Chapter 7 - The Man Who Was Never My Husband
The court hearing on my marriage was strangely anticlimactic.
Daniel's marriage to Victoria remained legally valid when he married me.
Therefore, my marriage to Daniel was void from the beginning.
Six years.
A wedding.
Anniversaries.
Joint Christmas cards.
A thousand ordinary mornings.
Legally nonexistent.
I expected to feel erased.
Instead, I felt released.
Daniel appeared by video.
He cried when the judge issued the declaration.
Afterward, he requested a private conversation.
I agreed once.
“I'm sorry.”
“I know.”
“I did love you.”
“I know.”
He looked surprised.
“You believe me?”
“Yes.”
“Then why does that sound worse?”
“Because you keep treating love like evidence for your defense.”
He went quiet.
“You loved me and still did all of this.”
Tears ran down his face.
“Yes.”
“That's the lesson, Daniel.”
“What?”
“Love isn't enough when character is missing.”
He closed his eyes.
“I wish I'd met you differently.”
“So do I.”
“I wish Victoria and I had divorced.”
“So do I.”
“I wish—”
“Stop.”
He looked at me.
“Your wishes are just another way of asking me to imagine a version of you who didn't hurt me.”
Silence.
“I don't need that version anymore.”
That ended it.
Daniel later pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges, bigamy, conspiracy, and identity theft.
His cooperation reduced his sentence.
Victoria also pleaded guilty.
Caroline received probation on lesser offenses after extensive cooperation.
Preston received prison time for his role in financial fraud.
Margaret went to trial.
Of course she did.
May you like
She still believed she could control the room.
She was about to discover what happened when the room belonged to a jury.
