Chapter 3 - The Question Nobody Wanted
The judge requested the financial records.
A clerk brought the file forward.
The thick folder landed on the bench with a heavy sound.
Claire watched Ethan.
He did not move.
His lawyer did.
"Your Honor, those documents are not relevant to the matter before the court."
The judge looked at him.
"I will determine what is relevant."
The attorney stopped speaking.
Claire's heartbeat quickened.
She had no idea what was inside the folder.
Her own lawyer did.
That frightened her more.
"What's happening?" Claire whispered.
"We may finally be getting somewhere."
"Somewhere?"
Her attorney looked toward Ethan.
"Somewhere he doesn't want to go."
The judge began reading.
Page after page.
The courtroom became painfully quiet.
Claire could hear the faint movement of paper.
She could hear Ethan breathing.
She could hear someone shifting in the gallery.
Then the judge looked up.
"Mr. Bennett."
Ethan stood.
"Yes."
"Can you explain this transfer?"
His face became rigid.
"I'd need to review the document."
"You signed it."
"I sign thousands of documents."
"Then perhaps you should remember this one."
The judge placed the paper down.
Ethan remained standing.
Claire looked from one man to the other.
She had spent so long believing that she was the person being discarded.
Suddenly she wondered whether Ethan had been trying to escape the courtroom before these questions were asked.
The judge continued.
"There are several transactions here."
Ethan's attorney objected.
The judge rejected the objection.
Victoria stepped forward.
"Ethan—"
"Don't."
The single word came from him.
Sharp.
Immediate.
Victoria stopped.
Claire stared at her.
There was fear in the other woman's face now.
Real fear.
That was when Claire realized that Victoria might not know everything either.
Perhaps she had believed Ethan's promises.
Perhaps she had been told a carefully constructed story.
Perhaps everyone in the room had been given a different version of the truth.
The judge leaned forward.
"Mrs. Bennett."
Claire looked up.
"Yes?"
"Did you know about these accounts?"
"No."
"Did you authorize any of these transactions?"
"No."
The judge looked at Ethan.
"Mr. Bennett?"
He said nothing.
Claire felt the baby move again.
She placed her hand over her stomach.
The gesture was instinctive.
Protective.
The judge noticed.
His eyes softened for a fraction of a second.
Then he looked back at Ethan.
"Sit down."
Ethan slowly obeyed.
For the first time since Claire had known him, he looked smaller.
Not powerless.
Not yet.
But less certain.
Claire wondered what would happen if the judge discovered everything.
She did not know.
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What she did know was that she no longer wanted a quick divorce.
She wanted answers.
