Chapter 7 - THE HUSBAND I THOUGHT I KNEW
Derek stared at the broken watch.
“I never saw that engraving.”
“You expect me to believe you?”
“I don't know what to believe either.”
Dominic picked up the watch.
“There is blood on the strap.”
My stomach turned.
“Whose?”
“We don't know.”
Derek looked toward the darkness where Margaret had disappeared.
“She took the case.”
“Why would she?”
“To keep you from getting it.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Or to make you blame someone else.”
Derek nodded.
“That too.”
We returned to a secure property.
Derek surrendered his phone, keys, and business access.
For the first time in months, he had nothing left to hide behind.
He sat across from me.
“I'll tell you everything.”
I folded my arms.
“Start with Vanessa.”
He closed his eyes.
“She wasn't my mistress.”
I almost laughed.
“That's what every cheating husband says.”
“I know.”
“Then why bring her to the gala?”
“Because I needed people to believe our marriage was failing.”
“Why?”
“To make it look like you had no reason to stay involved in my business.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if someone is monitoring your financial moves.”
He looked at Dominic.
“The consortium needed you isolated.”
“And you thought humiliating me would protect me?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I thought making them underestimate you would buy time.”
I shook my head.
“You didn't protect me.”
“I know.”
He paused.
“I hurt you.”
That was the first thing he had said that mattered.
“What about Vanessa?”
“She agreed to help because I promised to protect her from my father.”
“Your father is dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then who was she afraid of?”
“The people working for him.”
I stared.
Derek reached into his pocket.
He placed a photograph on the table.
Vanessa with my father.
My father was handing her a folder.
“Why would Dad know her?”
“He hired her.”
“For what?”
“To watch me.”
I stared.
“Your father didn't trust you?”
“He didn't trust my father.”
“So Vanessa was spying on you.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Dominic.
He nodded.
“That matches what I know.”
The pieces were starting to fit.
Not cleanly.
But enough to see the shape.
I turned back to Derek.
“Why did you freeze the accounts?”
“To stop the consortium from moving money through our joint accounts.”
“You could have told me.”
“I was afraid someone was listening.”
“So you threatened me instead.”
“Yes.”
His voice cracked.
“There is no good defense for that.”
I said nothing.
He continued.
“When you were pregnant, I realized they had started watching the house.”
My hand moved to my stomach.
“How long?”
“Five months.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you still let me attend that gala?”
“I thought the gala was the safest place because there were cameras everywhere.”
I looked at him.
“You made me stand there while your supposed mistress touched you.”
“I needed them to believe we were divided.”
“Why?”
“Because there was one person they could not afford to see protecting you.”
I turned toward Dominic.
He didn't move.
“The Moretti family.”
Derek nodded.
“My father spent years trying to buy them out.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“He failed.”
“He did.”
“Why was your father obsessed with me?”
Derek looked down.
“Because your father kept one asset outside the consortium.”
“The trust.”
“Yes.”
“And my baby?”
“The next beneficiary.”
Silence.
Then Dominic asked:
“Where is the trust document?”
Derek looked at me.
“Your father's old study.”
I remembered the photograph.
The brass clock.
The green note.
“It's still there.”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I put it there.”
I stared at him.
“You found it years ago?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you give it to me?”
“Because the terms said the trust could only activate when you were married and carrying a direct heir.”
My stomach tightened.
“That's why.”
He nodded.
“The moment you became pregnant, the trust became vulnerable.”
I felt sick.
“Who else knew?”
“Margaret.”
“My mother.”
“Dominic.”
He paused.
“And one other person.”
“Who?”
Derek looked at me.
“Vanessa.”
I froze.
“She knew?”
“She was the one who warned me the consortium had found the trust.”
I remembered her red dress.
Her words.
Her hand on Derek's arm.
The way she had looked at me.
I had assumed she was mocking me.
Maybe she had been frightened too.
Then Dominic entered carrying the recovered metal case.
“We found Margaret.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“Gone.”
He placed the case on the table.
“It was left outside.”
Inside was a single letter.
My father's handwriting.
I unfolded it.
Khloe, if Derek brings you this letter, it means he finally chose you over his fear. Do not punish him for protecting you badly. But do not trust him blindly either. Ask him about the night I died.
I looked up.
“Derek.”
He went pale.
“What happened that night?”
He swallowed.
“I was there.”
“Where?”
“With your father.”
“What happened?”
He looked at Dominic.
Then at me.
“Your father discovered who was moving the money.”
“Who?”
Derek whispered:
“Margaret.”
I stared.
“But she said she was protecting him.”
“She believed that.”
“What did she do?”
Derek closed his eyes.
“She hired the driver.”
My heart stopped.
“The driver who crashed Dad's car?”
“Yes.”
Then he added something that changed everything again.
“But Margaret wasn't trying to kill your father.”
“Then what was she trying to do?”
“She was trying to stop him from exposing her.”
I could barely breathe.
“Who died in the car?”
Derek looked at me.
“Someone else.”
May you like
“Who?”
“My father.”
