Chapter 7
Audrey went home with Rocco rather than Preston.
The decision became public inside both families immediately.
Preston sent flowers.
Audrey refused them.
He sent a letter.
She gave it to her attorney unopened.
Brenda sent nothing.
Gary asked whether he could apologize.
Audrey declined.
Not forever.
For now.
Rocco respected that.
At the Moretti residence, Audrey finally showed him the notes she had been keeping.
Small incidents.
A loose rug near the bathroom.
A car door that shut unexpectedly against her shoulder.
Medication moved from one drawer to another.
A broken heel on a pair of shoes she had not worn in months.
None proved anything.
All had explanations.
That was exactly why she had never called them attempts.
“Why write them down?”
Audrey looked at him.
“Because after the stairs, things stopped feeling random.”
Rocco felt cold.
The pattern was not dramatic.
That made it frightening.
Brenda’s attack in the winter garden was the first time aggression had become unmistakable.
Rocco asked:
“Did Preston know about these incidents?”
Audrey nodded.
“What did he say?”
“That pregnancy made me anxious.”
Again.
The same method.
Turn danger into instability.
Turn suspicion into hormones.
Turn a frightened woman into someone nobody needed to believe.
Rocco wanted to confront Preston.
Audrey stopped him.
“No.”
“He's been doing this for months.”
“Then let him keep talking.”
Rocco looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because every time he talks now, he changes something.”
She was right.
Preston’s first statement said he never knew Audrey planned to leave before the fall.
Gary’s phone disproved that.
His second statement admitted knowing but denied discussing it with Brenda.
The group chat contradicted that too.
The more Preston protected himself, the narrower his options became.
Rocco sat back.
“You learned patience somewhere.”
May you like
Audrey looked at him.
“Not from you.”
