CHAPTER 2: THE DAUGHTER THEY UNDERESTIMATED
CHAPTER 2: THE DAUGHTER THEY UNDERESTIMATED
The next morning, the Hale mansion was surrounded.
Not by reporters.
Not by police.
By attorneys.
Three separate legal teams arrived before breakfast.
Vivian watched from the window as they entered.
For the first time, she looked afraid.
“You planned this,” she whispered.
I poured coffee calmly.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Six months.”
Her eyes widened.
Six months.
Six months of watching.
Six months of collecting evidence.
Six months of letting her believe she had won.
“You let me continue?”
I looked at her.
“You were making mistakes every day.”
Marcus slammed his hand against the table.
“You think you’re better than us?”
I looked at him.
“No.”
I paused.
“I think I’m done being afraid of you.”
That sentence hurt him more than any accusation.
Because Marcus remembered the old Isabella.
The girl who cried when her mother died.
The girl who left Dallas after Vivian convinced everyone she was unstable.
The girl who believed she had lost her family.
But that girl was gone.
My father sat in his wheelchair near the fireplace.
He looked older than I remembered.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
I turned.
“Dad…”
“I should have protected you.”
The pain in his voice was heavier than anything Vivian had done.
“I let her convince me that you were selfish. That you abandoned us.”
I walked over and held his hand.
“You were hurt.”
“No,” he said.
His eyes filled with tears.
“I was weak.”
I shook my head.
“Someone took advantage of your weakness.”
Behind us, Vivian laughed bitterly.
“Don’t act like a saint, Isabella.”
Everyone looked at her.
She stood tall again.
Because Vivian always believed she could escape.
“You think you can destroy me?”
She smiled.
“You forgot one thing.”
“What?”
“I own half this family.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
I placed another document on the table.
“You thought you did.”
Her smile disappeared.
“The trust agreement?”
“Yes.”
The original Hale Family Trust.
The document Vivian never knew existed.
The document my mother created before she died.
The document protecting my father’s assets from anyone attempting financial manipulation.
Vivian’s face became pale.
“You…”
May you like
“I found it three months ago.”
For the first time, she looked defeated.
