“You know why I’m here?” she asked.
“You said you’re working on my husband’s case, so I’m assuming it’s about that. How can I help?”
I set my elbows on the table, clasping my hands, hoping I was projecting a calm image.
“I won’t beat around the bush. You’re under the suspicion of having committed marriage fraud.”
My stomach bottomed out, but I held my chin high, didn’t allow any emotions to show.
“What do you have to say to that?” the officer pushed.
“I’m a lawyer. I work by the credo, innocent until proven guilty. Of course, it’s not true.”
“The timeline of your marriage is very suspicious.”
“And why is that?”
“You went from engaged to married in three weeks.”
“My parents met at a wedding, and they were married within the month.” It wasn’t even a lie.
“Ms. Gallagher, you are aware of the penalties for a sham marriage, right?”
“As I said, I’m a lawyer. You can rest assured I wouldn’t do anything against the law.”
“I see. And yet your marriage has raised several red flags. Why did you keep your name?”
“You consider that a red flag? I’m a lawyer, I have a reputation. People know my name. I didn’t want to lose that brand awareness.”
“Or you didn’t want to have to go through the process of changing it back after Mr. Caldwell received his green card.”
“Look, you can twist this however you want. I can just tell you the facts.”
“If you were to confess to the sham, I am sure I can work out a lower penalty for you.”
I narrowed my eyes. She thought she could turn me against Hunter? This woman didn’t know who she was dealing with.
“I know you’re just trying to do your job, but there’s a difference between questioning and intimidation. You cannot intimidate me. Frankly, your insinuations are offensive. So unless you have any more questions about facts, we can wrap this up.”
She scoffed, taking out a small notebook from her bag.
“When did you two meet?”
“In high school.”
“And you were friends for fifteen years?”
“Yes.”
“When did that friendship turn into a romantic entanglement?”
When he kissed me for the first time.
I couldn’t say that, of course. Instead, I pasted what I hoped passed as a dreamy expression on my face and repeated the story Hunter and I had concocted. One night about a year ago, after he drove me home from an event we’d both attended, I invited him upstairs and we ended up in bed. After that, we were friends with benefits for some months.
“But both you and Mr. Caldwell were seeing other people at that time.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. Who had they been talking to?