Chapter 2 - THE ASSET THEY NEVER KNEW I OWNED
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By midnight, the gala had become a crime scene.
Federal investigators occupied the ballroom.
The board members were being interviewed.
Blake's attorneys arrived in waves.
Seraphina sat alone in a private lounge, staring at the floor.
I sat across from Damien in a quiet conference room.
He placed a cup of coffee in front of me.
“You should drink.”
“I can't.”
“Then hold it.”
I looked at him.
“Did you know about the trust?”
“No.”
“Then why did you bring those documents tonight?”
He leaned back.
“Because three weeks ago, when you showed me the affair, I started investigating.”
“And?”
“And I discovered Seraphina was using confidential company data.”
I frowned.
“What kind?”
“Acquisition schedules.”
“Why?”
“I didn't know.”
He pushed a folder toward me.
Inside were copies of internal emails.
Seraphina wasn't simply meeting Blake.
She had been sending proprietary information to an outside investment group.
A private equity firm called Northstar Meridian.
I recognized the name.
“They're buying distressed aerospace companies.”
Damien nodded.
“Cheap.”
Then I saw the date of the first transaction.
Nine months earlier.
The exact month Blake's affair with Seraphina began.
The affair wasn't random.
It had been strategically timed.
I looked at Damien.
“They were preparing a hostile takeover.”
“Yes.”
“Using my company.”
“Yes.”
I suddenly remembered something.
“My father.”
Damien looked at me.
“What?”
“He hated Northstar.”
“Why?”
“He told me they were predators.”
Damien pulled another folder from his briefcase.
“This explains why.”
Inside was an old legal memo written by my father.
The subject line read:
NORTHSTAR MERIDIAN — DO NOT ENGAGE.
My father's handwriting filled the margins.
He had discovered that Northstar was secretly acquiring stakes in companies through shell corporations.
But there was one handwritten note that made my heart stop.
If Blake ever asks to restructure the trust, do not sign.
I stared at the page.
“He knew.”
Damien's eyes narrowed.
“Knew what?”
“That Blake would eventually try to take control.”
There was a knock.
A federal investigator entered.
“Mrs. Vance.”
“Yes?”
“We located the master trust agreement.”
He placed it on the table.
“You own fifty-four percent of AeroSpace Dynamics.”
I stared.
“Fifty-four?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Blake have control?”
“Because he was your trustee.”
My blood went cold.
“He had a fiduciary duty.”
“Yes.”
“And he violated it.”
“Repeatedly.”
I closed my eyes.
For eight years, Blake had told me I was not interested in business.
He handled the company.
I handled our home.
He called it partnership.
It was theft.
Then the investigator said:
“There is one complication.”
I opened my eyes.
“What?”
“We believe Blake transferred a portion of the company before tonight.”
“How much?”
“Thirty-two million dollars.”
My stomach dropped.
“To whom?”
“Northstar Meridian.”
Damien swore under his breath.
The investigator continued.
“Your husband also filed a private dissolution document.”
“For what?”
The investigator looked at me.
“Your marriage.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He filed for divorce?”
“Three weeks ago.”
Three weeks.
The exact day I discovered the affair.
He had been planning it before I ever knew.
I looked at Damien.
“He was going to leave me.”
Damien shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at the trust agreement.
“He was going to leave you without your company.”
A silence settled over the room.
Then my phone vibrated.
One text message.
From Blake.
You have no idea what your father did to my family.
I stared at it.
Damien read it.
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know.”
Another message arrived.
Ask your mother why she married your father.
My fingers went numb.
My mother had died six years ago.
There had never been any mystery about their marriage.
At least, that's what I believed.
I looked at Damien.
“Something is missing.”
He nodded.
“And we're going to find it.”
May you like
For the first time that night, I realized revenge wasn't enough.
I wanted the truth.
