Chapter 3 - COLE HAD BEEN PLANNING CHRISTMAS FOR MONTHS
Lauren read the guardianship petition three times.
Her name.
Her birth date.
Her address.
A psychiatric declaration she had never seen.
The document claimed she had exhibited postpartum instability.
Paranoia.
Erratic judgment.
Dangerous spending.
Inability to manage infant care without supervision.
Lauren’s hands shook.
“This is fake.”
“Yes.”
“I have never seen a psychiatrist.”
“The attached physician has never treated you.”
“So why does this exist?”
“Because a judge doesn’t need to believe everything permanently.”
Gabriel’s voice was controlled.
“He only needs enough confusion to freeze assets temporarily.”
Like her bank account.
Lauren suddenly understood.
Cole wasn’t punishing her for asking too many questions.
He was building a record.
The missed calls.
Her exhaustion.
The isolation.
The way he kept telling everyone she was “overwhelmed.”
His insistence that she stop working during pregnancy.
His suggestions that the twins were “too much” for her.
Every comment she had dismissed as selfishness now looked like preparation.
“When did he file this?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
While buying Sierra’s necklace.
Lauren nearly laughed.
The hospital room door opened.
A nurse checked the twins.
Both sleeping.
Fevers coming down.
Lauren waited until she left.
“Where is Cole now?”
Gabriel looked at his phone.
“Still at the Langham.”
“With her?”
“Yes.”
“Does he know I left?”
“Probably.”
Lauren’s phone rang.
Cole.
She stared at the screen.
Gabriel said nothing.
She answered.
“Where are you?”
His voice was sharp.
Not worried.
Angry.
“At the hospital.”
“With who?”
Lauren looked at Gabriel.
“Why?”
“Because the doorman said some man picked you up.”
“The twins needed care.”
“You took my children in a stranger’s car?”
My children.
Not our children.
She felt something cold settle inside her.
“You froze my accounts.”
Silence.
Then:
“We’ll discuss that.”
“No. We’ll discuss it now.”
“You are emotional.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.
Lauren understood suddenly.
He wanted her emotional.
He wanted recordings.
So she slowed her breathing.
“My bank access disappeared while both infants were sick. I am documenting that fact.”
Cole went quiet.
His tone changed.
“Lauren, you need rest.”
“I’m at a hospital.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“They’re my children.”
“Yes.”
“And I am their mother.”
She ended the call.
Gabriel looked almost impressed.
“Good.”
“I don’t need grading.”
“Fair.”
Twenty-three minutes later, Cole appeared at the hospital.
No Sierra.
No tie.
Hair wet from snow.
He looked furious until he saw Gabriel.
Then he stopped.
“Mercer.”
Lauren turned.
“You know him?”
Cole’s face answered.
Gabriel stood.
“Cole.”
The silence between them carried history.
Lauren looked from one man to the other.
“How?”
Cole ignored her.
“What are you doing with my wife?”
Gabriel’s voice stayed calm.
“Protecting her from paperwork you filed yesterday.”
Cole’s jaw tightened.
“You have no idea what you’re involving yourself in.”
“I have a better idea than she does.”
Lauren stepped between the words.
“Enough.”
Cole looked at her.
“Come home.”
“No.”
His eyes hardened.
“This man is dangerous.”
“So is freezing your wife’s bank account while your infants are sick.”
“That wasn’t me.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“Then say who authorized it.”
Cole said nothing.
Lauren asked again.
“Who?”
Cole looked toward the sleeping twins.
Then whispered:
“My father.”
Harrison Whitmore.
Lauren felt sick.
“Why?”
Cole closed his eyes.
“Because he knows about the trust.”
“So do you.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
Cole looked at her.
“Since before we got married.”
There it was.
May you like
The secret worse than the affair.
Cole had known about Lauren’s $84.6 million inheritance before he proposed.
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