Chapter 5 - The Marriage Vanessa Tried to Break
Nathan walked into the library.
Elena followed after Ruiz quietly told them they had five minutes.
The door closed.
Nathan stood near the fireplace.
He did not look at her.
“You should have told me.”
“I wanted to.”
“But you didn’t.”
“If Vanessa had access to your phone or office, telling you could have exposed everything.”
Nathan finally turned.
“So you suspected me?”
“No.”
“You suspected everyone around me.”
“Yes.”
“Including my mother?”
“At first.”
Nathan stared at her.
Elena did not look away.
“That’s what investigations require.”
“I’m not an investigation.”
“You’re my husband.”
“And that is exactly why I couldn’t risk involving you emotionally.”
Nathan laughed without humor.
“Emotionally?”
“My wife has been threatened inside my house.”
“Someone may have been trying to harm my unborn child.”
“And you think I would have reacted emotionally?”
“Yes.”
Nathan’s anger faded slightly.
Because they both knew she was right.
Elena approached him.
“Vanessa wanted you angry.”
“She wanted you suspicious.”
“She wanted you to believe I was hiding something.”
Nathan looked at her.
“And you were.”
Elena flinched.
“She created a situation where every choice hurt us.”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“How long did you know she wanted me?”
“Wanting you wasn’t the real problem.”
“What was?”
Elena swallowed.
“She wanted control of Howard Industries.”
Nathan stared.
“She has no claim.”
“Not directly.”
Elena removed a folded document from her cardigan.
She placed it on the table.
Nathan read it.
His face changed.
It was an old corporate inheritance provision.
If Nathan died without a living heir, controlling shares reverted temporarily to Mrs. Howard and then passed through a complex family succession structure.
But if Nathan had a legally recognized child, the voting trust became protected.
Nathan slowly looked at Elena’s stomach.
“The baby.”
“Yes.”
“She wasn’t trying to destroy our marriage because she wanted me.”
“No.”
“She wanted the baby removed from the succession.”
Nathan’s face became pale.
“And me?”
Elena hesitated.
“We don’t know yet.”
A knock sounded.
Ruiz opened the door.
“You both need to see something.”
They returned to the foyer.
The evidence technician had recovered deleted files from Vanessa’s phone.
One folder was labeled simply N.H.
Nathan Howard.
Inside were photographs of his vehicles.
His office entrances.
His private flights.
His medication.
His jogging route.
His security schedule.
Nathan stared at the screen.
Elena felt sick.
Ruiz opened another file.
A document appeared.
It was a life insurance policy.
Nathan was the insured party.
But the beneficiary designation had been falsified.
Someone had attempted to replace Elena Howard with a holding company registered in Delaware.
Nathan whispered.
“How much?”
Ruiz answered.
“Eighty million dollars.”
Mrs. Howard sat down heavily.
Vanessa stood handcuffed near the staircase.
For the first time, she looked amused.
Nathan turned toward her.
“You planned to kill me?”
Vanessa smiled.
“No.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed.
Vanessa looked toward Elena.
“I didn’t need to.”
May you like
Then she said the sentence that changed the entire investigation.
“Ask your wife who originally bought the policy.”
