“You did this!” he screamed, lunging toward her. “You ruined us!”
“It wasn’t me, Dante,” she said, holding Maya close. “It was your father in San Diego. He found out about the pension fraud when he tried to file for his own benefits.”
The fallout was catastrophic for them. Martha was forced to pay back years of fraudulent benefits and faced multiple felony charges. Dante was hit with massive fines for tax evasion that wiped out his secret savings and then some.
The final straw came a week later when Dante, fueled by cheap whiskey and desperation, raised his hand to strike Elara in front of the baby.
She didn’t flinch; she simply looked him in the eye. “Go ahead and hit me. I’ve already got the police on the line, and you’ll be in a cell by midnight.”
He backed down, his spirit finally broken. That night, Elara packed a suitcase and left the apartment with a coworker who had been waiting downstairs to help her.
The divorce was a long and ugly battle, but the evidence of financial abuse and the police report for the assault ensured that Elara won full custody of Maya.