Updated Feb 25, 2026 • ~3 min read
POV: Gabi
Brandon’s lawyer requests a meeting.
With me.
“Absolutely not,” Marissa says.
“Why does he want to meet with me?”
“Probably to manipulate you into dropping charges or testifying on his behalf.”
“I would never—”
“I know. But he thinks you will. Because he still thinks he can control you.”
“Should I meet with him? To prove he can’t?”
Marissa considers.
“Only if I’m there. And we record everything.”
“Deal.”
The meeting is at the jail.
Visiting room.
Glass partition.
Phone to talk through.
Brandon looks terrible.
Orange jumpsuit. Unshaven. Dark circles.
Good.
He picks up the phone.
I pick up mine.
“Gabi.”
“Brandon.”
“Thank you for coming.”
“This isn’t a social visit.”
He flinches.
“I know. I just… I needed to see you.”
“Why?”
“To apologize. For real this time.”
I almost laugh.
“You’ve apologized before. It didn’t mean anything.”
“This time it does.”
“Why? Because you’re in jail? Because you got caught?”
“Because I’ve had time to think. To realize what I did. What I lost.”
“What you lost? You didn’t LOSE anything, Brandon. You destroyed it. Systematically. With intent.”
“I know.”
“Do you? Do you really understand what you did to me? To those women?”
“I was sick, Gabi. Addiction is a disease—”
There it is.
The excuse.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t blame addiction. You made choices. You chose to lie. To steal. To catfish women using my identity.”
“The gambling—”
“Was YOUR problem. You could have told me. Could have gotten help. Instead you turned into a criminal.”
He’s quiet.
“My lawyer says if you testify on my behalf, the judge might be lenient.”
And there’s the real reason for this meeting.
“You want me to testify FOR you?”
“You were my wife—”
“WAS. Past tense.”
“You know me better than anyone. You could tell them I’m not a bad person. That I made mistakes—”
“You ARE a bad person, Brandon. Good people don’t do what you did.”
“Gabi, please—”
“No.”
“I’m begging you—”
“I said NO.”
“If you loved me at all—”
“I did love you. And you destroyed that love. Burned it to the ground. So don’t you DARE use my love as leverage.”
“I’ll lose everything.”
“You already lost everything. The moment you made that first fake profile.”
He’s crying now.
“I can’t go to prison.”
“You should have thought of that before you committed federal crimes.”
“They’re saying five to ten years. I’ll be forty when I get out.”
“And those women will still be traumatized. I’ll still be rebuilding my life. Actions have consequences.”
“I’m your husband—”
“Not for long.”
I stand.
“Wait—”
“I’m done, Brandon. Done with you. Done with your manipulation. Done with your excuses.”
“Gabi—”
I hang up the phone.
Walk out.
Don’t look back.
Marissa is waiting.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Actually, I am.”
“He try the addiction defense?”
“And asked me to testify for him.”
“Called it.”
“I told him no.”
“Good.”
We walk to the parking lot.
“That was easier than I expected,” I say.
“What was?”
“Seeing him. Saying no. I thought I’d feel guilty.”
“But you don’t?”
“Not even a little.”
“That’s growth.”
Maybe it is.
END OF CHAPTER 14
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