Chapter 3 - The Cold Strategy
I did not sleep a single minute that night.
I lay frozen in our bed, listening to Daniel breathe softly beside me.
He had given me a cheap box of chocolates that evening, claiming it was his special surprise.
The diamond ring was obviously not meant for me.
The next morning, I waited until his car pulled out of the driveway before I finally moved.
I called my boss and requested a week of personal leave.
Then I searched online for the most ruthless divorce attorney in the city.
By noon, I was sitting in a sleek glass office across from a woman named Eleanor.
Eleanor did not offer me pity or warm smiles.
She looked at the printed screenshots and bank statements I laid on her desk with a cold, calculating eye.
I told her I wanted a divorce, full custody of my unborn child, and every cent he stole returned to me.
Eleanor reviewed the forged lease agreement with a deep frown.
She explained that because we were legally married, untangling this financial mess would be extremely difficult.
Daniel had carefully structured the transfers to look like legitimate joint expenses.
If I confronted him now, he would easily hide the rest of his assets and claim the lease was a misunderstanding.
Eleanor leaned forward and told me I needed to play a very dangerous game.
She told me I had to go home and pretend absolutely nothing was wrong.
I had to smile, cook his dinners, and act like the naive, devoted wife he believed me to be.
I needed to gather more evidence, specifically proof of his hidden offshore accounts that Eleanor suspected he was using.
It sounded like absolute torture.
I was pregnant, exhausted, and deeply brokenhearted.
But looking at my swollen belly, I knew I had to protect my daughter at all costs.
I agreed to Eleanor's plan.
For the next two months, I lived a double life inside my own home.
I smiled when Daniel kissed me.
I nodded agreeably when he complained about how expensive diapers were going to be.
I spent my late nights secretly photographing his mail and backing up his hard drive while he slept.
He completely mistook my quiet submission for weakness.
His arrogance made him sloppy.
One evening, he left his unlocked phone on the kitchen counter while he took a shower.
I picked it up and quickly opened his email app.
I found a confirmation email from a prestigious private hospital across town.
It was a VIP delivery suite reservation booked for the following month.
The patient name listed on the reservation was Chloe.
But it was the emergency contact information that made my blood run completely cold.
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Daniel had not listed himself as the father.
He had listed my own father, who had been dead for three years, as the financial guarantor for the medical bills.
