Chapter 9 - The First Wife
The woman’s name was Laura Bennett.
Not the police officer.
A different Laura Bennett who had lived in Rhode Island.
Rebecca searched court records.
There was no finalized divorce between Laura and Ethan.
There was only an abandoned filing from six years earlier.
If the marriage remained valid, Ethan’s marriage to Claire was legally void.
Claire expected relief.
Instead, she felt another layer of humiliation.
Even the vows had been fraudulent.
Rebecca found Laura living under her maiden name in Vermont.
She agreed to speak by video call.
Laura appeared nervous.
She was forty-one, with tired eyes and a careful voice.
“I wondered when someone would find me.”
She explained that Ethan married her when he was twenty-eight.
Within a year, he controlled her finances.
He borrowed against her family’s business.
When she confronted him, Patricia accused her of trying to destroy Ethan.
Laura filed for divorce.
Then Ethan threatened to release private photographs and accuse her father of tax fraud.
She fled.
“I thought the divorce finished without me,” Laura said.
“It didn’t,” Rebecca replied.
Laura covered her mouth.
Claire asked, “Did he ever hurt you?”
Laura looked away.
“He shoved me down a staircase.”
The fall broke two ribs.
Ethan told the hospital she slipped.
Patricia confirmed his story.
Claire closed her eyes.
The Easter assault was not a loss of control.
It was a pattern.
Laura still possessed emails showing Patricia pressuring her to withdraw the divorce petition.
She also had an audio recording of Ethan threatening her father.
The statute of limitations prevented some charges, but the evidence could establish behavior and intent.
Laura agreed to testify.
When Ethan learned she had been found, he panicked.
He fired his attorney and hired a more aggressive defense team.
They argued that Claire, Madison, and Laura had formed a conspiracy against him.
They called all three women jealous.
Unstable.
Vindictive.
Patricia’s attorney warned her that Ethan planned to blame her for the financial fraud.
For the first time, mother and son turned against each other openly.
Patricia requested a private meeting with prosecutors.
She offered account passwords, emails, and details of hidden funds.
In exchange, she wanted reduced charges.
But prosecutors demanded something more.
They wanted her full testimony about the kitchen assault and Ethan’s history with Laura.
Patricia hesitated.
Protecting Ethan had destroyed her company, her reputation, and her freedom.
Yet even now, truth felt like betrayal to her.
Then Rebecca showed Patricia the hospital photograph of Claire’s shoulder.
Patricia looked at it for a long time.
Finally, she said:
May you like
“I’ll testify.”
👉 Patricia was ready to turn against her son, but Ethan still held one secret that could send his own mother to prison for far longer than she expected.
