Chapter 4
I pointed the car out to Hector.
"Find out who's in there," I said. "And don't let them see you."
Hector nodded and left.
Thirty minutes later, he came back.
"It's a private investigator," he said. "Chloe hired him. He's been watching the house. Taking pictures of the girls. Of you. Of Marisol."
My blood ran cold.
She was gathering evidence.
For the custody battle.
"Get rid of him," I said. "Legally. And increase security. I want guards at the gate 24/7. No one gets in or out without my approval."
Hector nodded.
The next few days were tense.
Chloe's PI was replaced by others.
They kept their distance.
But they were always there.
Watching.
Waiting.
My attorney filed the restraining order.
The judge granted it.
Chloe had to stay at least 500 yards away from us.
From the house.
From the girls' school.
But it didn't stop her.
She found loopholes.
She sent people to watch for her.
She sent flowers to the house.
With threatening notes.
*I'll get what's mine.*
*You can't hide forever.*
*The girls will be mine.*
I called the police.
But there was nothing they could do.
She wasn't violating the restraining order personally.
She was using others.
And she was careful.
Too careful.
One evening, Marisol came to me.
She was holding something.
A letter.
"I found this in Sofia's backpack," she said.
I opened it.
It was addressed to Sofia.
In childish handwriting.
But I recognized Chloe's style.
*Dear Sofia,*
*Your daddy is a bad man. He's going to go away to prison. And when he does, I'll come get you and Valeria. We'll be a family again. Just you, me, and Valeria. And we'll be happy. If you want that to happen, you need to do something for me. You need to tell people that Marisol is mean to you. That she hits you. That your daddy doesn't take care of you. Can you do that for me? If you do, I'll give you your bunny back. And I'll never be mean again.*
*Love,*
*Chloe*
I crumpled the letter in my hand.
She was trying to manipulate my six-year-old daughter.
She was trying to turn her against Marisol.
Against me.
"How did she get this into her backpack?" I asked.
"She must have had someone at the school," Marisol said. "A teacher. An aide. Another parent. Someone."
I pulled out my phone.
I called the head of the school.
I told him everything.
He was horrified.
He promised to investigate.
He promised to increase security.
But the damage was done.
Chloe had access to my daughter at school.
And that terrified me.
The next day, I went to the school myself.
I walked Sofia to her classroom.
I talked to her teacher.
I talked to the principal.
I made sure everyone knew the situation.
Everyone knew to watch for strangers.
To watch for anything suspicious.
As I was leaving, I saw a woman watching me.
She was standing near the playground.
Taking pictures.
With a telephoto lens.
I walked toward her.
She saw me coming.
She tried to run.
But Hector was there.
He caught her.
"Who hired you?" I asked.
She wouldn't answer.
"Chloe Voss?" I asked.
She flinched.
I had my answer.
Hector called the police.
The woman was arrested.
She was violating the restraining order.
And she was trespassing on school property.
But I knew it wouldn't stop Chloe.
She'd just hire someone else.
That evening, I got a call from my attorney.
"Chloe has filed for custody," he said.
I closed my eyes.
It was happening.
"On what grounds?"
"She's claiming you're an unfit father," he said. "She says you work too much. That you leave the children with unqualified caregivers. That you're emotionally unavailable. And she's using the embezzlement allegations against you. She's saying you're a criminal who can't provide a stable home."
"And the abuse?" I asked. "The video evidence?"
"She's saying the video was taken out of context," he said. "She's claiming you edited it. That you manipulated it to make her look bad. She's saying Marisol was the real abuser. And that she was just trying to discipline the girls."
I couldn't believe it.
She was turning everything around.
She was the victim.
Marisol was the abuser.
I was the unfit father.
It was absurd.
But in a custody battle, absurdity could win.
Especially if you had enough money.
And enough lies.
"The first hearing is in two weeks," my attorney said. "We need to be prepared. We need witnesses. We need evidence. We need to prove beyond any doubt that you're the best parent for those girls. And that Chloe is dangerous."
Two weeks.
I had two weeks to save my family.
That night, I was in my office.
Going through everything we had on Chloe.
Her criminal record.
The embezzlement from my accounts.
The text messages.
The letter to Sofia.
The video evidence.
It was a lot.
But was it enough?
I didn't know.
And then I found something.
In the security footage from the day I'd pretended to leave.
Something I'd missed.
Chloe was in the living room.
Talking on the phone.
She thought no one was listening.
But the audio was active.
I turned up the volume.
"…yes, the custody papers are filed," she was saying. "And I have the evidence we need. The judge will give me the girls. And once I have them, Vance will have no choice but to pay. He'll give me everything I want. And then we can disappear. Together. Just like we planned."
She paused.
"Of course I love you," she said. "You know I do. Alexander was just a means to an end. You're the one I want. And once we have his money, we can start over. Somewhere far away.. No one will ever find us."
I stared at the screen.
Chloe was involved with someone else.
This had all been a scam.
From the beginning.
She'd never loved me.
She'd just wanted my money.
And now she was working with someone to take everything.
But who?
I looked at the timestamp on the video.
And then I cross-referenced it with the security footage from the front gate.
A car had left the estate ten minutes later.
A car I recognized.
It belonged to someone I knew.
Someone I trusted.
May you like
My business partner.
Richard.
