Chapter 10: The Offer
She waited nine days.
The call came on a Monday morning, while I was making Sophie's lunch before school.
A solicitor's office in the city.
A man named Phillip Graves, who introduced himself in the careful, neutral tone of someone who had been briefed to sound reasonable.
"My client would like to resolve this matter privately," he said.
"She believes a mutual agreement would benefit both parties and avoid unnecessary legal proceedings."
"What does she want?" I said.
A pause.
"She's prepared to sign a full release — no further contact, no claims of any kind — in exchange for a payment of forty thousand pounds and the return of her personal property from the venue."
I moved Sophie's sandwich to the plate.
"Her personal property was collected from the venue the same evening," I said.
"She sent someone for it.
I have the receipt."
A shorter pause.
"I see.
Then the payment."
"No," I said.
Silence.
"Mr.
Graves," I said, "my solicitor filed a police report last Monday.
The fraud documentation has been submitted.
A witness has provided a signed statement.
There is a voice recording and a written communication in which your client attempted to transfer liability to a third party." I put the lid on Sophie's lunch box.
"If your client wants to resolve this matter, she should speak to the police."
"Mr.
— Daniel." The careful tone slipped slightly.
"My client is prepared to be reasonable here.
She understands the situation is—"
"She sl@pped my daughter," I said.
"On her wedding day.
In a room where she thought no one was watching." I picked up the lunch box.
"Tell your client there is no number."
I ended the call.
Sophie came into the kitchen in her school uniform, bag already on her back.
"Who was that?" she said.
"Wrong number," I said, and handed her the lunch box.
She took it, looked at me for a second with those steady eyes, and said: "No it wasn't."
"No," I said.
"It wasn't.
But it's handled."
She nodded.
Apparently that was enough.
I drove her to school.
Watched her walk through the gate without looking back — the way she always did, confident and self-contained, like she'd decided the world was manageable.
I sat in the car for a moment after she disappeared inside.
Then I called David.
"She offered forty thousand," I said.
"I declined."
"Good," he said.
"The detective assigned to the case called this morning.
They want to interview you on Wednesday.
They've already spoken to Marcus and Carol Simms."
"Is it moving?"
"It's moving," he said.
"Amanda retained Phillip Graves, which tells us she's taking it seriously.
Graves is expensive.
She's spending money she was hoping to take from you."
"Will it be enough?" I said.
"To charge her?"
"The fraud element is strong," David said.
"The voice recording, the email to Marcus, the timeline document — together they establish intent and coordination.
The physical incident with Sophie adds a separate dimension that the police are treating as a priority."
"What's the realistic outcome?"
David was quiet for a moment.
"Fraud charges, most likely.
Possibly more, depending on what else the investigation surfaces.
Amanda has done this before, Daniel.
Carol Simms wasn't her first paralegal.
The police are looking at prior associations."
I gripped the steering wheel.
"She's done this to someone else," I said.
"That's what they're looking at," David said.
"If they find a prior victim willing to come forward, the case becomes significantly stronger."
I thought about some other man.
Some other house.
Some other child, maybe, who had noticed something and been too scared to say anything.
"Let me know when Wednesday is confirmed," I said.
"I will.
Daniel — you're doing everything right."
I hung up.
The school gate was quiet now.
The last few parents were drifting away.
I put the car in gear and pulled out into the road.
Phillip Graves would call again.
Or Amanda would try another angle.
David had said she wasn't good at the exit.
I believed him.
But I also knew something he didn't.
I'd found the wedding program in my jacket that morning.
The one I'd picked up from the chair after the guests left.
*Daniel and Amanda.
Today and always.*
May you like
I'd put it in the recycling without thinking about it.
That was the moment I knew I was going to be fine.
