Chapter 3 - I Returned to the Mansion I Escaped From—and Found a Secret Contract With My Name on ItThe mansion looked exactly the way I remembered.
Perfect.
Cold.
Beautiful.
Wrong.
Adrian entered first.
His men secured every room.
I stood in the foyer.
My hand shook.
“You okay?”
I nodded.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“You don't have to pretend with me.”
I swallowed.
“That's harder than pretending.”
“I know.”
We went downstairs.
The basement door had three locks.
Adrian's men opened them.
Inside was an archive.
Boxes.
Computers.
Files.
Photographs.
I found one with my name.
I opened it.
Every detail of my life had been documented.
Medical records.
Bank accounts.
Family history.
Travel.
Friends.
Even conversations.
My stomach twisted.
“He was monitoring me.”
Adrian said nothing.
I opened another folder.
My signature appeared on a document.
I read it.
The marriage agreement.
But there was a hidden clause.
I had signed away my independent assets.
Any property I acquired during the marriage belonged to Damian.
Any attempt to separate could trigger financial penalties.
And one sentence made my blood run cold.
If Isabella Trent attempts to dissolve the marriage, all jointly held assets shall remain under the exclusive control of Damian Voss until the matter is resolved.
I looked at Adrian.
“He trapped me.”
“Yes.”
“Legally.”
“Partly.”
“What do you mean?”
“The contract was altered after you signed it.”
I stared.
“What?”
He showed me the metadata.
The clause had been added months after the wedding.
Someone had forged my consent.
My hands went numb.
“Can you prove it?”
“Yes.”
“Then why haven't you shown me earlier?”
“Because I needed the original system.”
He pointed to a computer.
“This contains the audit trail.”
We accessed it.
There were messages.
Damian.
Graham Cross.
And another name.
Lydia Trent.
My mother.
I stopped breathing.
“My mother?”
Adrian nodded.
“What was she doing in this?”
We opened the messages.
Damian:
Your daughter will never know the truth.
Lydia:
As long as you keep her safe.
Damian:
You have my word.
I stared.
“What truth?”
Another message.
Lydia:
She cannot know her father was murdered.
My heart stopped.
My father.
Murdered.
I sat down.
My mother had known.
Damian had known.
Everyone had known.
Except me.
Adrian crouched beside me.
“You don't have to read everything tonight.”
“I need to.”
We found photographs.
My father.
Damian's father.
Adrian.
And another man.
Gideon Voss.
Damian's uncle.
The real architect behind the Voss empire.
He had supposedly died twenty-five years earlier.
But the files showed otherwise.
Gideon was alive.
And he had been funding Damian's business expansion.
I looked at Adrian.
“Why?”
“Because Damian was never the true power.”
“What was he?”
“A successor.”
“To Gideon?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Damian act independent?”
“Because Gideon expected him to.”
I felt sick.
“My whole marriage was part of this.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian showed me one final document.
A photograph of my father holding me as a child.
Underneath:
TRUST TRANSFERRED TO ISABELLA TRENT UPON MARRIAGE.
I looked at him.
“What trust?”
“Your father's private investment trust.”
“How much?”
Adrian told me.
I stared.
The amount was enormous.
“Why didn't Damian just take it?”
“Because he couldn't.”
“Why?”
“You had to voluntarily transfer control.”
I remembered every conversation.
Every document Damian pushed toward me.
Every time he called me naive.
He wasn't just controlling my life.
He had been trying to control my inheritance.
“What was his plan?”
“Marry you.”
“Pressure you.”
“Get you to sign.”
“Then isolate you.”
“Then destroy your credibility if you tried to leave.”
I looked at the documents.
He had built a cage around me.
Not from walls.
From paperwork.
Adrian looked at me.
“You have been fighting a prison you couldn't see.”
I wiped my tears.
“I want out.”
“You are.”
He stood.
“Now we make it permanent.”
Before we could leave, the lights went out.
Security shouted.
Gunfire erupted upstairs.
Adrian pulled me behind him.
“Stay down.”
Men rushed through the basement.
His team fought back.
We escaped through a hidden tunnel.
When we emerged, Adrian's phone rang.
Damian.
Adrian answered.
“What do you want?”
Damian's voice came through.
“Give her back.”
Adrian smiled.
“No.”
“You don't understand what you're interfering with.”
“I understand exactly.”
“She's my wife.”
Adrian looked at me.
“She is not your property.”
Damian went silent.
Then:
“Tell Isabella I will come for her myself.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Come.”
The call ended.
I looked at him.
“Did you really mean that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm tired of men like him believing money makes them untouchable.”
I took a breath.
“I'm scared.”
Adrian looked at me.
“So am I.”
I stared.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if he gets you, he will use you to hurt me.”
I frowned.
“Why would he care about you?”
Adrian's eyes darkened.
“Because I was once his greatest ally.”
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The truth was just beginning.
And I was about to discover how deep their history went.
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