Chapter 9 - WHAT HAPPENED TO DANIEL
Daniel and Vanessa’s divorce took eleven months.
No tabloid spectacle.
No giant public war.
Their lawyers negotiated.
Daniel recovered most of the $75,000 sent to VHL and part of his renovation contribution through the broader settlement.
The marriage had lasted less than a year.
Emotionally, probably much longer.
I saw him twice during that period.
Both times for Hawthorne House accounting.
The second time, he asked:
“Did you ever think I was stupid?”
“No.”
“Vanessa lied about something that would’ve taken me fifteen minutes to verify.”
“That happens when checking feels like accusing someone you love.”
He looked at me.
“You sound experienced.”
“I’m a CFO.”
He laughed.
Then became serious.
“I’m sorry about what your family did at the wedding.”
“You didn’t do it.”
“I laughed at jokes before that.”
I remembered.
Not that night.
Previous dinners.
Small comments.
Daniel had sometimes smiled because Vanessa smiled.
He continued:
“I believed her version of you because it was easier.”
That mattered.
“I appreciate you saying that.”
Then he left.
No romance.
No secret chemistry.
He had been my sister’s husband.
Some lines do not need crossing to make a story satisfying.
Two years later I heard Daniel remarried.
A woman he had known through architecture circles.
Good.
May you like
I hoped he checked the deed.
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