Chapter 5 - THE SECOND BETRAYAL
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Dominic looked at the papers.
Then at me.
“Let me explain.”
I laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You keep saying that tonight.”
“Because things look worse than they are.”
I held up the guardianship petition.
“How could this possibly look worse than it is?”
He entered the room slowly.
“I never filed it.”
“You prepared it.”
“I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“Losing control.”
The honesty shocked me.
He realized what he had said.
I stared at him.
“Control of what?”
He looked away.
And there it was.
The answer.
Not control of our marriage.
Not control of his family.
Money.
I lowered the document.
“My trust.”
Dominic said nothing.
I felt sick.
My maternal grandfather had created the Laurent Family Trust before I was born.
At thirty-two, I gained voting control over my portion.
I had never lived extravagantly.
I had never used the trust to influence Dominic.
But I had told him about it before we married.
Not the full numbers.
Enough that he knew I would never need his money.
“You knew.”
He shook his head.
“I didn’t know your father controlled Laurent Hospitality.”
“You knew I had independent assets.”
“Yes.”
“And you wanted access.”
“No.”
“You prepared legal documents saying I was mentally incompetent.”
“I was trying to protect our child.”
I stared at him.
“From me?”
He stepped closer.
“My attorney said pregnancy can complicate financial decision-making.”
“Your attorney?”
He froze.
I looked down.
The paperwork listed a law office.
Hanover, Pike & Mercer.
I knew that firm.
More importantly, I knew one of its partners.
Eleanor’s brother.
Uncle Stephen.
Dominic sat down heavily.
“I never wanted it to go this far.”
“How far did you want it to go?”
He covered his face.
“I wanted you to sign a temporary financial authorization after the baby was born.”
“Why?”
He did not answer.
I walked to the safe.
I pulled out another folder.
Then another.
Eventually I found a bank statement.
A business account I had never seen before.
Hale Development Holdings.
Negative $3.8 million.
My stomach tightened.
“What is this?”
Dominic looked at the floor.
“My commercial project.”
“What commercial project?”
“The Glenhaven development.”
“You told me investors financed it.”
“They pulled out.”
“When?”
“Seven months ago.”
My child had been conceived eight months ago.
“You were nearly four million dollars in debt.”
“I could fix it.”
“And you thought my trust could fix it for you.”
“I was going to repay everything.”
I stared at him.
“Did Chloe know?”
Silence.
“Did Eleanor?”
Another silence.
That was my answer.
Suddenly the missing ring made complete sense.
A theft accusation.
A public scandal.
A criminal investigation.
Then allegations that pregnancy had made me unstable.
Enough pressure to frighten me.
Enough documentation to challenge my ability to manage assets.
Not necessarily enough to win.
But enough to force negotiations.
Enough to control me temporarily.
My phone rang.
My father.
I answered.
“Dad.”
“Vivienne, security found something else.”
His tone was different.
“What?”
“A message thread on Amanda’s phone.”
I looked at Dominic.
My father continued.
“Chloe wasn’t the only person giving her instructions.”
I already knew before he said the name.
May you like
But hearing it still broke something inside me.
“Dominic was in the group chat.”
