Chapter 5 - THE OTHER WOMAN THATCHER CALLED CRAZYThatcher had been married before.
I knew that from our third date.
Her name was Allison Price.
The marriage lasted eleven months.
Thatcher told me she was unstable.
Jealous.
Violent when she drank.
According to him, the final argument happened when Allison threw a lamp and attacked him with a picture frame.
He left.
His parents helped negotiate the divorce.
I believed him.
Not blindly.
I asked questions.
Thatcher showed me a scar near his eyebrow.
“Picture frame.”
Loretta once sighed at dinner and said:
“That girl nearly destroyed him.”
Harlon changed the subject.
The story had the smoothness of something repeated often.
After my wedding night, I heard the same words used about me.
Unstable.
Violent.
Overreacting.
My stomach turned.
I did not search Allison out immediately.
Rebecca advised me not to treat an ex-wife as a magical witness to my marriage.
Good advice.
Instead, she reviewed public divorce records.
Nothing dramatic.
No finding of abuse.
No criminal case.
A confidential settlement.
Mutual non-disparagement.
Ordinary enough.
Then my friend Brooke mentioned something.
“I think Allison follows Loretta on Instagram.”
I frowned.
“Why would she?”
“She doesn’t anymore. I remember seeing her name years ago when I looked at wedding photos after you started dating Thatcher.”
That told me nothing legally.
Emotionally, it reminded me that Allison had not vanished into some criminal record.
She was a real person Thatcher had reduced to a warning story.
I decided to contact her once.
No pressure.
I sent:
My name is Claire. I recently married Thatcher Mercer. Something happened on our wedding night that has made me question what I was told about your marriage. You owe me nothing. If you are willing to speak, my attorney can coordinate it.
She answered fourteen hours later.
One sentence.
Did Loretta tell everyone you attacked him?
May you like
I stared at the screen.
Then I called Rebecca.
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