Chapter 5 - THE RED FOLDER
Amanda told me not to trust anything in Victoria’s house that appeared accidental.
“Nothing is accidental with that woman.”
I remembered the locked drawer.
I mentioned it.
Amanda went silent.
“What?”
“Does Victoria still have the mahogany desk in the downstairs study?”
“Yes.”
“Bottom-right drawer?”
“Yes.”
My skin prickled.
“She kept a red folder there when I was married to Julian.”
“What was in it?”
“Me.”
I stopped.
Amanda explained.
Salary.
Work schedule.
Bank information.
Parents’ property.
Student loans.
Projected inheritance.
Even notes about her menstrual cycle because Victoria wanted grandchildren “at the correct time.”
I nearly dropped my phone.
“She called it the household plan.”
Rachel was listening.
“Do you have proof?”
Amanda hesitated.
“I photographed part of it before I left.”
She still had the images.
She sent them.
The folder cover:
A.R. TRANSITION
Inside:
MONTH 1 — consolidate income
MONTH 2 — reduce outside social interference
MONTH 3 — evaluate work reduction
Then:
DOMESTIC EXPECTATIONS MUST BEGIN IMMEDIATELY
Amanda said:
“They waited three weeks with me.”
I stared at the sentence.
“They waited fourteen hours with me.”
“That sounds like Victoria.”
Learning from previous failure.
Not learning not to control.
Learning to control faster.
Police were not going to search a home because a mother-in-law kept creepy relationship notes.
But Rachel had another route.
Discovery once legal proceedings began.
I filed for annulment that afternoon.
Julian filed for divorce ninety-one minutes later.
He asked for half the wedding money.
He also claimed I had abandoned the marital home.
Rachel laughed when she read it.
“So far his greatest contribution to the marriage was one dirty towel.”
I needed that laugh.
Then my phone buzzed.
A photograph from an unknown number.
The red folder.
On Victoria’s dining table.
Label:
E.C. TRANSITION
Below the image:
You should know what they planned.
No name.
I typed:
Who is this?
The response arrived immediately.
Someone who stayed too long.
Not Amanda.
May you like
Someone else.
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