Chapter 16 - THE THING PATRICIA KNEW
Patricia surprised everyone by requesting a private meeting with Laura.
At first, I thought it was a trick.
Laura thought so too.
They met without me.
Afterward, Laura called.
“Patricia has information.”
I almost laughed.
“About what?”
“Derek’s finances.”
I became quiet.
Patricia had apparently known about one of the accounts.
Not all of them.
But one.
Derek had asked her to hold documents in her home years earlier.
She believed they were legitimate tax-planning records.
After the porch incident, Patricia began questioning him.
He became angry.
Then he told her something that frightened her.
According to Patricia, Derek said:
If she wants war, I’ll make sure she leaves with nothing.
Patricia had heard versions of that sentence before.
Not about me.
About a former business partner.
About an employee who challenged him.
About anyone Derek believed had betrayed him.
For the first time, Patricia realized the pattern extended beyond our marriage.
“She wants immunity?” I asked.
Laura shook her head.
“This isn’t criminal negotiation.”
“Then why is she helping?”
“Because she’s afraid he’s spiraling.”
I did not know how to feel.
Part of me hated Patricia for every message she had sent.
Part of me understood what it meant to spend years explaining Derek’s behavior.
Maybe she had taught him that consequences belonged to other people.
Maybe she had also spent years being afraid of his anger.
Both could be true.
Patricia eventually gave Laura copies of several folders Derek had stored in her basement.
One contained statements from the hidden account.
Another contained an unsigned draft separation agreement.
The date shocked me.
It had been created nearly nine months before Emily was born.
Before I knew I was pregnant.
The draft was brutally one-sided.
Derek kept the house.
Derek kept most investments.
I received a small cash payment.
There was language implying that I had contributed little financially to the marriage.
I stared at the paper.
“He was planning to leave me?”
Laura looked cautious.
“It appears he had at least considered separation.”
My stomach twisted.
All those months Derek had treated my pregnancy like an inconvenience.
Maybe part of him had already imagined a life without me.
Then another document emerged.
A list.
Expenses associated with me.
My car.
My insurance.
My phone.
My groceries.
My estimated medical costs.
At the bottom, Derek had written:
Monthly liability.
I stared at those two words.
Rachel read them over my shoulder.
Her face turned pale.
“You were pregnant when he wrote this.”
“Yes.”
Our unborn daughter had been reduced to another expense.
For months, I had wondered whether leaving on the night of labor was too extreme.
Now I saw the truth.
May you like
My marriage had been ending long before I walked out.
I was simply the first person willing to admit it.
