Chapter 10 - THE HOSPITAL RECORDING
Brooke tried to separate herself from Arthur.
“I didn’t force him to file for divorce.”
“No,” I said. “Each of you made your own choices.”
I handed my phone to Jonathan.
He played the recording from my hospital room.
Arthur’s voice filled the courtyard.
“She’ll manage. The nurses are there.”
Then Brooke’s.
“The sooner she signs, the sooner you can claim the estate as the children’s primary home.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
“Did you list Elena as unemployed?” Brooke asked.
“My attorney said it would make her look dependent.”
“Good. Dependent women settle.”
Victoria covered her mouth.
Arthur stepped forward.
“Turn it off.”
A detective raised one hand.
He stopped.
Then his own recorded voice said:
“She contributed nothing. Brooke saved the only thing that matters.”
The twins had been less than a day old.
I had been recovering from emergency surgery.
Yet the estate was the only thing he believed mattered.
When the recording ended, Arthur looked at me.
“I was angry.”
“You were deliberate.”
“I didn’t understand what Brooke was doing.”
“You understood what you were doing to me.”
Brooke turned on him.
“Don’t blame me for everything.”
“You told me Elena had nothing.”
“You wanted her to have nothing.”
Their relationship began collapsing in front of the guests.
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It had been built on a shared belief that I was weak.
Once that belief disappeared, they had nothing left but blame.
