Chapter 7
Nora’s recording caught every word.
Not if we need him widowed first.
Diane tried to walk it back immediately.
“I was upset.”
My uncle stepped between her and the door.
“You were specific.”
Diane’s face paled.
“I want my lawyer.”
Nora smiled.
“You should.”
Security escorted Diane into a consultation room, not as a prisoner yet, but as someone no longer free to wander near me.
My hands shook after she left.
Clara checked the monitor.
“Baby is okay. Strong heartbeat.”
I nodded.
But inside, I was somewhere else.
Widowed.
The word crawled under my skin.
Bennett had once kissed my forehead in this same hospital after our first ultrasound.
He had cried when we heard the heartbeat.
Or maybe he had only performed what he knew I needed to see.
The worst part of betrayal is not discovering the other person lied.
It is discovering your memories might be contaminated.
Nora sat beside me.
“Tessa, I need to ask difficult questions.”
“Ask.”
“Has Bennett ever pressured you to change insurance policies?”
“Yes.”
My uncle turned.
“When?”
“Last month. He said it was responsible parenting.”
“Did you sign?”
“No. I wanted my own lawyer to review it.”
Nora wrote quickly.
“Has he pressured you to change beneficiaries?”
“Yes.”
“To whom?”
“His family trust until the baby was eighteen.”
Nora looked at my uncle.
He swore under his breath.
A knock sounded.
Marcus, my uncle’s head of security, entered with a tablet.
“We pulled hallway footage from the last hour.”
He placed it on the tray table.
The screen showed Margot and Bennett in the waiting area.
No audio at first.
Then IT enhanced it.
Margot whispered, “Your mother is going to ruin this.”
Bennett answered, “Only if Tessa survives long enough to testify.”
My body went cold.
My uncle closed his eyes.
Nora reached for my hand.
“Tessa, we need police now.”
I stared at the screen.
Bennett’s face looked calm.
Normal.
Handsome.
The man I had married.
The man planning around my death.
I touched my stomach.
“No,” I said.
Nora frowned.
“No?”
“We need police. But first, I want him to come here.”
My uncle said, “Absolutely not.”
May you like
I looked at him.
“I want him recorded when he thinks I’m still scared.”
