Chapter 3 - The ContractI could not speak.
Catherine pushed a second folder toward me.
“You need to read this before you decide what happens next.”
I opened it.
The first page was a prenuptial agreement.
I recognized my signature.
Then I saw the date.
Three months before the wedding.
“That’s impossible.”
Catherine watched me carefully.
“You signed this document?”
“No.”
“You remember signing anything?”
“No.”
My eyes raced over the pages.
My name appeared repeatedly.
Assets.
Waivers.
Power of attorney.
Transfer clauses.
And then I saw the final paragraph.
My throat tightened.
“If the marriage is dissolved within twelve months…”
I stopped reading.
Catherine finished it.
“…all assets designated as marital trust property become accessible to Julian Whitmore.”
I stared at her.
“Marital trust property?”
She nodded.
“Your father’s company.”
I laughed once.
It sounded broken.
“Why would I ever sign this?”
“You didn’t.”
A chill crawled down my back.
“Then who did?”
Catherine leaned forward.
“Someone forged your signature.”
I pushed the papers away.
“Then the whole thing is invalid.”
“Not necessarily.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because the Whitmores have been preparing for this.”
She removed another document.
“This was filed yesterday.”
I looked at it.
My blood turned cold.
A preliminary claim against Grant Meridian Holdings.
Filed by Julian Whitmore.
The allegation?
That I had transferred control of my inheritance to my husband upon marriage.
I stared at the signature.
Julian’s.
My heart began pounding.
“He was already suing my company?”
“Yes.”
“Before we got married?”
“Yes.”
“And my father knew?”
“He suspected.”
I covered my face.
Memories began crashing into each other.
My father warning me not to rush into marriage.
His unusual silence when I told him Julian proposed.
The strange conversation two weeks before my wedding.
“You trust people because you assume they have the same heart you do,” Dad had said.
I thought he was talking about business.
He had not been.
Catherine opened the last folder.
“There’s more.”
Inside was a USB drive.
“Your father told me to give you this only if you married Julian.”
I looked at it.
“What’s on it?”
“A recording.”
I inserted it into the laptop.
The screen flickered.
My father appeared.
He looked tired.
Older than I remembered.
My eyes filled instantly.
“Lena,” he said.
He always called me Lena.
“If you’re watching this, then you married Julian.”
I stopped breathing.
My father leaned closer to the camera.
“I hope I’m wrong.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“But I believe Julian is using you.”
The room seemed to tilt.
My father continued.
“Your marriage is not what it appears to be. Victoria Whitmore approached me six months ago.”
I stared at the screen.
“She wanted access to Grant Meridian.”
My father rubbed his forehead.
“I refused.”
He paused.
“She told me they would take it another way.”
The recording ended.
Silence filled the room.
I whispered, “Why didn’t he tell me?”
Catherine answered softly.
“Because he was afraid you would confront Julian.”
“And?”
“He wanted you to have evidence first.”
My phone suddenly rang.
Julian.
I watched his name flash across the screen.
I did not answer.
He called again.
Then again.
Finally, a text appeared.
Come home. We need to talk.
I stared at it.
Another message appeared.
Or I will make sure you regret leaving.
I looked at Catherine.
“What should I do?”
She took a slow breath.
“Now you stop running.”
I frowned.
“You said I had to leave.”
“I said you had to survive.”
She slid the USB drive toward me.
“Now we find out exactly how far they were planning to go.”
Then my phone buzzed again.
This time it was not Julian.
It was Victoria.
Only six words.
Your father left you a lie.
May you like
And beneath that:
Come back if you want the truth.
