She had a calm, direct voice, the kind that made you feel like the situation was already slightly more manageable than it had been thirty seconds ago.
“Daniel told me the outline,” she said.
“But I want to hear it from you.
Take your time.”
I told her everything.
The tuition.
The jobs.
The joint account.
The apartment.
The placement.
The recording.
The text message from the unknown number.
I read her the text word for word.
When I finished, she was quiet for a moment.
“The text message,” she said.
“You still have it?”
“Yes.
Photographed and forwarded to Daniel.”
“Good.
Don’t delete it and don’t respond to it.
If you receive another one, same procedure.” A pause.
“The financial contribution to the hospital foundation — do you have any documentation of that, or is it currently only Mia’s account?”
“Currently only Mia.
Daniel said she’s willing to speak directly with me.”
“I’d like to speak with her too, with your permission.
If we can get her account on record, and if there’s any paper trail connecting the contribution to the placement timeline, that becomes significant leverage.” Another pause.
“Not leverage in a threatening sense.
Leverage in the sense that it strongly incentivizes Nathan’s side to settle quickly and fairly rather than drag this into a prolonged dispute.”
“That’s what I want,” I said.
“A fair settlement.
Not a war.”
“Then let’s build the case for a fair settlement.” I could hear her writing something.
“The joint account withdrawals — do you have access to the account records?”
“Online access, yes.
I can pull the full statement history tonight.”
“Do that.
Screenshot everything and email it to me.
I’ll send you my address now.” A brief pause.
“One more thing.
The recording Daniel made in the courtyard — Nathan made a statement about you having nothing to prove any financial agreement existed.
That’s actually useful.
It establishes that he was aware of the financial dimension and was attempting to minimize it.
Combined with the account records, that builds a picture.”
“Will the recording hold up?”
