Chapter 5 - General BrooksThe husband finally learns who Audrey's father isDominic searched the name that night.
Charles Brooks.
At first, he found almost nothing.
That made him more nervous.
Then he found an old military article.
A photograph appeared.
A younger version of my father in uniform.
Dominic scrolled.
Four-star general.
Combat command.
Pentagon leadership.
National strategic assignments.
He stared at the screen.
“No.”
He searched again.
Different article.
Same man.
Another photograph.
Another uniform.
Another award ceremony.
Then a retired military profile.
General Charles Brooks.
Dominic leaned back.
His face went pale.
“That's her father?”
Victoria was standing behind him.
She stared at the screen.
“I told you something about her family was strange.”
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
Dominic slammed the laptop shut.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know.”
He looked toward the hallway.
“What exactly does she have access to?”
Victoria didn't answer.
Dominic's father entered.
“Enough.”
Everyone turned.
He placed a folder on the counter.
“You need to stop.”
Dominic laughed nervously.
“Stop what?”
“Everything.”
“What did I do?”
His father opened the folder.
“Forged signatures.”
Silence.
“Unauthorized loans.”
Another page.
“False representations to investors.”
Dominic swallowed.
“And now?”
“Now you've made a mistake you can't reverse.”
Dominic stared at him.
“I can fix this.”
“No.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
His father leaned closer.
“You abandoned your wife outside a hospital.”
Dominic looked away.
“You humiliated her.”
Silence.
“You took the vehicle belonging to her father.”
Dominic shook his head.
“I didn't know.”
“That's the problem.”
His father tapped the folder.
“You thought she was powerless.”
Dominic whispered:
“She never told me.”
“You never asked.”
That sentence hit him harder than anything else.
Across town, I sat in Elena's office.
Dad was beside me.
The divorce petition had been drafted.
So had the financial preservation orders.
A judge had already granted temporary restrictions preventing Dominic from moving certain assets.
I stared at the documents.
“This is really happening.”
“Yes,” Elena said.
I signed.
My hand didn't shake.
Then Dad's phone rang.
He listened.
His expression became unreadable.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“Say that again.”
The caller spoke.
Dad's jaw tightened.
“Where?”
He stood.
“Send everything to Elena.”
Then he hung up.
“What happened?”
“Dominic transferred money this morning.”
“How much?”
“Three million dollars.”
My stomach dropped.
“To where?”
“An offshore account.”
Elena immediately opened her laptop.
“Do we know whose?”
Dad shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Then he looked at me.
“There's more.”
“What?”
“The transfer was made using your identity.”
The room went silent.
I felt as if the air had disappeared.
“He framed me.”
“Not yet.”
Dad's voice stayed calm.
“But that's what he's trying to do.”
Elena's face hardened.
“We need to move now.”
We spent the next six hours building a legal timeline.
Every transaction.
Every signature.
Every email.
Every questionable message.
At 7:32 p.m., Elena found something.
She turned the laptop toward me.
“This is important.”
I read the document.
It was an internal communication from Dominic's company.
The author was a woman named Vanessa Reed.
I recognized the name.
Vanessa was Dominic's executive assistant.
The message had been sent three months before our wedding.
It contained one sentence.
Once Audrey marries him, access should be much easier.
I stared at the screen.
“Access to what?”
Elena opened the next attachment.
A financial map.
Trusts.
Properties.
Investment accounts.
Military pension structures.
And one line in red.
Primary objective: determine extent of Brooks family resources.
I felt sick.
Dad closed his eyes.
“That settles it.”
“What?”
“This wasn't a marriage.”
I looked at him.
May you like
“It was an acquisition.”
End of Chapter 5Audrey had married a man who had been studying her family like a balance sheet.
Related Stories
