Chapter 3 - She Discovered the Other Woman Was Being Betrayed TooAva spent the next three days gathering information.
She did not confront Chloe.
She did not send her the photograph.
She did not reveal that she knew about the pregnancy treatment or the secret accounts.
Instead, she learned everything she could.
Chloe Bennett had worked at Briarstone for seven years.
Her father, Richard Bennett, was one of the firm's senior partners.
Grant's promotion was tied directly to Richard's retirement.
The relationship between Grant and Chloe had started shortly after Grant began managing one of Richard's private portfolios.
Then came the purchases.
Jewelry.
Travel.
A condo deposit.
A luxury vehicle.
Every major expense had been disguised as a business benefit.
Ava began to see the pattern.
Grant didn't have one life.
He had several.
One for Ava.
One for Chloe.
One for Briarstone.
And one hidden behind Elliot Crane.
On Monday morning, Ava received a call from Chloe.
She almost didn't answer.
"Hello?"
"Is this Ava?"
Ava recognized the voice.
"Yes."
"This is Chloe Bennett."
Ava's stomach tightened.
"What can I do for you?"
There was silence.
Then Chloe said, "I think Grant is lying to both of us."
Ava sat down.
"What makes you say that?"
"Because he told me you're unstable."
Ava smiled bitterly.
"That sounds like him."
"He also told me you were planning to ruin his career."
"Interesting."
"And yesterday I found a document."
"What kind?"
"An account."
Ava said nothing.
Chloe continued.
"Grant created it before we started dating."
"What's in it?"
"Money."
"How much?"
"Enough."
Ava waited.
"Enough for what?"
"To disappear."
Ava's pulse quickened.
"Why are you telling me?"
"Because I think he's planning to leave."
"With you?"
"No."
Ava leaned forward.
"Then with whom?"
"I don't know."
The answer came with fear.
Chloe had begun to realize she was not the winner.
She was another piece on Grant's board.
Ava asked, "Where are you?"
Chloe gave her an address.
They met at a quiet coffee shop.
For several minutes, neither woman spoke.
Chloe looked nervous.
Ava noticed how young she seemed without makeup.
"You hate me," Chloe said.
Ava stirred her coffee.
"I don't know you."
"You should."
"You slept with my husband."
"I know."
"For two years."
"I know."
"Did he tell you we were trying to have a baby?"
Chloe lowered her eyes.
"No."
Ava laughed once.
"He told me he had stopped trying."
Chloe's face changed.
"He told me you couldn't have children."
Ava stared at her.
"What?"
"He said you'd been trying for years. He said doctors found a problem."
Ava's heart broke in a completely different place.
"He lied."
Chloe whispered.
"I'm sorry."
Ava looked at her.
"Do you know why he was paying for your treatments?"
Chloe's eyes widened.
"What treatments?"
"Your fertility appointments."
Chloe went pale.
Ava slid a copy of the document across the table.
Chloe stared at it.
Then covered her mouth.
"He told me it was a medical reimbursement."
Ava almost felt sorry for her.
Almost.
Then Chloe said something that changed the entire investigation.
"Grant told me he wanted a child."
Ava looked up.
"What?"
"He said he wanted to start over with me."
Ava shook her head.
"That's not what he told me."
Chloe swallowed.
"What did he tell you?"
"That he wanted to have a baby with you because he knew you would be easy to control."
Chloe's face crumpled.
Ava didn't soften the truth.
"We were both manipulated."
Chloe whispered.
"What do we do?"
Ava looked directly at her.
"We stop fighting each other."
That was the moment the two women made an alliance neither Grant nor anyone at Briarstone saw coming.
Chloe had access to the company.
Ava had access to the household finances.
Daniel had the legal records.
Three separate pieces of Grant's life.
Together, they formed a picture.
And the picture was ugly.
Grant had been using client funds to cover personal transfers.
Some of the money had passed through shell companies.
Some had been routed through Elliot Crane.
Others had been used to buy property under fake names.
But the worst discovery came from Chloe.
She brought Ava an audio file.
Grant and Richard Bennett.
They were discussing the succession plan.
Grant said:
"Once Richard steps down, the board won't resist."
Richard replied:
"Don't underestimate Ava."
Grant laughed.
"She'll sign whatever I put in front of her."
Richard laughed too.
Ava stopped the recording.
"Your father knew."
Chloe looked devastated.
"My father knew everything."
"Then why did he let Grant marry me?"
"I think he thought Grant would bring stability."
Ava stared at her.
"Stability?"
Chloe's eyes filled.
"He thought you were an obstacle."
Ava's anger returned.
Not loud.
Not explosive.
Cold.
That evening, Ava returned home.
Grant was waiting with flowers.
"What's this?"
He smiled.
"I want to make things right."
"Why?"
"Because I love you."
She touched the flowers.
"You've been distant."
"I've been stressed."
"About what?"
"Work."
She looked at him.
"Do you still want children?"
He hesitated.
"Of course."
"What if we never have them?"
"I'd still want you."
Ava smiled.
"That's sweet."
She kissed his cheek.
Then she walked upstairs.
In the bathroom, she cried.
Not because she believed him.
Because she couldn't believe she had once thought his voice was safe.
The next morning, Daniel called.
"We found the first break."
"What?"
"Your husband's property transfer wasn't completed."
"Why?"
"He needed your signature."
Ava froze.
"But he told me I had signed it."
"You haven't."
Ava smiled.
"Then he has a problem."
"No."
Daniel's voice was calm.
"He has a trap."
"What kind?"
"He wants you to sign electronically."
Ava thought about her laptop.
Her email.
The household tablet.
The devices Grant could access.
Daniel continued.
"If you sign, he can claim you knowingly transferred the asset."
Ava stared out the window.
"So that's the plan."
"Yes."
"He wants me to sign my own ruin."
"Exactly."
Ava smiled.
"Then let's give him a signature."
Daniel paused.
"Not yours."
That night, Ava prepared a fake digital document.
Not to deceive a court.
Only to make Grant believe she had accepted the transfer while preserving the original evidence.
She used a controlled environment Daniel had arranged.
At 11:42 P.M., Grant's email received it.
At 11:50, he opened it.
At 11:52, Chloe received a message.
He's moving.
At 11:53, Daniel received the same.
The seventeen-day countdown had become fourteen.
May you like
And Grant had no idea his wife was no longer trying to save her marriage.
She was building a case.
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