Chapter 4 - Winston Was Accused of Betraying Brooklyn—And She Had to Decide Whether She Could Trust Him After Everything
The accusation came quickly.
Someone leaked documents proving Winston's signature appeared on accounts connected to Bradley.
News outlets exploded.
Winston's legitimate companies were investigated.
His enemies celebrated.
Brooklyn stared at the documents.
She could barely breathe.
“You signed these.”
“No.”
“It's your signature.”
“I know.”
“Then how?”
“I don't know.”
She looked at him.
“I need time.”
He nodded.
“You have it.”
He left.
No pressure.
No anger.
No manipulation.
That made her more suspicious.
For two days, Brooklyn stayed at a hotel.
She investigated independently.
She found something.
The signatures had been copied digitally.
The accounts were opened while Winston was hospitalized five years earlier.
Someone had access to his private files.
Someone close.
Then she found the name.
Marco Bellini.
Winston's most trusted financial adviser.
Brooklyn called him.
He answered.
“Mrs. Marchetti.”
Brooklyn froze.
“Don't call me that.”
He laughed.
“You will be.”
She hung up.
Then she called Winston.
“Come back.”
He arrived within twenty minutes.
“What happened?”
“Marco.”
His expression changed.
“You found something.”
“Yes.”
She showed him the records.
Winston studied them.
“Where did you get these?”
“From Marco.”
Silence.
“Why would he give them to you?”
“He didn't.”
She looked at him.
“I tricked him.”
Winston almost smiled.
“There she is.”
“What?”
“The woman from the diner.”
Brooklyn smiled.
“Don't get sentimental.”
They exposed Marco.
But before authorities could arrest him, he disappeared.
He left one message.
You are looking for the wrong enemy.
Brooklyn frowned.
Again.
The wrong enemy.
Then she remembered her mother's letter.
The trust.
The three families.
One missing heir.
Winston's father had been protecting something.
Bradley's grandfather wanted control.
What if the true mastermind wasn't any of them?
Winston searched old records.
A name surfaced.
Eleanor Whitfield.
Bradley's grandmother.
She had died ten years ago.
Or so everyone believed.
Brooklyn found evidence she was alive.
Living under another name in Vermont.
They went.
Eleanor confessed.
She had created the original plan.
She had arranged Brooklyn's marriage.
She had ordered the manipulation of the fertility records.
She had paid Richard.
She had used Marco.
But she denied ordering Brooklyn's murder.
“Then who did?” Winston asked.
Eleanor looked at Brooklyn.
“Your husband.”
Brooklyn's blood ran cold.
“No.”
“He was desperate.”
“He couldn't repay Richard.”
“So he made a separate deal.”
“With whom?”
“Gabriel Stone.”
Winston's expression hardened.
“Stone.”
His biggest rival.
The one man who had tried to kill Winston years earlier.
Eleanor nodded.
“Gabriel promised to erase Bradley's debts.”
“In exchange for?”
Brooklyn.
Her death.
And access to the trust.
Winston went still.
“Then Richard wasn't the mastermind.”
“No.”
“Bradley wasn't either.”
“Not completely.”
Eleanor looked at Brooklyn.
“Your husband wanted you dead.”
“But Gabriel wanted the trust.”
“Yes.”
Brooklyn cried.
Eleanor continued:
“Bradley thought if he killed you, he would get the insurance.”
“Gabriel promised more.”
Brooklyn looked at Winston.
“And you?”
“What?”
“Why protect me?”
He answered immediately.
“Because I couldn't watch the world take the one person who reminded me kindness still existed.”
She cried.
He stepped closer.
“You don't have to love me.”
She looked at him.
“But I need you to know I'm not going anywhere.”
She whispered:
“I think I already trust you.”
He smiled.
“Good.”
She kissed him.
It wasn't perfect.
It wasn't planned.
It was real.
Then Gabriel Stone called.
“You chose him.”
Brooklyn answered.
“Yes.”
Gabriel laughed.
“Then I'll take your father instead.”
Brooklyn froze.
“My father is dead.”
“That's what you believe.”
The call ended.
Winston looked at her.
May you like
“Your father might be alive.”
---
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