Chapter 3 - THE ORIGINAL REPORTI couldn't feel my fingers.
"Who changed it?"
Richard closed his briefcase.
"Someone with enough influence to make the police disappear."
"Who?"
He looked at Flynn.
I turned toward my husband.
Flynn didn't deny it.
That terrified me more than anything.
"You knew."
"I knew something was wrong."
"You knew my father was murdered."
"I suspected."
"You suspected?"
My voice echoed through the parking garage.
"You knew enough to hide it from me for three years."
Flynn stepped closer.
"I was trying to protect you."
I laughed.
The sound was bitter.
"Every time you betrayed me, you called it protection."
He looked away.
Richard interrupted.
"There's more."
He pulled out another document.
"This is the original trust agreement."
He placed it in my hands.
I read the first page.
The words blurred.
I read it again.
Then I saw my father's signature.
The agreement stated that I owned a controlling interest in Vance Global.
But there was a second condition.
Flynn Vance was appointed temporary steward of the assets until Mabel Hart requested full control.
Temporary.
For twelve years.
I looked up.
"Temporary?"
Richard nodded.
"Your father never intended Flynn to own the company."
"Then why did he put him in charge?"
"Because Flynn was the only person your father trusted to protect you."
My laugh disappeared.
"Clearly that went well."
Richard hesitated.
"That depends on what you think betrayal looks like."
"What does that mean?"
He opened another file.
"Your father's security team discovered an internal theft operation at Vance Global."
"How much?"
"Over $180 million."
I stared.
"Who?"
Richard looked at Flynn.
"Several executives."
"And Flynn?"
"He stopped them."
I looked at my husband.
"Then why did he keep all of this secret?"
Flynn finally spoke.
"Because the people behind it weren't executives."
"Who were they?"
He stared at me.
"Your father's board."
My skin prickled.
Richard nodded.
"Your father discovered they had been moving money through offshore companies."
"They wanted the company."
"Yes."
"Then why did they need me?"
Richard looked at the trust document.
"Because after your father's death, you became the only person capable of legally stopping them."
A strange realization hit me.
The necklace.
Selina.
The apartment.
The affair.
Maybe they were all distractions.
Maybe Flynn had deliberately spent years making me look away from the company.
But why?
I looked at him.
"Did you marry me because my father ordered you to?"
His silence lasted three seconds.
Those three seconds destroyed what was left of our marriage.
"Answer me."
Flynn finally said:
"At first."
I felt the floor disappear beneath me.
"At first?"
"I was assigned to protect you."
"Assigned?"
"Your father knew someone was coming after you."
"And then?"
Flynn's eyes filled with something I couldn't identify.
"Then I actually fell in love with you."
I wanted to believe him.
That was the cruelest part.
A twelve-year marriage.
A daughter.
A thousand memories.
How much of it had been real?
I looked at Richard.
"You said the people behind the theft wanted control of the company."
"Yes."
"Do they still?"
Richard nodded.
"More than ever."
"Why now?"
He hesitated.
Then he handed me a document.
"This was filed six weeks ago."
I scanned it.
My name was listed as the beneficiary.
And beside it was a legal petition requesting a declaration that I was mentally incapable of managing the estate.
I stared.
"What is this?"
Richard's expression hardened.
"They are preparing to have you declared incompetent."
My blood ran cold.
"Who filed it?"
Richard said nothing.
I looked at the signature.
My heart stopped.
The petition had been filed by:
Flynn Vance.
I looked at my husband.
May you like
He whispered:
"Because they forced me to."
