Carmen María Montiel - Stolen Identity

Table of contents

Dedication Dedication To my family, for showing me once again what unconditional love is. To my successful lawyers, for having had faith in me and for fighting for my children and me. To my children, for teaching me the innate integrity that human beings have. At their young age, they gave me daily lessons that allowed me to continue. Thank you for having been able to smile despite the darkness and for giving Mommy those little glimpses of happiness in the worst moments. Thank you for being able to get ahead and for taking the positive of this experience to get your lives on track. Alexandra, Kamee and Juan Diego: you saved me. I love you more than anything in life.

Introduction Introduction Marriage can be the safest relationship or the most dangerous one. Toward the end of my marriage, I knew I was living the second option, but colud not dare do anything about it. Domestic violence is a silent killer. It happens behind closed doors at home. In fact, every nine seconds a woman is the victim of domestic violence. In my case, killing me was too obvious! The next best thing was burying me alive by sending me to prison. Like most women, I did not know I was a victim of domestic violence. The abuser starts with a combination of mental and psychological abuse to destroy the victim’s self-esteem and confidence first, then progresses to physical violence. My abuser husband was able to diminish me with years of emotional, psychological, physical and substance abuse. He thought he finally had me out of the way, so he could enjoy life as he wanted, spending our money and indulging his sex addiction. But despite being nearly destroyed, I managed to retain my dignity even while being forced to allow him to lead a double life as a respected family man with a successful medical practice and a husband who cheated on his wife with prostitutes, often in their own home. I loved my husband and worked hard to build a family and our business. I never imagined he could hurt me, much less try to destroy me. Like most abuse victims, I never thought when he hurt me that it was intentional. After every assault, I recreated the incident to see what I did that caused him to react violently. Stolen Identity goes beyond domestic violence to expose how difficult it is to recognize abusers, even for the authorities. This is the story of an abused immigrant woman who had no place to go or hide. A Catholic who believed in family and fought to save it for her children’s sake. In the end, however, because of her children, she had to get out of that vicious marriage to save herself.

Chapter 1. Fear

Chapter 2. Maracaibo

Chapter 3. Divorce and Plane

Chapter 4. The Road Back to God

Chapter 5. Caracas, Here We Come

Chapter 6. Miss Congeniality

Chapter 7. My Daughter, the Victim

Chapter 8. The First Setup

Chapter 9. The Pageant

Chapter 10. Overcoming My Fears

Chapter 11. The Brother Cover-up

Chapter 12. Houston, Here We Go

Chapter 13. The Game Changers

Chapter 14. I Saw Evil

Chapter 15. Ignoring Me

Chapter 16. The Stanford Bank Disaster

Chapter 17. The Guns

Chapter 18. The God Syndrome

Chapter 19. My Life

Chapter 20. The Burglary

Chapter 21. My Mother, the Entrepreneur

Chapter 22. Trying to Institutionalize Me

Chapter 23. The Pageant II

Chapter 24. The Game Changers II

Chapter 25. I Probably Laughed Too Hard

Chapter 26. The Silence

Chapter 27. Divorce

Chapter 28. Get Back on the Horse

Chapter 29. The Suicide Threats

Chapter 30. The White Stuff

Chapter 31. The Foundation

Chapter 32. The Thief

Chapter 33. The Blackouts and Medications

Chapter 34. The Second Setup

Chapter 35. The Police

Chapter 36. The Plane

Chapter 37. Men Behaving Badly

Chapter 38. The Trial

Chapter 39. Oliver

Chapter 40. White for Dinner and Black for the Opera

Chapter 41. The Trial II

Chapter 42. My Daughter, My Savior

Chapter 43. Divorce Trial

Chapter 44. The Prostitutes

Chapter 45. Divorce Trial: Him

Chapter 46. Vindication

Photo Gallery

–My Life

–The Violence

Copyright

Stolen Identity

A Story Of Love, Violence And Liberation

Carmen María Montiel

@carmenmariamontiel

@CarmenMaMontiel

@carmenmontielofficial

Carmen María Montiel

Venezuelan journalist based in the United States. She was Miss Venezuela, Miss South America and second runner-up in Miss Universe in 1984. She completed her journalism studies in the United States with the distinction magna cum laude . In 1991, she joined the ranks of Telemundo-CNN reporters, becoming the news anchor in Houston, Texas. She is currently a successful businesswoman who is dedicated to charitable work, helping those most in need, especially women victims of domestic violence.

www.carmenmaria.today

This book is a fictional memoir based on my recollections of actual events, locations and conversations. Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

To all women that are suffering abuse in silent, those who have already been able to free themselves and those who did not live to tell their stories.

To my family, for showing me once again what unconditional love is.

To my successful lawyers, for having had faith in me and for fighting for my children and me.

To my children, for teaching me the innate integrity that human beings have. At their young age, they gave me daily lessons that allowed me to continue. Thank you for having been able to smile despite the darkness and for giving Mommy those little glimpses of happiness in the worst moments. Thank you for being able to get ahead and for taking the positive of this experience to get your lives on track. Alexandra, Kamee and Juan Diego: you saved me. I love you more than anything in life.

Marriage can be the safest relationship or the most dangerous one. Toward the end of my marriage, I knew I was living the second option, but colud not dare do anything about it.

Domestic violence is a silent killer. It happens behind closed doors at home. In fact, every nine seconds a woman is the victim of domestic violence. In my case, killing me was too obvious! The next best thing was burying me alive by sending me to prison.

Like most women, I did not know I was a victim of domestic violence. The abuser starts with a combination of mental and psychological abuse to destroy the victim’s self-esteem and confidence first, then progresses to physical violence.

My abuser husband was able to diminish me with years of emotional, psychological, physical and substance abuse. He thought he finally had me out of the way, so he could enjoy life as he wanted, spending our money and indulging his sex addiction.