Chapter 3 - THE MESSAGES LUCAS NEVER SENT
Lucas did not defend himself immediately.
That mattered to Gwen.
He simply stared.
Then:
“I never said that.”
She nodded once.
“I know now.”
“Why did you believe her?”
Gwen laughed softly through tears.
“Because she showed me your messages.”
Lucas went still.
“What messages?”
Gwen asked for her phone.
She opened a hidden folder.
Screenshots.
Dozens.
Messages supposedly from Lucas to Brenda.
She is exhausting lately.
Keep her calm while I'm gone.
If she refuses to eat properly, handle it.
Don't tell her everything. Pregnancy makes her irrational.
I need you to keep her from embarrassing me in front of the family.
Lucas read them.
His face drained.
“I never wrote these.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“The number wasn't yours.”
He looked closer.
The contact header showed his name.
But the underlying number, visible in one accidental screenshot—
was different by one digit.
A second line.
A cheap prepaid number.
Someone had created a fake Lucas.
Brenda.
Or someone helping her.
Gwen whispered:
“She told me you didn't want to deal with me anymore.”
Lucas felt sick.
“Why didn't you ask me?”
“Every time I tried, you were busy.”
The sentence landed.
“I called you in Dallas.”
He remembered.
A month earlier.
She cried.
He was walking into dinner with investors.
He told her:
“We'll talk when I get home.”
They never did.
“Gwen…”
“She said you told her to handle me.”
“I didn't.”
“But you did say that once.”
Lucas stopped.
“When?”
“Before Boston.”
He remembered.
His mother complaining that Gwen had canceled a charity dinner.
Lucas had sighed and said:
“Mom, just handle the family stuff. I'm drowning.”
A careless sentence.
Not permission for abuse.
But Brenda had used it like one.
Gwen continued.
“She said if I kept causing conflict, you'd leave.”
“I would never—”
“She showed me a draft divorce petition.”
Lucas froze.
“What?”
Gwen began crying harder.
“It had your name.”
There was no petition.
Lucas knew that instantly.
But the pattern was becoming clear.
Brenda did not simply insult Gwen.
She constructed a reality.
One where Lucas considered Gwen unstable.
Where he wanted her controlled.
Where resistance endangered her marriage.
Then the humiliation escalated.
First comments about weight.
Then criticism of food.
Then “discipline.”
Gwen had been made to stand during lunches.
Serve guests before eating.
Once, Brenda made her throw away a plate because she “hadn't earned it.”
Lucas's hands shook.
“How long?”
“Months.”
He closed his eyes.
Months.
“And today?”
Gwen looked ashamed.
“She told me you'd finally agreed I shouldn't sit with the family.”
Lucas stood and walked toward the window because if he remained beside the bed he might break something.
Then Gwen said:
“She had another reason.”
He turned.
“What?”
“She kept asking me to sign something.”
Lucas's anger sharpened.
“What?”
“I don't know.”
“She wouldn't tell you?”
“She said it protected the baby.”
Lucas stared.
“Did you sign?”
“No.”
For the first time, something like pride entered Gwen's face.
“I kept saying no.”
The hospital door opened.
A nurse entered holding a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a bottle.
White plastic.
Blue tablets.
“We found these in Mrs. Dawson's purse.”
Lucas looked at the pharmacy label.
May you like
It was not Gwen's name.
It was Brenda Dawson's.
