Chapter 2 - THE SECOND WIFE
Three years.
That was how long Celeste had apparently been using my husband's last name.
I stared at the corporate registration until the letters blurred.
"Tell me that's a mistake."
Daniel Reeves didn't answer immediately.
Margaret pulled out a chair.
"Maya, sit down."
"I don't want to sit down."
She nodded.
"Then I'll explain while you're standing."
Daniel opened another document.
"Crownbridge Consulting was formed in Delaware three years ago. Celeste Price is listed under the name Celeste Bennett. The company has received payments from Hartwell Industries for strategic consulting services."
"What services?"
"We haven't found evidence that any legitimate consulting work was performed."
I looked at the bank statements.
$86,000.
$125,000.
$210,000.
Payments approved month after month.
My father's money.
Money that should have funded machinery, salaries, and retirement benefits.
Money Julian had apparently treated like his private bank account.
"Who authorized these transfers?"
Daniel enlarged a signature.
Julian Bennett.
I felt something inside me go cold.
"Can we prove they're improper?"
"Not yet to a legal standard," Daniel answered. "But the invoices contain repeated descriptions, inconsistent dates, and addresses connected to Celeste."
Margaret leaned forward.
"We need to protect the company before confronting them with the full evidence."
I nodded.
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow," she agreed.
Then I remembered something.
"Did you check the marriage claim?"
Daniel's expression changed.
"We found a marriage record in Nevada."
My knees weakened.
"Show me."
He opened a scanned document.
Julian Bennett.
Celeste Price.
Las Vegas, Nevada.
Three years earlier.
I pressed my fingers against the table.
"But Julian and I never divorced."
"We found no divorce filing," Margaret said.
"Then how could he legally marry her?"
"The document may be fraudulent, the ceremony may have been invalid, or the record may have been created using false information. Our attorneys are verifying it."
I stared at the date.
October 14.
That was the day Julian told me he'd flown to Nevada for an investor conference.
I'd packed his suitcase.
I'd kissed him goodbye.
I'd even called the hotel to arrange a surprise bottle of champagne for his supposed business success.
He had sent me a photograph from a restaurant that evening.
Wish you were here, sweetheart.
I suddenly remembered the reflection in the window behind him.
A woman in a cream-colored dress.
I had assumed she was another conference attendee.
Now I knew better.
Margaret placed a hand over mine.
"Maya, I'm sorry."
I swallowed.
"Don't be sorry yet."
She looked surprised.
I straightened.
"If Julian has been stealing from the company, I want every dollar traced."
Daniel nodded.
"And Celeste?"
I touched my swollen cheek.
"She'll answer for what she did. But I won't let a slap distract us from something much bigger."
Margaret studied me.
"You sound like your father."
That nearly broke me.
Dad had once told me that leadership wasn't about demanding loyalty.
It was about deserving it.
I looked at his photograph on Margaret's shelf.
"I trusted the wrong man."
"You trusted your husband," she said gently.
"And now I'm going to protect the people who trusted my father."
Daniel's phone suddenly vibrated.
He glanced at the screen.
Then frowned.
"What is it?" I asked.
"One of our investigators recovered a deleted internal message."
He turned his laptop around.
The message was from Julian to Celeste.
THE SHARE TRANSFER MUST BE COMPLETED BEFORE MAYA DISCOVERS WHAT WE DID TO HER FATHER'S WILL.
I stared at the words.
My father's will?
May you like
Julian hadn't merely betrayed our marriage.
Someone had been trying to alter the legacy my father left me.
