Chapter 8 - The Children Were Part Of Leverage
I wanted the case to remain about money.
Then Rachel found emails about custody.
Travis had discussed using my cleaning job to portray me as financially unstable.
Not because cleaning work was shameful.
Because he planned to frame the story selectively.
Former executive reduced to night janitor.
Irregular income.
Late hours.
Possible unauthorized access to company files.
Then, if the forged documents surfaced, alleged financial misconduct.
He could argue I was both unstable and dishonest.
The goal was leverage in property negotiations and custody.
I read the emails in Rachel’s office.
Owen was nine.
Maisie six.
They were not pawns.
I had worked nights because I needed immediate income while Travis controlled access to marital funds.
The cleaning job demonstrated responsibility.
He intended to narrate it as failure.
That hurt more than the money.
Rachel said:
“Let the records speak before you respond emotionally.”
So I did.
Payroll.
School pickup schedules.
Childcare receipts.
Texts showing Travis repeatedly canceled parenting time for work.
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Reality was less dramatic than his narrative.
That made it stronger.
