Chapter 10 - Chloe’s dress
The dress cost $3,800.
Not ten thousand.
Not priceless.
Custom-altered Italian silk.
Juice damage?
Professional cleaning cost $210.
The stain came out.
I learned this because Chloe initially demanded I reimburse her through counsel.
Rebecca stared at the letter.
“She slapped your child and wants dress cleaning?”
“Yes.”
“People cope creatively.”
We did not pay voluntarily.
Later, as part of the criminal restitution and civil issues, the dress claim disappeared.
Good.
The dress was never the reason Chloe hit Lily.
It was the trigger.
Important difference.
Chloe was angry before Lily touched her.
She had spent months hearing Julian describe me and Lily as obstacles to the life he wanted.
Hannah is unstable.
Lily is spoiled.
Eleanor will never accept the divorce if it becomes ugly.
Robert is watching the books.
Chloe had a silk dress, a public room, and the belief Julian would protect her.
Then a five-year-old splashed juice.
Her hand moved before her judgment.
Julian’s reaction told us what she had expected.
Protection.
She got it.
May you like
For approximately twenty seconds.
Then the second phone appeared.
