Chapter 8 - Paige changes one sentence
Paige’s first police statement:
“I did not see Glenn pull Natalie’s hair.”
Doorbell video showed Paige three feet away.
Her second statement:
“I saw contact but not exactly how his hand was positioned.”
Then prosecutor showed still image.
Dad’s fist.
My hair.
Paige’s face pointed directly toward us.
Third version:
“I saw him grab her, but I thought he was keeping her from falling.”
That evolution mattered.
No perjury charge immediately.
Witness memory can shift.
But credibility suffered.
Then civil deposition.
My lawyer asked:
“Why did you laugh after Natalie said her water broke?”
Paige’s eyes filled.
“I didn’t laugh at that.”
“What did you laugh at?”
“The whole situation was insane.”
“Did you believe she was pretending?”
“At first.”
“Why?”
“Glenn said Natalie dramatizes everything.”
There.
Dad had prepared her.
Then:
“Why did you come with luggage?”
“Glenn said we were staying.”
“For how long?”
“Until things settled.”
“Did Natalie invite you?”
“No.”
“Did you know the house belonged to her?”
“I thought it belonged to Owen’s estate.”
“Who told you?”
“Glenn.”
Then family settlement.
“Did you see it?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before we went over.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did Glenn say it was?”
“A way to keep everything from becoming lawsuits.”
“Did he expect Natalie to sign it?”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Did he expect her to sign that day?”
Paige looked toward her lawyer.
Then:
“Yes.”
There.
“Why?”
“Because he said Margaret was going to lock him out.”
Then:
“Did he say anything about the baby?”
Paige swallowed.
“He said Natalie wouldn’t want to spend her last weeks pregnant fighting family.”
That sentence almost made me leave the room.
Instead I sat.
Then Paige said:
“I didn’t know he was going to drag her.”
I believed her.
She had laughed.
She had supported the invasion.
She was not automatically part of the assault plan.
Then her own money.
Hayes Project Services had paid Paige:
$54,000 over eleven months.
Bookkeeping and marketing.
Was she qualified?
She had a two-year business degree and handled social media/invoices.
Could $54,000 be legitimate?
Possibly.
Then company-paid expenses:
$18,000 travel.
$11,000 clothing labeled marketing.
$8,400 salon/beauty labeled “client presentation.”
Those were harder.
Paige said Dad instructed categorization.
The audit separated:
Potential payroll/contract compensation.
Personal benefits.
Not all criminal.
Then Paige hired separate counsel.
That changed Dad’s posture immediately.
He texted her despite lawyers advising caution:
Remember who paid for everything.
She preserved it.
No threat.
But revealing.
The marriage between Dad and Paige began cracking under evidence.
I did not celebrate.
Their marriage was not my objective.
My house was.
My daughter was.
Owen’s company was.
Then the court scheduled the hearing on Dad’s property notice.
And Dad arrived with a new document.
A handwritten note from Owen.
Glenn put 150 into the house/company mess. Need to make him whole eventually.
That could support a debt.
Not ownership.
May you like
But it proved Owen believed something remained unresolved.
The number changed again.
