CHAPTER 7 — THE SECRET MY FATHER BURIED
My father didn't speak for nearly a minute.
Neither did I.
The hospital monitor continued its steady rhythm beside my bed.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
But everything inside me had become chaos.
"Why did you let me marry Matthew?"
My father looked at me.
His eyes were tired.
Older than they had been an hour ago.
"I didn't let you."
"You knew something."
"Yes."
"What?"
He looked toward the closed hospital door.
Then back at me.
"Not everything."
"Enough."
His silence answered for him.
I pushed myself higher against the pillow.
"Then tell me."
"Clare—"
"Tell me."
My voice cracked.
But I didn't lower it.
"You spent seven years letting me believe you hated my husband because you thought he wasn't good enough for me."
My hands tightened around the blanket.
"But now you're telling me there was something else."
My father sat down.
"There was."
"What?"
He stared at the floor.
"The day before your wedding, Daniel Cross came to me."
My heart stopped.
"What did he want?"
"He told me Matthew had approached him."
"For what?"
"Protection."
I frowned.
"From whom?"
My father looked at me.
"From me."
SEVEN YEARS EARLIER
The night before my wedding had been warm.
The gardens outside my father's estate were filled with white roses.
My wedding dress hung upstairs.
My mother had been awake until midnight, checking every detail.
I had been happier than I had ever been.
At least that's how I remembered it.
But my father remembered something different.
Daniel Cross had arrived at 11:47 p.m.
No appointment.
No warning.
He entered through the private gate.
My father had met him in the library.
"What did he say?" I asked.
My father's voice was quiet.
"Matthew knows about your family trust."
I stared at him.
"What trust?"
"The Sterling family trust."
I frowned.
"I knew about it."
"You knew there was one."
He paused.
"You didn't know what it contained."
My father opened the black folder again.
Inside was a document I had never seen.
He placed it in front of me.
I read the first paragraph.
Then the second.
My heartbeat accelerated.
The Sterling Family Trust.
Beneficiary:
Clare Sterling Hayes.
Controlling interests.
Private equity holdings.
Real estate.
Investment accounts.
Intellectual property.
And—
NexusCore.
I looked at my father.
"NexusCore was in my trust?"
"Yes."
"Before Matthew founded it?"
"Before he incorporated it."
My mouth went dry.
"Then how did he get it?"
My father didn't answer immediately.
"He didn't."
I stared at him.
"Then what did I sign?"
"An operating authorization."
I remembered the documents.
Matthew had brought them to me during our first year.
He said they were routine.
He told me they were necessary so he could manage the company without constantly needing my approval.
I had signed.
Because I trusted him.
My father pointed to one paragraph.
"That document gave Matthew operational authority."
He tapped another.
"But this document retained ownership."
I read it again.
My name was everywhere.
My signature.
My rights.
My company.
My future.
All hidden beneath legal language I hadn't understood.
I felt sick.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Daniel told me something else."
"What?"
My father leaned back.
"He said Matthew wasn't acting alone."
12:18 P.M.
At NexusCore headquarters, Matthew was sitting in a conference room surrounded by lawyers.
The walls were glass.
Everyone outside could see him.
Nobody could hear him.
His attorney placed a document on the table.
"There's more."
Matthew looked up.
"More what?"
"Your wife's trust."
"I know about the trust."
"No."
The attorney shook his head.
"You don't."
He opened a second folder.
"Clare isn't merely the controlling shareholder."
Matthew frowned.
"Then what is she?"
"The ultimate beneficiary of Sterling Strategic Holdings."
Matthew stared at him.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning if she exercises her rights, she can replace the entire board."
Silence.
Matthew's face went pale.
"All of them?"
"Yes."
"My board?"
"Her board."
He stood abruptly.
"This can't be legal."
"It is."
"How much does she control?"
The lawyer hesitated.
"Enough."
"Give me a number."
"Sixty-eight percent."
Matthew's face went blank.
Sixty-eight percent.
The majority.
More than enough to control every major decision.
More than enough to remove him.
More than enough to destroy the career he had spent seven years building.
Then another attorney entered the room.
"Matthew."
He turned.
"What?"
"We have another problem."
"What now?"
"The auditors found a second set of accounts."
Matthew froze.
"What accounts?"
"Personal accounts."
"Whose?"
The attorney looked at him.
"Yours."
Matthew's stomach dropped.
"What about them?"
"They're connected to Lauren Thorne."
His eyes widened.
"That's impossible."
The attorney placed another document on the table.
"It gets worse."
Matthew stared at it.
"The transfers began before your marriage."
He stopped breathing.
12:43 P.M.
My father sat beside me.
I couldn't stop staring at the trust documents.
"You knew Matthew was using me."
"I suspected he was."
"And you still let me marry him."
"I tried to stop you."
"But you didn't tell me the truth."
"No."
"Why?"
He looked at me.
"Because Daniel warned me."
"About what?"
"He said if Matthew discovered I knew everything, he would disappear."
I frowned.
"Disappear?"
"With the money."
"That doesn't make sense."
"It did then."
My father lowered his voice.
"Daniel believed Matthew had access to people outside our circle."
"What people?"
"We didn't know."
"And now?"
He looked at me.
"Now I think we do."
A cold feeling settled in my stomach.
"Who?"
My father reached for the laptop.
He opened a file.
One photograph appeared.
A man in his fifties.
Dark hair.
Gray at the temples.
Standing beside Matthew at a private event.
I didn't recognize him.
"Who is that?"
"Victor Hale."
"What does he do?"
My father's expression hardened.
"Investment banking."
"That's it?"
"No."
He zoomed in.
Victor was standing beside Matthew.
Behind them was a logo.
A private financial institution.
I recognized it immediately.
"That's one of NexusCore's lenders."
"Exactly."
My father opened another document.
Then another.
Victor Hale had been connected to NexusCore from the beginning.
But not as an investor.
As an intermediary.
He had introduced Matthew to private lenders.
He had arranged financing.
He had helped move money.
And he had one other connection.
Lauren Thorne.
I stared at the screen.
"They know each other."
"Yes."
"For how long?"
"At least nine years."
My blood went cold.
Nine years.
That meant Lauren had known Matthew before I ever met him.
Before NexusCore.
Before our wedding.
Before everything.
I whispered,
"She wasn't his mistress."
My father looked at me.
"Not originally."
"Then what was she?"
His answer came quietly.
"An employee."
My stomach tightened.
"Whose employee?"
My father didn't answer.
He opened one final file.
The company name appeared on the screen.
HALE PRIVATE CAPITAL.
I stared at it.
Victor Hale.
Lauren Thorne.
Matthew Hayes.
All connected.
All long before I knew any of them.
1:16 P.M.
Matthew's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
"Who is this?"
A man's voice replied.
"You've made a mess."
Matthew recognized the voice immediately.
"Victor."
"Where are you?"
"At NexusCore."
"Leave."
Matthew frowned.
"Why?"
"Because they're coming."
"Who?"
"Sterling."
Matthew laughed bitterly.
"They've already come."
Victor's voice became colder.
"You don't understand."
"What don't I understand?"
"The Sterling family isn't your biggest problem."
Matthew froze.
"What?"
"You were supposed to control Clare."
Matthew's eyes narrowed.
"She was supposed to remain quiet."
"Exactly."
"And now?"
"Now she's awake."
Matthew looked toward the glass wall.
Employees were moving through the corridor.
Security stood at every entrance.
The company no longer felt like his.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Find the original trust documents."
"Why?"
"Because there is one clause."
Matthew's heartbeat accelerated.
"What clause?"
"The one that can destroy Sterling."
He paused.
"And it has your signature."
The call ended.
Matthew stared at the phone.
For the first time, he wasn't thinking about saving NexusCore.
He was thinking about destroying the woman who owned it.
1:32 P.M.
My father received another call.
He answered.
"Sterling."
The voice on the other end spoke quickly.
My father stood.
"Repeat that."
A pause.
"You're certain?"
His eyes moved toward me.
"Where?"
He listened.
Then said,
"Don't confront him."
Another pause.
"Track him."
He ended the call.
I watched him.
"What happened?"
"Matthew left NexusCore."
"Where is he going?"
My father's expression became grim.
"Your old house."
I frowned.
"The Queens apartment?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
My father picked up his coat.
"Because that's where you kept the original documents."
My heart stopped.
"The documents?"
"The ones Matthew never knew existed."
I stared at him.
"What documents?"
My father looked directly at me.
"The original company records."
A beat.
"And the letter your mother wrote to you the night before your wedding."
I felt a chill.
"Why would Matthew want them?"
My father didn't answer.
Instead, he said:
"Because if he finds what he's looking for..."
He stopped.
"What?"
His eyes darkened.
"He won't just come after NexusCore."
May you like
He looked at me.
"He'll come after the Sterling family."
