Chapter 12 - THE WOMAN I SHOULD NOT HAVE VISITED
My lawyer told me not to contact Maren.
Clear.
“She may become a witness.”
“I want to ask one question.”
“No.”
“Did she know he told me it was over?”
“Through counsel.”
“I want to hear her say it.”
“That is not a legal need.”
It was an emotional one.
I ignored my lawyer.
My worst choice.
Maren worked from a shared office downtown.
I went alone.
No bodyguards.
No Lucio.
No threats.
I told myself that made it acceptable.
It did not.
When Maren saw me in reception, her face drained.
“Elise.”
“I need ten minutes.”
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“I know.”
Good beginning.
Terrible decision.
She brought me into a conference room because creating a scene outside felt worse.
I asked:
“Did you know he told me he ended contact?”
She looked down.
“Eventually.”
“When?”
“After he came back.”
“Did you know I was pregnant before you slept with him?”
“Yes.”
The answer hurt.
“Did he tell you we were separated?”
“No.”
“Unhappy?”
“Yes.”
“Were we?”
“I only knew what he told me.”
Fair.
Then:
“Why come to my birthday?”
Her eyes filled.
“I wasn’t coming to your birthday. I was coming to make him choose whether he was going to keep lying to both of us.”
That sentence stopped me.
“What did he lie to you about?”
Maren hesitated.
Then:
“He told me after the baby was born, he was going to tell you everything and leave.”
My stomach dropped.
Not because I wanted him to stay.
Because that was a different future from the one he sold me in counseling.
I stood.
Maren said:
“Elise.”
I turned.
She looked frightened.
Not of me exactly.
Of my surname.
My brother.
The men people associated with us.
“You came alone?”
“Yes.”
“Does Lucio know you’re here?”
“No.”
She exhaled.
That was when I understood.
I had not threatened her.
But I had arrived as Lucio Caravetta’s pregnant sister at the office of a woman who had slept with my husband.
My presence carried weight I could not pretend away.
I left.
Called my lawyer from the car.
Told her everything.
She was silent.
Then:
“Do not do that again.”
“I know.”
Maren’s lawyer later documented the visit and requested no direct contact.
I agreed immediately.
Nathan used it in divorce filings to suggest my family’s influence intimidated witnesses.
The judge later admonished me.
Correctly.
May you like
Fear does not make boundaries optional.
Not even when the person across the table helped hurt you.
