Chapter 9 - THE MISTRESS WHO WANTED OUT
Lila’s letter was not an apology.
Emma appreciated that.
It began:
I knew he was married.
No excuses.
I knew you were pregnant.
Emma’s jaw tightened.
I told myself your marriage was already over because Andrew said it was.
Classic.
Then:
I was wrong to believe what was convenient.
Better.
Lila explained Marcus recruited her eighteen months earlier.
Not as a mistress.
As an analyst.
He told her Andrew was using the European acquisition to launder money.
He needed someone close enough to collect documents.
Lila agreed.
Then Andrew pursued her.
She let him.
Eventually she wanted him.
That part was hers.
But the charity ball?
Marcus ordered her to provoke a public moment.
Why?
Because he knew Emma had consulted a divorce attorney.
How?
Arthur at the attorney’s office had leaked an appointment.
Marcus feared Emma would quietly file, revoke Andrew’s voting proxy, and trigger an audit before the sale closed.
He needed chaos.
Public scandal.
Emotional pressure.
Andrew participated willingly.
The kiss was not staged.
Marcus merely created the opportunity.
Emma felt strangely relieved by the ugliness.
No complicated excuse.
Andrew had chosen it.
Good.
Then Lila described what happened afterward.
Andrew returned backstage furious.
Not at Emma.
At Lila.
He had received the real paternity result by then and realized Marcus sent the fake one.
Andrew demanded answers.
Lila panicked and left.
Marcus contacted her.
Told her to disappear.
She did.
Then she discovered why.
Marcus intended to blame the forged financial transfers on her and Emma together.
Mistress plus wife.
Two women stealing from one arrogant billionaire.
Easy story.
Lila ended the letter:
I’m going to federal investigators.
If I don’t make it there, Marcus knows where my sister lives.
Below was a phone number.
Emma called through Rachel.
Lila answered.
Alive.
In protective custody.
Emma exhaled.
“Good.”
Lila cried.
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
Silence.
Then Emma asked:
“Did Andrew know about the forged transfers?”
“No.”
“Did he know I owned twenty-four percent?”
“Yes.”
That hurt.
“How long?”
“Always.”
Emma closed her eyes.
There it was.
Andrew had married her knowing.
Maybe loving too.
But knowing.
“Did he ever tell you why he never told me?”
Lila hesitated.
“He said you didn’t care about business.”
Emma laughed.
Of course.
Andrew had mistaken her lack of interest in his ego for lack of intelligence.
Then Lila said:
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Andrew was going to cancel the European sale.”
Emma stopped.
“When?”
“The morning after the ball.”
“Why?”
“He found out Marcus had bundled your family land without telling him.”
Emma frowned.
“Then why humiliate me that night?”
Lila’s answer came quietly.
“Because he was angry about the fake paternity test.”
Exactly.
No hidden nobility.
Just cruelty.
Then Lila added:
“But Marcus didn’t know Andrew planned to cancel.”
“So?”
“So Marcus had already prepared for Andrew to die Monday morning.”
Emma’s blood turned cold.
May you like
The European sale deadline was Monday.
And Marcus had scheduled Andrew’s private helicopter to fly him to Connecticut at 8:00 a.m.
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