Chapter 3: The Marriage Contract
Chapter 3: The Marriage Contract
Ryan thought the situation could still be controlled.
That was his greatest weakness.
He always believed every problem had a price.
“You want money?” he asked.
Leah stared at him.
Almost disappointed.
“That’s what you think this is about?”
Ryan stepped closer.
“Everyone has a number.”
“Not everyone.”
Leah opened the blue folder.
At the bottom was a document Ryan had never seen before.
His confidence disappeared.
“What is that?”
“A marriage agreement.”
Ryan frowned.
“What?”
Leah placed the document on the table.
“When we got married, my attorney prepared several protections.”
Ryan picked it up.
His hands slowly began shaking.
The agreement stated that any attempt to deceive, manipulate, or illegally access Leah’s assets would immediately activate a legal investigation.
But there was one more section.
A section Ryan had never noticed.
If evidence showed that the marriage was entered into under fraudulent intentions, every shared asset would be frozen.
Including Whitmore Holdings.
Ryan looked up.
“You planned this?”
Leah shook her head.
“No. I protected myself.”
The difference was everything.
Ryan had spent years planning how to steal from her.
Leah had spent years learning how to survive people like him.
“You knew?” Ryan asked.
“I suspected.”
“When?”
Leah looked away.
“The night before our wedding.”
Ryan’s face went pale.
“The night before?”
She nodded.
“I found emails between you and your lawyer.”
Ryan stopped breathing.
Those emails.
The ones he thought he deleted.
The ones discussing how he would gain control of Leah’s trust after marriage.
The ones where he called her inheritance his “final acquisition.”
“You read them.”
“Yes.”
Ryan’s anger exploded.
“You tricked me!”
Leah laughed quietly.
“No, Ryan. You tricked yourself.”
Chloe watched silently.
She had never seen Leah like this.
The woman who always apologized.
The woman who always avoided conflict.
The woman Ryan thought he could control.
Was gone.
A knock suddenly came from the front door.
Everyone turned.
Ryan looked confused.
Nobody was supposed to arrive.
Then another knock.
This time louder.
Leah looked at the clock.
“It’s time.”
The door opened.
Three people entered.
A lawyer.
A forensic accountant.
And a police detective.
Ryan’s entire body went cold.
“What is this?”
The detective stepped forward.
“Ryan Whitmore, we need to ask you some questions regarding financial fraud, identity theft, and falsification of legal documents.”
Ryan looked at Leah.
“You called them?”
“No.”
She smiled.
“They were already coming.”
The detective held up a file.
“Mr. Whitmore, before we begin, there is something you should know.”
Ryan swallowed.
“What?”
The detective opened the file.
“We found evidence connecting you to a company that disappeared fifteen years ago.”
Ryan’s expression changed.
Because that company was the one secret he had buried forever.
May you like
The company connected him to his father.
And his father’s crime.
