Chapter 4 - The Secret Hidden in the Divorce Papers
Graham asked Vanessa to leave.
She refused.
He didn't raise his voice.
“Leave.”
Something in his expression changed her mind.
Vanessa walked out without looking at me.
Graham immediately called two men.
“Find out who gave Vanessa information about August's trust.”
Then he turned to Daniel.
“Every access log. Every trustee. Everyone who knew.”
Daniel nodded.
I almost laughed.
For three years, I had watched Graham become frighteningly efficient whenever his empire was threatened.
Apparently his son qualified as an empire.
“Don't pretend this is about Owen.”
Graham looked at me.
“It is now.”
“Yesterday you wanted him gone.”
“I didn't know about the amendment.”
“Exactly.”
His expression tightened.
“That isn't what I meant.”
“It sounded exactly like what you meant.”
Graham moved toward the window.
“I thought leaving Chicago would protect you.”
I stared at him.
“From what?”
He didn't answer.
“Graham.”
“My family.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You are your family.”
“No.”
For once, he sounded tired.
“You married the version they allow outsiders to see.”
“And what version is standing here?”
“The one telling you that Sebastian was right. You need to leave.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because August didn't merely leave Owen shares.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
He knew what was coming.
Graham continued.
“He made Owen the contingent beneficiary of almost everything I control legitimately.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“Close to nine hundred million dollars by current valuation.”
I looked down at Owen.
My four-day-old son was asleep through the discussion of his fortune.
“I don't want it.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly. Your grandfather attached a target to my baby.”
Graham flinched.
That reaction told me he agreed.
Then Daniel opened the divorce folder.
“There is another issue.”
He pointed to the custody clause.
The language Graham had approved gave me complete authority to determine Owen's residence.
Anywhere.
No geographic restriction.
No requirement to disclose the address beyond what was legally necessary.
I looked at Graham.
“You did this intentionally.”
“Yes.”
“Before you knew about the trust.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He stared at Owen.
Then at me.
“Because I wanted you away from Chicago.”
“You already said that.”
“Not because I hated you.”
The room seemed to shrink.
“Then why?”
Graham opened his mouth.
His phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Vanessa.
He declined it.
It rang again.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What?”
Graham turned.
Daniel listened for several seconds.
Then lowered the phone.
“Someone broke into August's old office.”
Graham's expression became lethal.
“What was taken?”
“The original trust documents.”
Silence.
“Anything else?”
Daniel swallowed.
“A sealed letter.”
“To whom?”
Daniel looked at me.
“To Claire.”
I stared at him.
August Ashford had left me a letter?
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because the instructions said it could only be delivered after Owen's birth.”
Graham's phone buzzed.
A photograph arrived.
He opened it.
His face went white.
I took the phone from him.
The image showed a cream envelope lying on a dark table.
My name was written across it.
CLAIRE ASHFORD — TO BE OPENED AFTER THE BIRTH OF GRAHAM'S FIRST CHILD.
Underneath was a message.
She leaves Chicago tonight, or the letter disappears forever.
Graham looked at me.
For the first time since I'd known him, the most feared man in Chicago looked genuinely afraid.
Because someone knew exactly what his grandfather had left behind.
May you like
And they were desperate to make sure I never read it.
---
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