Chapter 5 - I DID NOT WALK INTO MY FUNERAL
The story people later told online was better than reality.
They said I walked into my own funeral.
Black dress.
Baby in my arms.
Brandon collapsing when he saw me.
None of that happened.
I was in a hospital gown when Brandon learned I survived.
And the moment was better because I did not stage it.
Investigators arrested him first.
Three weeks after the cliff.
He was leaving an attorney’s office.
They did not tell him why until he was secured.
Then Detective Reeves showed him the charging documents.
Attempted homicide-related charges.
Conspiracy allegations.
Insurance-fraud-related conduct under investigation.
Other counts connected to evidence.
Brandon stared.
Then asked:
“Where’s the body?”
Monica said nothing.
His lawyer arrived.
Only after counsel was present did Brandon learn the truth through the legal process.
Emily Bennett was alive.
So was her son.
According to Monica, he sat completely still for almost a minute.
Then:
“No.”
Not:
Thank God.
Not:
My wife.
Not:
My baby.
Just:
“No.”
He immediately claimed I must be lying.
Then said the rescue team misunderstood.
Then accused Gretchen.
Then claimed the fall was accidental.
Different stories.
Same man.
I watched none of it live.
I was feeding Lucas.
Because by then, after twenty-six days in the NICU, my son could finally drink small amounts from a bottle.
That mattered more.
Later, Monica asked if I wanted to see Brandon’s recorded reaction.
I said no.
The woman who fell off the cliff wanted that moment.
The woman who survived no longer needed it.
Revenge fantasies are useful in freezing places.
They keep you warm.
You do not have to live inside them afterward.
I did something else instead.
I changed my estate plan.
Brandon was removed from every fiduciary position where the law allowed pending divorce and court orders.
Independent trustees were appointed over Lucas’s interests.
My shares in Bennett Medical Properties were placed into a voting trust managed according to existing corporate agreements and court-approved protections during the litigation.
No husband control.
No “wealthy widower” shortcut.
The fifty-million-dollar insurance policy?
Frozen.
The insurer had already opened an investigation before Brandon’s arrest.
No payout.
Not one dollar.
In fact, the carrier’s investigators became useful witnesses because Brandon had contacted them with unusual urgency.
The funeral had happened.
The money had not.
May you like
That detail pleased me more than it should have.
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