Chapter 5 - LEANDRA’S VERSION
Leandra’s attorney called her presence “maternal support during a marital dispute.”
That phrase almost impressed me.
She admitted:
She came because Berenger asked.
She knew we were arguing over finances.
She knew he had taken my card.
She did not know he planned to put me in the garden pit.
Maybe.
Then:
Did she see me trapped?
Yes.
Did she call police?
No.
Did she help me out?
No.
Did she tell Berenger to stop adding dirt?
She said:
“I told him not to overdo it.”
That sentence did not help.
Then her statement:
“I believed Ianthe could stand if she wanted.”
The photographs showed dirt packed to my waist while seated.
Could I have eventually crawled out?
Maybe.
Safely at eight months pregnant?
Questionable.
Then:
Why tell me I would leave with nothing?
“Because I believed the marriage was ending.”
“Why nothing?”
“She signed a prenup.”
Did Leandra read it?
No.
Then where did she get the idea?
Berenger.
Of course.
Then the baby.
Leandra said she never intended to separate me from my daughter.
Good.
No custody theft plot.
She believed:
After divorce, Berenger would have equal parental rights and better financial resources.
She told friends:
“Ianthe will learn that pregnancy doesn’t guarantee she controls the family.”
Ugly.
Not a kidnapping plan.
Then one text from Leandra to Berenger:
Do not give her full account access again until the shares are settled.
There.
She participated in economic pressure.
Another:
If she wants lunch, she can sign like an adult.
My stomach turned.
Then:
BERENGER:
She is eight months pregnant.
LEANDRA:
Then she should stop behaving like a child.
There.
She knew about withholding food.
Then after board removal, before Dad arrived:
BERENGER:
They fired me.
LEANDRA:
Then you need the shares more than ever.
That mattered.
Timing.
Berenger learned he was removed while I was already trapped.
Instead of ending the confrontation, he intensified it.
The last wheelbarrow load came after the board vote.
Suddenly the garden was not only about obedience.
He had lost executive authority.
May you like
He still wanted access to my share distributions and collateral value.
No wonder he kept demanding the signature.
