Chapter 2 - My Wife Begged Me Not to Punish Them—Then I Discovered They Had Stolen Five Years of My Fortune in Her NameThe mansion became silent.
I took Emma upstairs.
She tried to stop me.
"Alex, please."
I turned.
"What?"
"Don't hurt them."
My jaw tightened.
"They hurt you."
"I know."
"Then why are you protecting them?"
"Because they're your family."
I stared at her.
That answer broke something inside me.
She was still protecting the people who had abused her.
I led her into our bedroom.
Nothing had changed.
At least, that was what I thought.
Then I looked closer.
My photographs were gone.
Our wedding picture was missing.
The closet had been emptied of my clothes.
The desk had been cleared.
Emma's side remained.
Barely.
There was one drawer containing old letters.
I opened it.
Every letter I had sent Emma from overseas was there.
Untouched.
Some had never been opened.
"Did you receive these?"
She shook her head.
"No."
I looked at the stack.
"Why?"
"My mother said you stopped writing."
My blood went cold.
"Who told you that?"
"Margaret."
I stared at the door.
Five years.
Five years of letters.
Five years of promises.
And Emma had been told I had forgotten her.
I opened another drawer.
Inside were bank statements.
Transfers.
Millions of dollars.
All authorized under Emma's name.
My name appeared on every document.
But the signatures were wrong.
Forgery.
Someone had been moving my money through accounts controlled by my family.
Emma sat on the bed.
"What is it?"
I handed her a statement.
Her hands trembled.
"I don't understand."
"Neither do I."
I called my financial director.
"How much?"
He checked.
His voice became careful.
"Approximately one hundred and eighty million."
Emma covered her mouth.
I stared at the wall.
One hundred and eighty million dollars.
Gone.
But money wasn't the worst part.
The transfers had been made through companies established in Emma's name.
If authorities investigated, it would look like Emma had stolen from me.
They had created a perfect scapegoat.
I understood then.
This wasn't simply greed.
It was a plan.
They intended to take everything.
And leave Emma responsible.
I called my lawyer.
"Freeze every family account."
"Mr. Kane—"
"Now."
"And the properties?"
"Everything."
Within thirty minutes, phones began ringing throughout the mansion.
Jennifer screamed.
Michael cursed.
My mother stormed upstairs.
"You have no right!"
I opened the bedroom door.
"Actually, Mother, I own this house."
She froze.
"This family owns it."
"No."
I stepped closer.
"I bought it."
She stared at me.
"I paid for every diamond you're wearing."
Her fingers moved toward her necklace.
"I paid for Jennifer's apartment."
She stepped backward.
"I paid for Michael's company."
Silence.
"And I paid for the roof over Emma's head."
My mother whispered:
"We were protecting the family."
"No."
I pointed toward the kitchen.
"You were destroying mine."
Jennifer appeared behind her.
"You can't treat us like criminals."
I laughed once.
"You stole from me."
She shook her head.
"You abandoned us for five years."
"I worked."
"You left."
"I built."
"You weren't here."
"I trusted you."
That silenced her.
Then Emma appeared behind me.
Jennifer looked at her.
"This is her fault."
I turned.
"What?"
"She manipulated you."
Emma flinched.
Jennifer continued.
"She always wanted your money."
I stared at Jennifer.
Then I smiled.
It was not a pleasant smile.
"Interesting."
She froze.
"Because I have five years of financial records."
I held up the file.
"And not one dollar transferred from me to Emma without my authorization."
Jennifer's face changed.
"But hundreds of millions went to you."
She had no answer.
Michael stepped forward.
"Alex, let's talk."
"No."
"You're angry."
"I'm furious."
"But we're brothers."
"You stopped being my brother when you stole from me."
He looked down.
Then he said something that changed everything.
"We didn't steal it."
I stared.
"Then who did?"
Michael looked toward Mother.
She closed her eyes.
I understood.
Someone else had been controlling them.
Someone higher.
Someone they feared.
That night, I ordered a complete investigation.
And before sunrise, we found the first name.
Daniel Cross.
My father's former attorney.
A man who had disappeared three years after my father's death.
A man who had recently returned to the city.
A man who had access to the original family trust.
And according to the documents...
he had been receiving money from my family for years.
Emma looked at the name.
"Who is he?"
May you like
I stared at the file.
"The man who may have started all of this."
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