Chapter 5: The Settlement He Thought She'd Sign
Bennett's attorney's name was Roland Fitch.
He called at seven the following morning, before I had finished my first cup of tea.
"Mrs.
Finch." His voice was smooth in the way of men who charged by the hour.
"I'd like to arrange a meeting at your earliest convenience.
My client is prepared to be generous."
"I'm sure he is," I said.
"A revised settlement has been prepared.
Given the circumstances, Mr.
Finch feels it reflects a fair—"
"Send it to my attorney," I said.
"His name is Gerald Marsh.
He's expecting your call."
A pause.
"You've retained Gerald Marsh?"
"Is that a problem?"
Another pause.
Longer.
"I'll be in touch with Mr.
Marsh."
He hung up before I did.
Gerald Marsh was Director Voss's personal attorney.
He had been practicing family and estate law for thirty-one years.
When Director Voss introduced us the previous afternoon, Gerald had shaken my hand, looked at the envelope, looked at my face, and said simply: "Tell me everything from the beginning.
Leave nothing out."
I had.
It took two hours.
At the end, he had closed his notepad and said: "Bennett Finch made three serious legal errors in the past seventy-two hours.
We are going to use all three."
The settlement arrived by email at noon.
I sat with Gerald in his office on the fourteenth floor and read it together.
"He's offering the house in Connecticut," Gerald said, "a lump sum, and monthly support until the child turns three."
"Until she turns three," I said.
"Yes." Gerald set the pages down.
"He wants a full non-disclosure agreement.
No discussion of the marriage, the accounts, the incident at the hospital, or — and this is the interesting part — any information related to the Voss family connection."
I looked at him.
"He knows."
"He knows enough to be frightened of it." Gerald folded his hands.
"He does not know about the trust maturation clause.
If he did, this settlement would look very different."
"What would it look like?"
"He would never let you walk away cleanly.
He would find a way to contest the birth, delay the legal filing, challenge the trust documentation — anything to keep you in legal limbo past the delivery date."
My daughter kicked.
Hard.
I breathed through it.
"So we don't tell him," I said.
"We tell him nothing he doesn't already know." Gerald picked up his pen.
"We also do not sign this settlement.
What we do instead is file first.
Today.
Before he realizes we're moving."
"On what grounds?"
Gerald looked at me over the top of his glasses.
"Fraudulent inducement of marriage.
Asset concealment.
Intentional financial harm to a dependent spouse.
Documented infidelity predating the marriage." He set the pen down.
"And the hospital footage."
"He'll fight it."
"Aggressively.
Yes." Gerald nodded.
"But Tessa — he froze the accounts of an eight-month pregnant woman and brought his mistress to her prenatal appointment.
That footage exists.
The hospital's security system is managed by the Foundation.
Your uncle controls what happens to that recording."
I thought about the camera in the corner of the hallway.
The small black eye that had watched everything.
"File today," I said.
Gerald was already reaching for his phone when the door to his office opened.
His assistant stepped in, slightly breathless.
"I'm sorry to interrupt.
There's a man downstairs.
He says he's here on behalf of Bennett Finch." She hesitated.
"He says if Mrs.
Finch signs the settlement in the next two hours, Mr.
Finch will agree not to pursue a paternity challenge."
The room went very quiet.
Gerald put his phone down slowly.
I looked at the settlement pages on the desk.
At the non-disclosure clause.
At the line that said monthly support until the child turns three.
"A paternity challenge," I repeated.
"Yes," the assistant said softly.
I picked up the settlement.
I looked at it for a long moment.
Then I set it back down, face-down, on Gerald's desk.
"Tell him," I said, "that we'll need more time to review."
Gerald caught my meaning immediately.
His hand went back to the phone.
May you like
We had two hours.
We were going to use every minute.
