Nobody spoke for several seconds.
I could hear the old clock ticking in the hallway.
One.
Two.
Three.
Each sound seemed louder than the last.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Arthur stood.
“It means Dominic never cared about owning Vanguard Horizon.”
Victor frowned.
“He stole millions.”
“Yes.”
“But that wasn't the objective.”
Arthur looked at me.
“He needed leverage.”
“Against me?”
“Against the Sterling family.”
I shook my head.
“That makes no sense.”
Arthur walked to the window.
“When you married Dominic, Father believed the marriage might eventually become a problem. He was right.”
“You knew before I did.”
“I knew something was wrong.”
“You should have told me.”
“I tried.”
I stared at him.
“When?”
“Before your wedding.”
My heart tightened.
“I don't remember.”
“You wouldn't.”
He turned.
“Father stopped me.”
Victor looked confused.
“Why?”
Arthur's voice became quiet.
“Because he believed Vivienne needed to make her own choice.”
I looked down at the letter.
My father had always been difficult. Protective to the point of suffocation.
But he had respected my independence.
Even when that independence had nearly destroyed me.
“What did Dominic want?”
Arthur answered.
“Access.”
“To what?”
“The Sterling succession.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I wasn't inheriting anything.”
“You were.”
I looked at him.
Arthur continued.
“Father changed the succession structure shortly before his death.”
Victor's face changed.
“You're saying Vivienne was the primary beneficiary?”
“Yes.”
I stared at my brothers.
I had spent years believing I was the least important person in my family.
Arthur had been the strategist.
Edward had been the financier.
Victor had been the enforcer.
I was the youngest.
The one who wanted an ordinary life.
Apparently my father had never seen me that way.
“What exactly did he leave me?”
Arthur hesitated.
“Controlling interest in Sterling Holdings.”
The words barely registered.
Victor looked at me.
“More than half?”
Arthur nodded.
“Enough to control the board.”
I sat down.
Dominic had not married an ordinary woman.
He had married the person who could eventually control the empire he had spent years trying to enter.
I thought about every conversation.
Every time he had asked about my family.
Every time he had joked that my brothers were too protective.
Every time he had asked whether my father had left me anything.
At the time, I had thought he was curious.
Now the questions looked different.
“When did Dominic learn?”
Arthur answered.
“Before the wedding.”
I closed my eyes.
The marriage I thought had begun with love suddenly had a shadow behind it.
Victor sat beside me.
“There's more.”
I looked at him.
He nodded toward the documents.
“Those accounts in your name were not created recently.”
“How old?”
“Seven years.”
The year after Sophia was born.
My stomach tightened.
“Who had access to my identity documents?”
Arthur looked away.
I knew.
Dominic.
“He used my information.”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“To establish financial structures in case the marriage ended.”
I stared at the table.
“So he planned for divorce.”
Arthur nodded.
“And he planned to leave me with nothing.”
Victor's voice became cold.
“He planned to make you appear financially irresponsible.”
I looked up.
“How?”
“Transfers.”
He pushed a file toward me.
“Money moved into accounts bearing your name. Then moved out again.”
I read the records.
Some transactions were enormous.
None were mine.
But if someone looked only at the account holder, it would appear that I had spent years moving money illegally.
I felt sick.
“He was building evidence.”
“Yes.”
“For a divorce.”
“Partly.”
I looked at Arthur.
“What else?”
He didn't answer.
Victor did.
“He wanted you discredited before he took control of the trust.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
“By proving you were incompetent to manage it.”
I understood.
Dominic didn't merely want my money.
He wanted to make me look unworthy of it.
He wanted my family to doubt me.
My brothers to take control.
And himself to become the reasonable husband standing nearby.
I remembered his words from the ballroom.
You have no idea what you've started.
He hadn't been threatening me.
He had been warning me that his entire plan was collapsing.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
No voice.
Only breathing.
Then a whisper.
“Don't trust Arthur.”
The call ended.
I looked at my brothers.
Victor immediately reached for his weapon.
Arthur stood frozen.
“Who was that?”
“I don't know.”
Victor took the phone.
“Trace it.”
Edward entered the library.
He looked at all of us.
“What happened?”
Victor handed him the phone.
“Someone called Vivienne.”
Edward listened to the recording.
His expression changed.
“That's Chloe.”
Arthur shook his head.
“No.”
Edward looked at him.
“I know her voice.”
Victor stared at Arthur.
“You said she was helping us.”
“She was.”
“Then why warn Vivienne against you?”
Arthur looked toward the documents.
“Because she knows.”
“Knows what?”
Arthur didn't answer.
Edward stepped closer.
“Arthur.”
Our oldest brother finally sat down.
“There was another person involved.”
“Who?”
Arthur looked at me.
“Your father.”
I frowned.
“He's dead.”
“Yes.”
“So how could he be involved?”
Arthur pointed to the letter.
“Because he left instructions that continued after his death.”
Victor stared at him.
“What instructions?”
Arthur opened another file.
Inside were photographs.
Dominic.
Chloe.
Harrison.
And a fourth person.
I recognized him immediately.
“That's Mr. Hale.”
Edward's face went pale.
Hale had been our father's attorney.
He had attended every important Sterling family meeting after our father's death.
Arthur nodded.
“He controlled the old trust records.”
Victor's voice hardened.
“And?”
“And he disappeared six months ago.”
I looked at the photograph.
“When?”
“Two weeks before Dominic started moving money.”
The connection was immediate.
Hale had given Dominic access.
Chloe had helped him operate it.
Arthur had discovered the scheme and tried to move money to protect me.
But there was still one question.
“Why did my father know Dominic was dangerous?”
Arthur looked at me.
“Because Dominic had already tried to approach him.”
“When?”
“Before you met.”
“Why didn't Father stop me?”
Arthur's eyes filled.
“He thought you deserved the chance to choose.”
I looked away.
For the first time that night, anger toward my father gave way to grief.
He had trusted me.
Even if he had been wrong about Dominic.
Edward looked at the screen.
“There is something else.”
He turned the laptop around.
A bank transfer was displayed.
The recipient was not Dominic.
Not Chloe.
Not Harrison.
The recipient was Hale.
The date was yesterday.
Victor stood.
“Hale is alive.”
Edward nodded.
“And the transfer came from an account connected to the Northbridge Trust.”
I stared at the screen.
“Can you locate him?”
Edward shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Victor's phone rang.
He answered.
“What?”
His face changed.
“Where?”
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“We found Hale.”
“Where?”
Victor's voice was low.
“At Vanguard Horizon.”
My blood ran cold.
“He was there tonight?”
“No.”
Victor paused.
“He was there five minutes ago.”
Then the lights in the library went out.
Click Here to continue read next: PART7: The Darkness Forced the Final Pieces Together, and the Person I Thought Had Betrayed Me Was Trying to Save My Life
The Woman at the Door Told Me My Marriage Was a Lie, While My Daughter Held a Gift for Her Father
Part 6 of 8
