Chapter 4 - The InvestigationDominic's secret plan began before the weddingThe report arrived at 8:14 that evening.
It was 146 pages.
I read the first ten in silence.
The eleventh made me sick.
The twelfth made me angry.
By the twentieth, I no longer recognized the man I had married.
Dominic had hired a private investigator six weeks before our engagement.
The investigator documented my apartment.
My work schedule.
My friendships.
My father's known associations.
Even the license plates of cars parked near my home.
But there was one strange detail.
The investigator had concluded that my father had no significant public financial activity.
That was not true.
It was what Dad wanted the world to believe.
His military career had made him highly recognizable.
His financial life had not.
The report noted:
Subject Audrey Brooks appears financially independent but deliberately maintains a low-profile lifestyle.
Potential family assets remain unclear.
Dominic had not known exactly what I owned.
But he suspected I owned something.
That was enough.
Elena turned a page.
“Look here.”
I did.
Six months after our wedding, Dominic had contacted the same investigator.
The request was simple.
Identify any inheritance Audrey may receive.
My fingers went cold.
Another page.
Determine whether Charles Brooks has undisclosed holdings.
Another.
Determine whether Audrey has access to military-related trust structures.
Dad leaned back.
“He was fishing.”
“For money?”
“For leverage.”
Elena nodded.
“That is our working theory.”
I looked at Dad.
“Why would he think I'd inherit something?”
Dad hesitated.
Then he told me something I had never heard.
“Your mother established a trust for you.”
I stared at him.
“How much?”
“It isn't important.”
“It is to me.”
Dad smiled faintly.
“Your mother would say the same thing.”
I waited.
He finally said:
“Enough to make certain people behave badly.”
I felt exhausted.
“All these years…”
“I wanted you to live normally.”
“I did.”
Dad looked at me.
“Until you married Dominic.”
The room fell silent.
Then my phone buzzed.
An incoming call.
The screen showed my father-in-law's name.
I answered.
He sounded nervous.
“Audrey.”
“Yes?”
“You need to be careful.”
“About what?”
“Dominic isn't telling you the truth.”
“I know.”
“No.”
His voice dropped.
“You don't.”
I sat up.
“What are you talking about?”
He glanced away from whoever was around him.
“Your husband owes people money.”
“How much?”
“I don't know.”
“You must know something.”
“I know enough to tell you this.”
His breathing became uneven.
“Your marriage was never the whole plan.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Then the line went dead.
I called back.
No answer.
Dad looked at Elena.
“Locate him.”
Within twenty minutes, we learned that he had left the restaurant.
We tracked his vehicle through downtown.
Then his phone disappeared.
I couldn't stop thinking about what he said.
Your marriage was never the whole plan.
At midnight, another message arrived.
Unknown number.
You need to leave Manhattan tonight.
I showed Dad.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever sent this wants you to panic.”
“What if they're telling the truth?”
Dad stood.
“Then they should tell you why.”
He gave the phone to Elena.
“We'll trace it.”
The next morning, Dominic returned to the apartment.
Security footage showed him entering alone.
He looked exhausted.
He opened the door.
Then froze.
Because the apartment was empty.
His clothes were still there.
But everything belonging to me and Leo was gone.
On the kitchen counter sat a single envelope.
Dominic opened it.
Inside was a copy of the vehicle title.
A second page.
A third.
Then a handwritten note.
Stop using what isn't yours.
He crushed the note.
“She's bluffing.”
Victoria entered behind him.
“What happened?”
“She left.”
Victoria went pale.
“What did you do?”
Dominic turned.
“What did I do?”
“You should have brought her back.”
“She'll come back.”
“No.”
The answer came from the doorway.
Dominic turned.
His father stood there.
“She's not coming back.”
Dominic frowned.
“What are you saying?”
His father looked at the empty apartment.
“You married the wrong woman.”
Dominic laughed.
“You have no idea what you're talking about.”
His father didn't smile.
“I know exactly what I'm talking about.”
He walked toward the table.
“I saw the name on the legal documents.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“What name?”
His father looked at him.
“Charles Brooks.”
Dominic frowned.
“Who?”
His father stared at him in disbelief.
“You don't know?”
“No.”
His father whispered:
May you like
“Then you have no idea what you've done.”
End of Chapter 4For the first time, Dominic heard the name Charles Brooks spoken with fear.
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