Chapter 6
A month before trial, Ethan’s lawyer called me.
He wanted to meet.
To discuss a plea deal.
I met him at my lawyer’s office.
He sat across from me, a thick envelope on the table.
“Ethan is willing to plead guilty to all fraud charges,” he said. “He’ll return every dollar he stole from you and your parents. He’ll sign over all his assets to you. The house, the cars, the businesses. Everything. In exchange, you agree to drop the murder conspiracy charges against him. He’ll serve 10 years. Be out in seven with good behavior. Everyone wins, Charlotte. You get your life back. You don’t have to go through a trial. No more pain. No more digging up the past.”
I stared at him.
I thought about Claire’s diary.
About her last entry, written the day before she died.
About the three days in the cage.
About the emails where they planned to kill me and my baby.
I stood up.
Picked up the envelope.
Threw it across the room.
Papers flew everywhere.
“Everyone wins?” I yelled. “Does Claire win? Does she get her life back? Does she get to walk out of the ground and hug her sister? Do I get those three days back? The days I thought my baby and I would die in that cage? 10 years? He killed a woman. He planned to kill me and my child. 10 years is nothing. He deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life. Tell him no. Tell him I’ll see him in court. And I’m going to make sure he never breathes free air again.”
I walked out.
My lawyer smiled at me in the hallway.
“Good,” she said. “That’s exactly what I hoped you’d say.”
That afternoon, Agent Torres called.
Martha’s trial was being joined with Ethan’s.
They’d be tried together.
Co-conspirators.
The media picked up the story that night.
Headlines everywhere.
Billionaire Murder Conspiracy: Pregnant Wife Locked In Dog Cage.
First Wife’s Body Found After 5 Years.
Maid’s Courage Brings Down Dallas Dynasty.
Reporters showed up outside my apartment.
Cameras.
Microphones.
They yelled questions as I walked to my car.
“Charlotte! Did you know Ethan killed his first wife?”
“Are you going to take the stand?”
“What do you want to say to Ethan and Martha?”
I stopped.
Turned to face them.
Rosa stood right beside me, her hand on my arm.
“I didn’t know about Claire,” I said, my voice clear and steady. “But I know what he did to me. I know what they both did. This isn’t just about me. It’s about every woman who’s ever been hurt by someone who was supposed to love her. Every woman who’s been told no one will believe her. I’m going to testify. I’m going to tell the truth. And I’m going to make sure justice is served. For Claire. For me. For all of us.”
That night, I set up a website.
The Claire Foundation.
To help women trapped in abusive relationships.
Legal help.
Safe housing.
Counseling.
I put $100,000 of my own money into it.
By the next morning, donations were pouring in.
$5.
$10.
$100.
Messages from women all over the country.
Telling me their stories.
Saying I’d given them hope.
Saying they were going to leave too.
I sat at my desk, reading the messages, crying.
I’d thought my pain was just mine.
But it wasn’t.
It was connected to all of theirs.
And together, we were strong.
May you like
Stronger than any Ethan or Martha.
Stronger than any monster who thought he could hurt women and get away with it.
