Chapter 18 Melanie
“I’ve sent you everything I could find on his laptop and in the files here. Griffin is working on getting all of the footage from the security camera’s and he will send those to you as well.”
“Excellent, I went ahead and hired the private investigator I use to start following your husband after we ended our call this morning.” Penelope filled me in on what she had accomplished today and let me know what else she needed from me before I could leave this house.
“You don’t want him to be able to claim you abandoned the property, so I want you to send him an email in the morning right before you board the plane letting him know that you are returning to North Dakota to finalize the estate and grieve with your family. ”
“That makes sense.”
“There is a chance that his lawyer will also hire a private investigator in the hopes that they can prove you’ve both voided the prenup…
I need you to be very careful with your actions until your divorce is finalized.
I will be serving him the papers tomorrow after you send that email, but in the court’s opinion, the divorce papers just mark the beginning of your separation, and we want you to be above reproach. ” She carefully coached me.
“There’s nothing to worry about there,” I grumbled, but couldn’t help but glance at Griffin, who was busy typing away on his computer.
“Is there anything I should know?”
I grimaced and took a deep breath.
Time to come clean.
“Actually yes,” I cleared my throat and thought about how I wanted to word my announcement. “I’m pregnant. I found out right after I caught him. He doesn’t know yet and I don’t want to tell him until the divorce is finalized.”
Griffin looked up from his laptop and watched me silently.
“I see.” Penelope was very quiet; even the sound of her nails tapping away on a keyboard had stopped. “If he were to request a paternity test, would the result be a surprise?”
“No, Ben is the only man I’ve ever been with.” I tried not to be offended by the implication that I was just as unfaithful as my husband had been.
“Okay, that‘s good. I agree that it’s best to keep this hidden, but as long as I don’t get blindsided in court with anything that levels the playing field then I can spin this if I have to.
” The tapping had resumed, and she sounded relaxed again.
“Congratulations, unfortunate situation aside a child is a blessing.”
“Thank you.” I felt my lips lift into a little smile.
“If you really want to leave tomorrow morning, I need you to take a detailed inventory, with pictures, of everything worth money in the house and then get anything that is absolutely irreplaceable out of the house before you go. Don’t take anything large enough where it looks like you moved out but don’t leave anything that he might damage to get back at you.
Don’t rent a storage unit in your own name.
A friend’s house would be best if possible.
If not, I will rent a unit in my name this afternoon. ”
“My friend Lily should be able to store a few things for me.” I assured her.
“Perfect. Call me tomorrow when you leave for the airport and I will get my girl in position to serve him. I’m going to try and catch him as he arrives at the house but after the email has been sent.”
“He said he was going to try and come here before work tomorrow.”
“I have it on good authority that he is not returning to work this week.” Penelope revealed another one of his lies.
“When I called to see if I could get a copy of the official sexual harassment report, Amy Jaimes was perfectly happy to inform me that Peter had insisted that Benjamin take a little time to get his head on straight. Unfortunately, the report will require a subpoena, but she promised to make sure that there was a hard copy of it hidden somewhere so it couldn’t be tampered with. ”
“That’s good…” I mumbled.
How many times had the man looked me in the eye and lied to me without me having any idea? He doesn’t have any tells.
“Are you alright?” Griffin asked in a low tone. I looked up at him and felt my eyes prickle.
“No.” I mouthed and then turned my attention back to Penelope. “I’m going to get started on taking inventory and packing up my nostalgic valuables.”
“Excellent.” Penelope ended the call, and I set the phone down slowly and let my head drop into my hands.
Had my entire marriage been a lie?
How much of my life had I wasted on this man?
The magnitude of what Ben had done was starting to sink in.
I felt Griffin wrap his arms around me.
“You’re going to be okay.” He murmured.
“I know, but it hurts.” I whimpered.
There was a faint rumble in his chest, and he squeezed me tighter
“I don’t understand why he married me…” My voice trembled as the weight of my emotions wrapped around my throat like a noose.
“He knew he’d never find a better woman to build a life with than you.” Griffin leaned back from me. “Look at me.” He said in a firm tone.
My eyes slowly lifted to his, and I was surprised to see that his eyes were misty too.
“That’s why he married you… but he betrayed you and lost you because he’s a goddamn idiot.”
· · ─ ·?· ─ · ·
It didn’t take us long to pack up my sentimental belongings.
Anything my family had given me, my favorite thrift store finds, my favorite chair, and all the gifts from my friends, I packed up to take to Lily’s.
My favorite clothes, products, and comfy blankets were packed to go with me, along with my childhood memory box, photo albums, and laptop.
I left any jewelry he had bought, most of my clothes, designer purses, and the plethora of guilt-gifts Ben had bought me over the years, right where they were.
Other than taking a couple of bottles from his wine collection to give to Lily and Penelope, I had only taken things that I bought or were necessities.
He’d never be able to accuse me of any gold-digging behaviors.
I also took pictures of everything I left behind and all of the valuable marital assets in the home. I’d be damned if the man got away with hiding any more assets or giving them to one of his mistresses.
Then we made multiple encrypted copies of the files and documents we had found.
“What else did Ms. Yang say to do before tomorrow?” Griffin asked after he loaded the last box into my SUV and my suitcases into his rental.
After we delivered the boxes to Lily, I’d drive the SUV back here and leave it in the garage. Griffin said we’d take his rental to the airport and then take the company jet from there.
“We just need to drop off the documents we found and give her the encrypted USB you made this afternoon.” I patted the locked briefcase I was holding. “It’s all in here.”
“Does Lily know what the plan is?” He asked as we pulled away from the house.
“Yes, she’s thrilled to have a role to play. She’s already fantasizing about getting to punch Ben if he shows up at her house to look for me.” I chuckled.
“I hope she does.” Griffin smiled.
“Penelope said that I should get to meet the private investigator this afternoon too.” I added after a few minutes of silence.
“That’s good. It’ll be good to have an idea of how he reacts after he gets served tomorrow and a heads up if he’s stupid enough to get on a plane to follow you.” Griffin grumbled.
“I hadn’t even thought of that… Why would he even want to follow me when he clearly didn’t want to be with me?” I was completely flabbergasted by the notion that the man whom I’d watched sleep with two prostitutes just a few months ago in the property he’d hidden from me would chase after me.
“Mel…” Griffin sighed, “Not everyone is as good as you are. Most people can detach emotion from sex which means that they could cheat and still want to be with their spouse. Those same people rarely are willing to let those spouses go when they get caught. The man Ben showed you, is the man Ben thinks he is, and that man believed that you would always be his wife. A couple sheets of paper won’t change that in his mind. ”
I chewed on my lip as I thought about what his words meant for my future.
If Ben decided to fight, then how the hell would I hide the pregnancy from him?