Page 84 of Break

5. I will apologize verbally for all wrongs you feel I’ve committed once we sit down and you share those things with me.

6. I will never physically hurt you.

7. I will not raise my voice in anger.

8. I will provide you with your own bank account with a monthly allowance of funds in which you may spend however you wish. The amount is to be determined after we discuss and agree.

9. I will consider you acquiring a part-time job as long as certain household duties are still completed, and I feel comfortable with the environment you’ll be working in. In turn, I will agree to picking up more of the slack for things that you’re unable to do.

I feel that these are reasonable rules for me that should provide you not only more comfort but also ease any concerns you have regarding our marriage. These are the rules I propose for you to follow, and again, when we sit down to discuss these, I’d be willing to hear any changes you propose.

Rules for you:

1. You will come home immediately and stay home.

2. You will allow me to spend as much time with you as needed to rebuild our marriage to what it was before the events that transpired over the past month.

3. You will apologize verbally for all wrongs I feel you’ve committed once we sit down, and I share those things with you.

4. You will never physically hurt me.

5. You will never raise your voice in anger.

6. You will agree to regularly scheduled marriage counseling, where we will both promise to be 100% truthful over the events that occurred in the past month. Conditions for this would be for you to also seek and abide by regular one-on-one counseling for yourself to work through your mental health and flair for dramatics. I don’t say this to hurt you because hurting you is never my intention, but the way you view yourself as always a victim is the core issue here, in my opinion.

7. You will allow me to provide for your financial stability as the sole breadwinner for our household and our future family.

8. You will allow for me to be involved in every decision that is made regarding our home, marriage, work, as well as future children, and agree to discuss if there is a disagreement.

9. You will not maintain any sort of relationship with any persons that you’ve become involved with since our temporary separation. I’m willing to overlook any improprieties that you’ve committed over the past month, but I think it’s fair of me to ask that you cut off any inappropriate friendship and/or relationship that you’ve developed.

Please excuse my next words if they come across as angry. I’m not angry, but I am frustrated and deeply hurt that you have made a mockery of our marriage and wedding vows by cavorting through town with men who claim to be my friends, holding their hands, hugging, and allowing them to kiss you. That’s not how a wife behaves and honestly Mina, this is a sticking point for me. You’ve truly cut me deep by behaving like this. I’ve always had concerns about your friendly nature with the opposite sex, but this has gone on for too long and has gone too far. Again, I’d like to discuss this further with you when you come home, and we sit down to have the conversation we should have had before you ever left our home. All of this could have been avoided, and this relationship with them should never have started. You’ve cost me my closest friends, and I’ll be honest, this is going to be the hardest thing for me to move past. But I’m willing to do it for us.

This letter should only take a few days to reach you, and I’ll give you a few extra days to process and decide if there are any particulars you’d like to go over with me. I’d like to see you home in five days from the date of this letter. I’ll accept nothing less and I know that when you really sit and think this all through, you’ll see that I’m being extremely reasonable and understand that I’m right.

You are my wife. I deserve the respect I’ve always shown you.

I love you more than words could ever express.

With all my love,

Danny

Chapter 38

Absolutely Not

Max

"There are a few things we can infer from reading the letter. First, and most importantly, is that he’s been in contact with his parents. I want someone watching them around the clock. Hopefully, we’ll catch him either arriving at their house, or them going to him,” Coop says, setting a copy of the letter on the table in front of him.

They took the original for evidence after they made copies for everyone. Ethan is sitting with Mina in one of the interrogation rooms while we discuss Danny. Not that she couldn’t be in here, but after she read the letter, she just sort of zoned out and shut down.

The lead investigator, Harrow, pipes in. “I think what’s more important is that he’s expecting her home in five days. This got delivered the day after he mailed it, so now four days. He didn’t say where to meet, but we can assume that with her ‘first rule’ of immediately returning home, he’s going to be close by, expecting her there.”

“So, we put someone in the house to wait for him,” Vincent interjects.

Cooper shakes his head. “That’s not going to work. I highly doubt he’ll just show up there and wait for her. I think Harrow is right. He’s going to watch and wait.”

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