Chapter 2
The house smelled like Daniel’s expensive cologne and Helen’s sickly sweet perfume.
I almost gagged.
Marcus kept one arm around my waist as we walked through the foyer. His men stayed by the front door, silent as statues.
The laughter got louder as we climbed the stairs.
“Once we get to the Caymans, we can buy that villa you wanted,” Daniel was saying. “No more Elena. No more her stupid little company. Just us and the kid.”
My blood ran cold.
Kid?
Helen had a two-year-old son. I’d always thought he was from a previous relationship.
Marcus’s jaw tightened. He squeezed my waist once, a silent reminder to stay calm.
We reached the master bedroom. The door was half open.
Daniel was folding clothes into a suitcase. Helen was sitting on the bed, painting her nails, her son nowhere in sight.
They looked up when we stepped inside.
Daniel’s face went white.
Helen dropped her nail polish. It shattered on the hardwood floor, bright red spreading like blood.
“Elena?” Daniel choked out. “How the hell did you get out?”
I didn’t answer. I just walked to the bed and sat down, slow, like I owned the place.
Because I did.
Marcus stood behind me, his hand resting on the back of my chair. A silent, menacing shadow.
“Where’s your son, Helen?” I asked. My voice was calmer than I felt.
She flinched. “None of your business.”
“Actually,” I said, and pulled the folder Marcus had given me onto my lap. “It is very much my business.”
I flipped open the folder. Slid the top deed across the bed to Daniel.
He picked it up. His hands started shaking so bad the paper crinkled.
“What is this?” he whispered.
“Read it,” I said.
He read. His face went from white to gray.
“This is impossible,” he said. “These are my properties. You can’t—”
“Your father’s lawyers filed the transfer three days ago,” Marcus cut in, his voice like ice. “All assets acquired during your marriage to Ms. Ward now belong to her. Including the money you’ve been siphoning from her company. Every last cent.”
Helen stood up, her hands clenched into fists.
“You can’t do that!” she shrieked. “That’s our money! We earned it!”
I laughed. A sharp, bitter sound.
“Earned it? You stole it from me. While I was working sixteen hour days to build that company, you were sleeping with my husband and emptying my bank accounts.”
I stood up. My legs were still wobbly, but I held my ground.
“Then you locked me in the garage and left me to die. With my unborn daughter inside me.”
Daniel’s eyes darted to the door. Like he was thinking of running.
Marcus took one step forward.
Daniel froze.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Marcus said. “The police are on their way. You’re being arrested for kidnapping, assault, and grand theft.”
Helen laughed then. A high, ugly sound.
“Arrested? Please. I have friends on the force. Daniel has connections at Langford Group. You think a few fancy papers are going to take us down?”
She leaned in, her face inches from mine. Her breath reeked of mint and malice.
“You think your little rich daddy can protect you forever? I have something you will never see coming. Something that will make you wish you’d died in that garage.”
I didn’t flinch.
“Try me,” I said.
The sound of sirens cut through the air. Getting closer.
Daniel’s face crumpled.
“Helen,” he said, his voice cracking. “What did you do?”
She didn’t look at him. She just kept staring at me. Her eyes were cold, dead.
“Enjoy your victory while it lasts, Elena,” she said. “By the end of the week, you’ll have nothing. Not your money. Not your company. And not that bastard baby you’re carrying.”
Marcus moved so fast I barely saw him. He grabbed Helen’s arm, his grip so tight she yelped.
“You will never speak of her child again,” he said.
The police burst through the door then. Uniformed officers, guns drawn.
Daniel went quietly. He didn’t even fight when they cuffed him.
Helen fought. Screamed. Kicked. Told the officers I’d attacked her, that I’d broken into the house and stolen her things.
They didn’t believe her. Not when they saw the rope marks on my wrists. The split lip. The security camera Marcus’s men had pulled from the garage, showing every second of what they’d done to me.
They led her out. She twisted her head, screaming at me over her shoulder.
“This isn’t over! I will destroy you!”
The door slammed shut.
The house went quiet.
I sank back onto the bed, my hands shaking so bad I could barely breathe.
Marcus knelt in front of me. He pulled a phone from his pocket and held it out.
“Your father wants to talk to you,” he said.
I stared at the phone.
Four years. Four years since I’d spoken to him. Since I’d told him I never wanted to see him again.
I took the phone.
“Elena?”
His voice. Deep, familiar. Softer than I remembered.
I opened my mouth to answer.
But before I could, Marcus’s earpiece crackled.
He stood up, his face going tight.
“What is it?” I asked.
May you like
He turned to me.
“Helen just made bail,” he said. “And she’s already filed a lawsuit. She’s claiming she’s the rightful owner of Langford Group. And she says she has the documents to prove it.”
