Chapter 6 - MY WIFE HAD A LIFE I NEVER BOTHERED TO SEE
I used to tell people Claire had stopped working.
That was technically true.
After Hope was born, she took maternity leave.
Before that, she worked from home in “healthcare consulting.”
I never asked much about it.
The irony almost made me sick.
I had complained constantly that Claire was no longer ambitious enough.
Meanwhile, I could not even describe what she actually did.
Liam could.
“Bennett Biomedical Holdings is privately held.”
“What does Claire have to do with it?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Then why was the file in our system?”
“Your spouse-disclosure paperwork.”
I had signed dozens of compliance forms when I became a vice president.
Claire had apparently submitted information separately.
I had never read the final file.
Liam continued.
“The company has healthcare investments. Significant ones.”
“How significant?”
“Daniel, this isn’t information I should speculate about.”
I searched online.
Almost nothing.
Private company.
Medical-device patents.
Clinical logistics.
A foundation.
Then I found Claire’s father.
Dr. Jonathan Bennett.
I knew he had been a physician.
Claire said he “did some healthcare investing” before he died.
I had met him only twice before our wedding because he was already ill.
I remembered a quiet man who asked me whether I understood that Claire did not need saving.
I had thought it was an odd thing to say.
Now I understood why.
Michael called at 7:00 a.m.
I told him everything.
“The Bennett family may matter,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because if Samantha accessed Claire’s financial disclosure and then manipulated you into moving money—”
“She didn’t manipulate me into cheating.”
“I didn’t say she did.”
That shut me up.
Michael continued.
“We need to separate two truths. You betrayed your wife. Samantha may also have targeted you for information or money. One does not erase the other.”
That sentence became the first useful thing anyone said to me.
At nine, Rebecca contacted Michael with a temporary parenting proposal.
Supervised visits at Claire’s sister’s home.
Three times a week.
I was furious for almost five seconds.
Then I remembered how little time I had spent alone with Hope voluntarily.
I agreed.
My first visit was that afternoon.
Natalie opened the door.
She did not insult me.
That would have been easier.
She simply said, “Wash your hands.”
Hope was asleep in a portable bassinet.
Claire was not in the room.
I stared at my daughter.
Three months old.
Tiny fist beside her cheek.
I whispered, “Hi.”
My voice broke.
Natalie watched from the doorway.
“Where’s Claire?”
“Out.”
“Can I talk to her?”
“No.”
Fair.
I held Hope for forty minutes.
She woke.
Cried.
I panicked.
Natalie did not rescue me immediately.
“Figure it out.”
So I did.
Bottle.
Burp.
Walking.
Eventually she quieted against my chest.
For the first time, I understood why Claire’s shoulders had always looked tired.
As I prepared to leave, Natalie handed me a small insulated bag.
“What’s this?”
“Claire said you should have it.”
Inside was a folder.
Bennett Biomedical Holdings.
Shareholder information.
I looked at Natalie.
“Why is she showing me this?”
“She isn’t.”
On top was a legal notice.
Samantha Wells had attempted to contact Bennett Biomedical that morning.
May you like
Claiming to represent me.
And she had asked how to exercise a spousal claim against Claire’s ownership stake.
