Chapter 14 - THE MISTRESS DISAPPEARS
Natalie left Manhattan before sunrise on the second day.
She told Marcus she needed space.
Then she stopped answering.
Her apartment was empty.
Her corporate laptop was gone.
So was a portable drive containing company files.
The investigation became urgent.
Crownstone had recently submitted competing bids for three properties we were quietly negotiating to acquire.
One bid was almost exactly three percent above ours.
That was too precise to be coincidence.
Natalie had been feeding her brother numbers.
Marcus had unknowingly given her access.
Now both Cross siblings were missing.
My father wanted immediate litigation.
Our lawyers agreed.
But I wanted to understand the entire scheme first.
Auditors traced payments.
Marcus had approved hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting expenses linked to companies Natalie recommended.
Several eventually led back to Victor.
When I showed Marcus the records, his face turned gray.
“She told me they specialized in luxury branding.”
“Did you verify them?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I trusted her.”
The irony sat between us.
I did not need to say anything.
Marcus understood.
“You think I deserve this.”
“I think you created the conditions for it.”
He stood and paced.
“I was stupid.”
“You were arrogant.”
He stopped.
“You really hate me now.”
“No.”
That surprised both of us.
“Hate would be easier.”
Marcus sat again.
“Then what do you feel?”
“Grief.”
He looked away.
I continued.
“I spent eleven years believing we were building the same future.”
“We were.”
“No.”
My voice remained quiet.
“We were building different things.”
I had been building a company, a marriage, and a legacy.
Marcus had increasingly been building an identity.
He needed the world to admire him.
Natalie understood that need.
She praised him.
Encouraged him.
Told him he deserved more control.
Then she quietly used his ego to open doors she could never have opened herself.
Marcus looked at the financial records again.
“Can I help?”
My first instinct was to say no.
Then I reconsidered.
“You know her better than our investigators.”
His expression tightened.
“I thought I did.”
“Then prove useful.”
It was not forgiveness.
May you like
It was not reconciliation.
It was simply the first time Marcus had been forced to help clean up a disaster he created without being allowed to control the room.
