened.
“What did he say?”
Natalie closed her eyes briefly.
“That you two had been trying for a long time.”
True.
“And?”
“That he felt trapped.”
I stared at her.
We had spent eighteen months trying.
Doctors.
Appointments.
Hormone tests.
Disappointment.
Hope.
Luca had cried when the pregnancy test turned positive.
Apparently, seven weeks later, he described our baby as a trap.
Rachel touched my arm.
I continued.
“Why did he stay?”
Natalie’s expression shifted.
“He said your father might be wealthy.”
The room went silent.
“He knew?”
“Not who your father was.”
My pulse increased.
“He found old documents.”
“What documents?”
“Something about a trust.”
Mom’s trust.
He must have found the property paperwork.
“He became convinced you were hiding money.”
I felt sick.
Natalie continued.
“He said after Leo was born, he wanted to push for financial disclosure during divorce.”
Rachel’s expression hardened.
“He planned the divorce?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before the birthday.”
My hands went numb.
The abandonment wasn’t what ended my marriage.
My marriage had already ended.
I just hadn’t been informed.
“Why didn’t he file?”
Natalie swallowed.
“He wasn’t sure how much you had.”
Of course.
Money again.
“What happened at Wendy’s birthday?”
Natalie looked ashamed.
“I was there.”
“I saw a photo.”
“She knew about us.”
“Wendy?”
“Yes.”
That didn’t surprise me anymore.
“Did she approve?”
“She said Luca deserved someone who appreciated him.”
I almost laughed.
Naturally.
“And when I called in labor?”
Natalie’s face changed.
She had been waiting for that.
“He told everyone you were exaggerating.”
“Everyone?”
“Wendy. Me. Two friends.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him to leave.”
Same as Sabrina.
“He didn’t?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Natalie’s voice dropped.
“Wendy started crying.”
I stared.
“She said he always chose other women over her.”
Of course she did.
So Luca stayed.
Not because he believed I was safe.
Because his mother made his wife’s labor a loyalty test.
“And you stayed too?”
Natalie nodded.
“For about twenty minutes.”
“Then?”
“I left.”
“Where?”
“Home.”
“Did Luca come with you?”
“No.”
That surprised me.
“I ended things by text.”
“Why?”
She looked at me.
“Because whatever he told me about your marriage, no decent man leaves the mother of his child alone in labor.”
For some reason, that sentence healed something.
Not much.
But enough.
Natalie slid a printed email across the table.
“This is why I contacted Kessler.”
The email was from Luca.
Subject:
Transition plan.
It described vendor relationships.
Northstar.
Future revenue.
And one line:
Once Jessica’s asset picture becomes clear, I can finally make decisions without guessing.
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
I had spent years hiding my father’s fortune because I wanted someone who loved me without it.
Luca had spent months investigating whether that fortune existed because he wanted to know what leaving me might cost.
The irony was almost elegant.
I pushed the page away.
“Thank you.”
Natalie looked stunned.
“You’re thanking me?”
“For telling the truth now.”
Her eyes filled.
“I’m sorry I didn’t earlier.”
“So am I.”
When she left, I sat silently.
Rachel waited.
Finally:
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Want your father?”
I almost said no.
Then stopped.
Old Jessi would have said no.
Independent.
Strong.
Self-contained.
Instead:
“Yes.”
Dad entered three minutes later.
I stood.
He opened his arms.
I walked into them.
No explanation.
No embarrassment.
Just my father holding me while I cried.
That evening, I took off my wedding ring.
I had removed it once before.
After delivery.
Because my hands swelled.
This time, I placed it inside an envelope.
Not angrily.
Not dramatically.
Just finished.
Leo woke.
I lifted him from the crib.
His eyes opened for half a second.
Blue-gray.
Confused.
Beautiful.
“You and me,” I whispered.
Then corrected myself.
“You, me, Grandpa, and a truly excessive number of lawyers.”
From the doorway, Dad said:
“I heard that.”
I laughed.
For the first time in weeks, the laugh felt real.
Then Rachel called.
The federal investigators had officially contacted Kessler.
Luca was now part of a formal inquiry.
And because my forged signatures appeared in multiple records, they wanted to interview me too.
My private heartbreak was about to enter a room where feelings didn’t matter.
Only evidence did.
May you like
And evidence was the one language I trusted completely.
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