Chapter 5 - THE GODMOTHER PLAN
Owen came to Rachel’s house that evening carrying a cardboard file box.
Claire had returned her engagement ring and left their apartment after speaking with me. Owen had spent the afternoon gathering her belongings from the home office so she could collect them without seeing him.
“I found this in the recycling bin,” he said.
He placed several torn notebook pages on the table. Claire had ripped them into strips, but Owen had taped them together.
The handwriting was hers.
The first page contained a list of reasons Damon should remain in the house after separation. Stable employment. Familiar home. Nursery already established.
The second listed people who could describe me as anxious: my mother, Damon’s sister, two neighbors and my former supervisor.
The third page changed everything.
Damon cannot leave first. Nora needs to appear responsible for the separation. Increase support, then withdraw it gradually. Document reaction.
Beside the note, Claire had written: I can take over appointments and baby preparation. It will show consistency.
The baby-shower lunches. The godmother promise. Her offers to drive me when I was tired. Her insistence that I call at any hour.
They had not begun as kindnesses that later became betrayal.
They had become useful because she and Damon were already planning how my dependence could be made to look like incapacity.
Owen sat across from me, jaw tight.
“She told me you were shutting everyone out,” he said. “She kept volunteering to help you, and I thought she was being loyal.”
“She was gathering examples.”
Owen pointed to the dates. “There’s something else. These first notes were written before January.”
Claire had dated the plan December 29.
Two weeks before the first entry into my house and more than a month before she claimed the affair began.
Damon had not seduced my best friend and then persuaded her to protect him.
Claire had helped design the strategy before either of them admitted sleeping together.
My phone rang.
It was the patient coordinator from my obstetrician’s office.
Damon had called asking to be added as the primary contact for all medical decisions because he was “concerned about changes in my behavior.” The office had refused without my authorization and wanted to confirm I was safe.
He was moving faster because he knew I had left.
My attorney advised me not to return home alone. She also warned that if Damon continued contacting medical providers and relatives, silence would allow his version to harden.
I texted Damon.
Rachel and I will come to the house at six. Claire and Owen will be there. We are discussing the money, the affair and the notes. Do not contact my doctor again.
His response came almost immediately.
You have no idea what Claire has done.
May you like
For the first time, Damon was trying to turn me against the woman he had chosen over me.
I decided to let him try in front of everyone.
