Chapter 19 - The Deposition Daniel Couldn’t ScriptDaniel’s deposition lasted nearly six hours.
Claire attended only part.
Maya wanted her there when the property documents were discussed.
Daniel wore a dark suit.
Calm.
Professional.
Exactly the man Claire married.
Opposing counsel asked:
“Did you create DW Advisory?”
“Yes.”
“Did your household pay the company?”
“Yes.”
“Did Claire expressly agree in writing to pay you project-management fees?”
“No.”
“Why did you invoice?”
“I performed services.”
“Why were invoices created months or years after services?”
Daniel hesitated.
“To organize records.”
“Why backdate them?”
“I used project dates.”
Then the house ledger.
“Did you write that you contributed $430,000 to the kitchen renovation?”
“Yes.”
“Did your personal funds pay $430,000?”
“No.”
“Whose did?”
Daniel looked toward Claire.
“Household funds.”
Bank records showed Claire’s separate account.
The attorney corrected him.
Daniel shifted.
Then the altered insurance exhibit.
“Did Claire sign this Exhibit A?”
“She signed the document package.”
“That was not my question.”
Pause.
“No.”
“Did you attach this exhibit later?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell Claire?”
“No.”
Silence.
Then:
“Why?”
Daniel looked toward his lawyer.
His lawyer said:
“Answer if you understand.”
Daniel swallowed.
“I believed it reflected our understanding.”
Claire almost laughed.
No document.
No conversation.
His understanding.
Then came Sophia.
“Did you tell Sophia Blake you planned to divorce Claire after obtaining financial protections?”
“Yes.”
Claire stopped breathing.
First direct admission.
“Did you tell Claire?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t think she would sign if she knew.”
There.
Daniel’s lawyer shifted.
Too late.
The attorney continued.
“Did you want Claire to sign the postnuptial agreement without knowing you had already decided to leave?”
Daniel stared at the table.
“Yes.”
Claire felt something inside her finally settle.
No interpretation anymore.
“Did you discuss revealing your affair after the agreement?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I thought discovery might accelerate settlement.”
Claire looked away.
Maya touched her wrist.
Then:
“Did you create future-dated incident notes?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was drafting possibilities.”
“Possibilities or events you intended to provoke?”
Daniel’s voice tightened.
“I didn’t intend violence.”
“No one asked about violence.”
Daniel looked trapped.
Then the attorney read:
Saturday — Claire threatened removal from marital residence.
“Was that written before Saturday?”
“Yes.”
“Had Claire threatened that?”
“No.”
“So why write it?”
Daniel finally lost control.
“Because I knew her!”
The room went silent.
He breathed hard.
“I knew what she would say when she found out.”
The attorney asked softly:
“And you planned to create the circumstances in which she would say it?”
Daniel realized.
His shoulders dropped.
“Yes.”
Claire looked at him.
No triumph.
Only grief.
The man across the table had spent eighteen months engineering a future version of her reaction.
Then came the question that mattered most.
“Mr. Weston, did you believe you were entitled to part of Claire’s house and business because you were her husband?”
Daniel said:
“Yes.”
“Even if the law did not provide the percentages you wanted?”
“Yes.”
“So you tried to obtain those percentages by agreement.”
“Yes.”
“Without disclosing that you intended to leave.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Claire no longer needed Daniel to confess love was fake.
Maybe it had been real.
She needed the plan acknowledged.
It was.
Afterward Daniel approached her in the hallway.
His lawyer tried to stop him.
Daniel said:
“I’m sorry.”
Claire looked at him.
“For which part?”
He had no answer.
May you like
That was the problem.
There were too many.
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