Chapter 3 - The Woman My Husband Slept With Walked Into My Office Carrying Proof That Could Destroy HimLila Moreau came to see me three days later.
I didn't invite her.
She simply walked into my office with two security guards behind her.
“Mrs. Mercer.”
I looked up.
“I should have you removed.”
“You can.”
She placed a folder on my desk.
“But first, read this.”
I didn't touch it.
“Why should I?”
“Because it proves Dominic didn't tell you everything.”
My jaw tightened.
“I already know that.”
Lila took a breath.
“I know you hate me.”
“That would be an understatement.”
“I deserve it.”
That surprised me.
She sat down.
“I didn't sleep with Dominic because I wanted your husband.”
“Then why?”
“To survive.”
She opened the folder.
Inside were photographs of her younger brother.
He was tied to a chair.
Alive.
A gun pointed at his head.
My expression changed.
“Richard?”
She nodded.
“He has my brother.”
“So you worked for him.”
“Yes.”
“And Dominic knew?”
“Yes.”
“Did he love you?”
She looked directly at me.
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
“He used me to get information.”
“And you used him.”
“Yes.”
I looked at the photographs.
“Why come to me now?”
“Because Richard killed my brother last night.”
Silence.
Lila's voice broke.
“I have nothing left to protect.”
She handed me a flash drive.
“Everything is on there.”
“What's on it?”
“Communications between Richard, Graham, and several board members.”
I stared at her.
“You're telling me members of my board are working against me.”
“I’m telling you half the board is compromised.”
I connected the drive.
Files appeared.
Payments.
Meeting schedules.
Private recordings.
One recording stopped me.
Graham's voice.
“Once the child is born, the mother will lose her voting authority.”
A second voice.
Richard.
“And the husband?”
“Distracted.”
Richard laughed.
“By the mistress?”
“By guilt.”
I stared at the screen.
They had planned everything.
My isolation.
Dominic's affair.
The public embarrassment.
The timing.
Even the birth.
It had all been calculated.
Lila watched my face.
“They wanted you emotionally destroyed before Clara was born.”
“Why?”
“Because they needed you weak.”
I looked at her.
“You should have told me.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was Dominic.”
“Yes.”
“Fear doesn't excuse betrayal.”
“No.”
She looked down.
“I know.”
I closed the laptop.
“What does Richard want from Clara?”
“The trust.”
“Why can't he get it from me?”
“Because your father built a succession clause.”
I frowned.
“What succession clause?”
“Your father didn't trust adult heirs.”
I stared.
“Meaning?”
“The controlling rights pass through the bloodline in stages.”
“Clara.”
“Yes.”
“If I die…”
“Control transfers to the next generation.”
“And if Clara dies?”
Lila hesitated.
“Then the trust dissolves.”
I understood.
Richard wasn't after Clara because she could control the company.
He wanted her dead because her existence prevented him from seizing the trust.
The entire conflict had been built around an infant.
I stood.
“Where is Richard?”
“I don't know.”
“Where is Graham?”
“I don't know.”
“But you know someone who does.”
Lila smiled sadly.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Dominic.”
I found my husband that evening in the old family warehouse.
He stood alone among empty shipping crates.
“You should not have come here,” he said.
“I came because I have questions.”
He looked at me.
“About Lila?”
“About everything.”
He nodded.
“Ask.”
“Did you know Richard wanted Clara dead?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Graham was helping him?”
“I suspected.”
“You suspected.”
“I was trying to confirm it.”
I slammed the folder against his chest.
“You almost got our daughter killed.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe you were cheating because you thought it was protecting me.”
“Yes.”
“You know what the worst part is?”
He looked at me.
“I believed you were the only person I could trust.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You don't.”
I stepped closer.
“You think I am angry because you slept with another woman.”
“I know you are.”
“I am angry because you decided I was too weak to know the truth.”
He said nothing.
“You made a choice for both of us.”
“Yes.”
“And you almost lost us.”
“I did.”
He looked at me.
“I don't know how to fix that.”
“Then stop trying to fix it with money.”
That was when we heard footsteps.
The warehouse lights flickered.
A group of armed men entered.
Dominic immediately moved in front of me.
“Get behind me.”
I almost laughed.
“That's your idea of protection?”
“Evelyn.”
Gunfire erupted.
We ran.
Dominic pulled me behind a concrete pillar.
The attackers spread out.
I watched him.
This was the man people feared.
Cold.
Precise.
Dangerous.
But when someone aimed toward me, Dominic moved without hesitation.
He took the hit in his shoulder.
“Dominic!”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“I’ve had worse.”
“You're an idiot.”
He smiled.
“Probably.”
The attackers retreated when police sirens approached.
Someone had called them.
I looked at Dominic.
“You arranged that?”
“No.”
He frowned.
“Then who did?”
A message appeared on my phone.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
YOU TWO ARE FINALLY LEARNING TO WORK TOGETHER.
Then another:
DON'T TRUST LILA.
I showed Dominic.
His expression hardened.
“Who sent it?”
“I don't know.”
He looked at Lila's flash drive.
“She may be compromised.”
“You think she betrayed us?”
“I think everyone is compromised until proven otherwise.”
I looked at him.
“That sounds familiar.”
He almost smiled.
We returned to the office.
Vivian was waiting.
“I found the succession documents.”
She placed them on the desk.
There it was.
A clause my father had never mentioned.
The moment Clara turned eighteen, the trust became fully hers.
Until then, a guardian appointed by the Mercer family controlled it.
And the guardian named in the documents was…
Dominic Vale.
I stared at the page.
“No.”
Vivian nodded.
“Your father trusted him.”
Dominic looked shocked.
“My father never told me.”
“He didn't trust himself with the information,” Vivian said.
I stared at Dominic.
“Do you understand what this means?”
He nodded slowly.
“If anyone wants the trust, they have to eliminate me or control me.”
“And Clara.”
“Yes.”
The enemy didn't just want the company.
They wanted our entire family under their control.
Then Dominic's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What?”
I watched him.
He ended the call.
“Lila is missing.”
I stood.
“Find her.”
But before anyone moved, another message arrived.
A photograph of Lila.
Alive.
Standing beside Richard Vale.
And beneath the photograph was one sentence.
COME TO THE OLD VANCE HOTEL OR YOUR HUSBAND DIES.
I looked at Dominic.
Then at the photograph.
Lila was not tied up.
She wasn't being dragged.
She was standing freely beside Richard.
And that could only mean one thing.
May you like
She had chosen a side.
Or she was playing a game much deeper than we understood.
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