Chapter 5 - CONFRONTATION BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
That evening, I waited for Daniel in his home study. I had dimmed the lights and placed a black leather binder on the mahogany desk between two leather armchairs.
When Daniel walked in around 8:00 PM, looking drained from work, he saw the binder and frowned. "What's this? More wedding plans?"
"Sit down, Daniel," I said calmly.
He sighed, tossing his jacket onto the couch. "Elena, if this is about Megan sitting on my lap again, I've already apologized. It was an awkward joke, okay? You're dragging this out."
"Open the binder, Daniel."
His eyebrows knitted together in irritation, but he walked over and opened the cover.
As his eyes scanned the first page—a printed transcript of his late-night encrypted messages with Megan—his color drained instantly. He quickly flipped to the next page, encountering the audit cover-up documents, followed by the recovered deleted photos and the scheduled HR smear campaign against me.
He sank heavily into the chair, his hands trembling as he turned the pages. "Where... where did you get this?"
"Megan didn't save you from that audit, Daniel," I said, my voice cutting through the heavy silence. "She manufactured the initial red flag herself through her brother's contact so she could 'save' you and hold it over your head."
Daniel looked up, his eyes wide with horror. "What?"
"Look at page twelve," I instructed. "That's the email trace showing Megan alerted the compliance auditor two days before she 'accidentally' found out about it. She created the fire so she could play the hero."
Daniel buried his face in his hands, a broken sound escaping his throat. "I... I thought she was helping me. She told me if you found out about the audit, you'd leave me because you value your reputation too much. She swore she was doing it to keep our marriage safe."
"And sitting on your lap in front of thirty people? Telling everyone it was a joke?" I leaned forward. "She was testing how much control she had over both of us. She wanted to humiliate me, prove that you wouldn't defend me, and make me look crazy when I fought back."
Daniel looked at me, tears glistening in his eyes. The realization of his own foolishness and vanity had finally hit him like a freight train. He realized he had almost traded a loyal, brilliant wife for a manipulative sociopath who was setting him up for ruin.
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"Elena... I am so sorry," he choked out, reaching for my hand. "I was an idiot. I was proud, scared, and stupid. Please tell me what to do. I'll do whatever it takes."
I pulled my hand back gently. "First, you are going to break all contact with her. Second, you are going to help me execute a plan. Because Megan isn't done yet—and we are going to end this publicly."
