Chapter 7 - THE NOTE MY HUSBAND WROTE IN MY VOICE
Samantha still had a photograph.
She sent it.
The note looked like me.
My phrasing.
My work stress.
My mother's death.
My handwriting.
Almost.
But one sentence was wrong.
I can't keep disappointing everyone.
I would never write that.
Not because I hadn't disappointed people.
Because it wasn't how I spoke.
Rachel noticed something else.
“You don't make your lowercase G like that.”
She was right.
Julian did.
We found old birthday cards.
His G curled backward.
The suicide note contained the same habit.
Handwriting analysis would come later.
Emotionally, I already knew.
Julian had written a note designed to make my death or serious injury look self-inflicted.
But why involve Samantha?
Because witnesses are stronger when they don't know they're witnesses.
Julian showed her the note.
Told her I was unstable.
Asked her to collect medication because I was “too ashamed.”
Then if anything happened, Samantha would sincerely remember believing I was suicidal.
It was horrifying because it was smart without being perfect.
Real schemes are often like that.
Enough planning to work.
Enough mistakes to unravel.
Samantha cried on the phone.
“I thought I was helping.”
“You stopped talking to me.”
“Julian told me you didn't want anyone knowing.”
“So you abandoned me because he said I wanted privacy?”
“I was stupid.”
“Yes.”
I didn't comfort her.
Not yet.
The hospital planned my discharge to inpatient rehabilitation.
Julian objected to the facility.
He wanted me transferred somewhere cheaper.
I overruled him.
For the first time in our marriage, financial decisions were being made without his approval.
Monica filed for legal separation and emergency temporary financial restraints preventing either spouse from moving major marital assets outside ordinary expenses without court permission.
The HELOC money became central.
Most of the $160,000 Julian transferred to his company was already gone.
Contractors.
Loan payments.
Payroll.
About $48,000 remained.
The court ordered it preserved pending further proceedings.
Not victory.
Damage control.
Then the disability insurer sent Monica the claim attachments Julian had submitted.
Medical records.
Accident report.
Financial information.
And a statement supposedly from me.
I read it.
Due to my injuries and pre-existing emotional condition, I do not expect to return to work.
Fake.
My electronic signature appeared beneath it.
But the document contained something even stranger.
Date signed:
May you like
two days before the accident.
Julian had prepared my disability claim before I was injured.
