Chapter 4 - The Debt Was Never the Reason
Michael Bennett arrived in Chicago that afternoon.
He looked ten years older than he had at the wedding.
Ava waited in Daniel's library.
Her father stopped when he saw the medical document on the desk.
All hope of denial vanished from his face.
"You knew," Ava said.
Michael closed his eyes.
"Not everything."
"Stop."
Her voice cracked.
"For once, don't give me half the truth because you think you're protecting me."
Daniel stood near the window.
He didn't interfere.
Michael sat.
"Richard Vale approached me eight months ago."
Ava folded her arms.
"Before the company collapsed."
"Yes."
"He was your partner."
"He was also working with Victor Choi."
Daniel moved.
"Victor?"
His uncle.
His father's younger brother.
Michael nodded.
"They were looking for information about you."
Daniel's voice became cold.
"Why?"
"Because your father's estate contains a succession clause."
Daniel frowned.
Nathan, standing by the shelves, seemed to understand first.
"The family trust."
Michael nodded.
"If Daniel dies without a biological heir, controlling interest transfers to Victor's branch of the family."
Ava looked at Daniel.
Daniel stared at Michael.
"So my infertility diagnosis made Victor next in line."
"Yes."
"And my father knew?"
Michael hesitated.
"Your father created the arrangement."
Daniel's expression went empty.
Another betrayal from a dead man.
Ava stepped toward her father.
"What does this have to do with me?"
Michael's eyes filled.
"Vale knew the diagnosis was false."
"How?"
"He had copies of the laboratory files."
"So he destroyed your company?"
Michael nodded.
"Slowly."
Ava felt as though the floor shifted.
"The bad investments?"
"Manipulated."
"The loans?"
"Engineered."
"The missing money?"
"Vale took it."
"Why?"
Her father looked at Daniel.
"To force the marriage."
Nobody spoke.
Ava shook her head.
"No."
Michael's voice broke.
"Victor needed Daniel married."
"Why me?"
"Because you were safe."
Ava laughed bitterly.
"Safe?"
Michael couldn't look at her.
"Your family had no influence. No competing interests. No connection to Chicago. Victor thought Daniel would accept the arrangement because clearing my debt was inexpensive compared with the public stability the marriage created."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"He wanted me married to a woman he could control."
"Yes."
Ava felt physically ill.
"And Lucas?"
Michael swallowed.
"Lucas worked for Vale."
The answer hurt even though she already suspected it.
"From when?"
"I don't know."
"From when, Dad?"
"Possibly before he met you."
Ava turned away.
Two years.
Two years of dinners.
Birthdays.
Road trips.
Promises.
Had any of it been real?
Daniel crossed the room but stopped beside her rather than touching her.
"He isn't worth your grief."
Ava looked at him.
"I loved him."
Daniel's face softened.
"I know."
That was all.
No jealousy.
No judgment.
Just understanding.
Michael stood.
"Ava, I thought agreeing to the marriage would end it."
She turned on him.
"You thought giving them your daughter would end it?"
His face crumpled.
"I was scared."
"So was I."
"I know."
"No, Dad. You don't."
Silence.
Then Daniel did something Ava never expected.
He walked to the desk, removed the marriage contract from a drawer, and placed it in front of Michael.
"What are you doing?" Michael asked.
Daniel picked up a pen.
He drew a thick line through the financial obligations attached to Ava's marriage.
Then signed beneath it.
Ava stared.
Daniel looked at Nathan.
"Prepare documents releasing Michael Bennett and his company from every remaining obligation connected to me or Choi Meridian."
Nathan nodded.
Michael looked stunned.
Daniel turned toward Ava.
"The marriage is no longer tied to your father's debt."
Her heart stopped.
"You can leave today," Daniel continued. "No penalty. No repayment. No condition."
Ava looked at the contract.
For thirty-seven days, she had dreamed about freedom.
Now Daniel had placed it in front of her.
And somehow her first emotion wasn't relief.
It was fear of walking away from him.
Before she could understand what that meant, Nathan's phone buzzed.
He read the message.
Then looked at Daniel.
"We have Lucas."
Ava stiffened.
Nathan corrected himself.
"He voluntarily came to one of our attorneys."
"Why?"
"He says Victor is planning to release the pregnancy publicly tomorrow."
Ava went pale.
Daniel's jaw hardened.
Nathan continued.
"And he's going to claim Daniel already knew the child wasn't his when he married Ava."
"Why would that matter?" Ava asked.
Daniel answered.
"Because of the trust."
Nathan nodded.
"If Daniel publicly recognizes a child who isn't biologically his as an heir, Victor can challenge Daniel's control of the company for fraud."
Ava stared at them.
Her unborn baby had become leverage in a war she hadn't known existed.
Then Nathan added one final detail.
"Lucas says he has proof of who the baby's father is."
Ava's hand instinctively moved toward her stomach.
Daniel became still.
"What proof?"
Nathan looked directly at her.
"A prenatal DNA report."
Ava's face drained of color.
"I never took one."
May you like
Nathan nodded slowly.
"That's exactly the problem."
