Rachel came too.
She sat behind me.
Laura held my hand.
Daniel looked different.
Thinner.
Older.
No expensive suit.
Just a dark jacket and a pale blue shirt.
The judge asked him about the kitchen incident.
Daniel said:
“I grabbed my wife and forced her down toward the trash can.”
The courtroom was silent.
“And her surgical wound?”
“I pressed on it.”
“Intentionally?”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He swallowed.
“I was angry.”
“About?”
“She was sick. She wasn’t eating. We were arguing.”
The prosecutor corrected gently.
“You had also been arguing about finances and her refusal to sign documents, correct?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Then the power of attorney.
He admitted he had taken an old image of my signature.
He admitted asking Natalie to notarize the document without me appearing.
Natalie had not known every detail, he said.
But she knew enough to violate her responsibility.
