Chapter 3 - The Manila Envelope
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I might have thrown the jewelry receipt in his face the day I found it, packing my bags and walking out the door. But something far more terrifying had happened the very next morning.
I had been sitting in the office of my private attorney, Daniel, going over some basic estate planning documents before the baby arrived. The receptionist had knocked on the door, handing Daniel a thick, unmarked manila envelope that had been slipped under the front door of the firm before opening hours.
Daniel had frowned, slicing the top open with a silver letter opener.
Inside was a single, heavily redacted legal document naming my husband, Matthias, alongside the Dre family estate, referencing the exact date and location of tonight’s Christmas party.
But it was the second piece of paper that made the blood freeze in my veins.
It was a crude, hand-drawn architectural diagram of a property block. Six specific residential structures had been circled in thick red ink. Printed underneath the diagram, in sharp, block letters, were six words that had haunted my every waking moment since:
“Collateral losses within acceptable parameters.”
I remembered staring at the paper, a cold sweat breaking out on my palms. Daniel had immediately pulled the document away, sealing it back inside the envelope.
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“Do not confront him,” Daniel had ordered me, his voice deadly serious. “Do not say a word about the affair, the necklace, or this map. We need to know what Matthias is planning. If these ‘collateral losses’ mean what I think they mean, an angry confrontation about infidelity is the least of your worries. You need to play the oblivious wife.”
So, for three agonizing weeks, I had played the part.
