CHAPTER 7: The Mistress Becomes Evidence

Natalie discovered very quickly that beauty did not help inside a legal sentence.
The attorney in the charcoal suit turned toward her with a tablet and a calm face.
"Ms. Crane, your messages to Mr. Voss were produced under subpoena at 8:14 this morning."
Natalie blinked.
"What messages?"
Amelia's voice came from the step below, quiet but clear.
"The ones where you told him to make me look unstable. The ones where you planned today."
Natalie looked at Daniel again.
This time, he looked away.
That was the end of them, though neither of them understood it yet.
The reporters had stopped pretending not to listen. A police officer moved closer. The courthouse medic checked Amelia's wrist while Victor's second attorney placed a call and said the words emergency filing.
Natalie straightened, trying one last time to be the woman in control.
"You can't ruin me over a misunderstanding," she said.
Victor's eyes finally moved to her.
The word subpoena changed Natalie's posture. It reached beneath her clothes, beneath her makeup, beneath the practiced tilt of her chin.
She had thought text messages disappeared into private rooms. She was learning that rich men had servers, lawyers had timelines, and betrayed wives had patience.
"I am not ruining you," he said. "You did that in front of a courthouse."