That somehow made it worse.
“I need examples.”
He said.
Barbara answered.
“You have examples.”
“She leaves dishes overnight.”
“She cried in front of Leo last month.”
“Those are not enough.”
Then another voice.
A man I did not recognize.
“You’re focusing on the wrong thing.”
“The concern is stability.”
“You need a consistent record of behavior over time.”
“Not staged incidents.”
“Not arguments you create.”
“Document what actually happens.”
Dana paused the audio.
“Who is that?”
I whispered.
“We don’t know.”
She said.
“The conversation sounds like someone giving informal legal advice or strategy.”
She restarted it.
Greg:
“What if she loses it in front of people?”
Unknown man:
“If something genuinely happens in front of witnesses, witnesses matter.”
Barbara:
“Her birthday stress is always terrible.”
Greg:
“Leo’s party.”
Barbara:
“She gets obsessed with everything being perfect.”
Greg:
“If she explodes, half the family will see it.”
My hands began shaking.
Rachel reached for me.
I pulled away.
Not because I did not want comfort.
Because if anybody touched me, I thought I might fall apart.
The recording continued.
Barbara said:
“She’ll blame the dog before she blames herself.”
Greg laughed.
“Max makes everything worse.”
Then:
“I’m not leaving that dog with Leo if I get custody.”
Dana paused it.
I stopped breathing.
“If I get custody.”
The words repeated inside my head.
I looked at Dana.
She did not soften them.
“Yes.”
“There are more references.”
I felt physically sick.
“Play them.”
“Sarah.”
“Play them.”
She did.
Another recording.
Greg and Barbara.
Different date.
Kitchen sounds in the background.
Barbara:
“She needs to look unstable without you looking cruel.”
Greg:
“I’m not doing anything.”
Barbara:
“You don’t have to.”
“Just stop covering for her.”
Greg:
“She is good with Leo.”
Barbara:
“That is not the point.”
“The point is whether she can handle him alone.”
Greg:
“She handles him every day.”
A long silence.
Then Greg:
“But if we split, she’ll try to keep him.”
Barbara:
“Then make sure nobody believes she should.”
I covered my mouth.
Rachel whispered something I did not hear.
Dana stopped the audio.
“We can stop.”
“No.”
I said.
“Keep going.”
Another file.
Greg’s voice.
He sounded tired.
“I don’t even know if I want a divorce.”
Barbara:
“You’ve been miserable for years.”
Greg:
“She’ll take the house.”
Barbara:
“The house is mostly yours.”
Greg:
“Her name is on it.”
Barbara:
“You paid for it.”