Chapter 3: The Secret His Father Left Behind
Margaret Hayes had been the Carter family's attorney for twenty-three years.
She had defended Ethan's father in business disputes, negotiated acquisitions worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and once spent an entire night preventing a hostile investor from dismantling the company.
Ethan had never seen her look afraid.
Until now.
“Tell me what you found,” he said.
Margaret glanced at the guests gathering around the altar.
“Not here.””
Victoria folded her arms.
“Oh, wonderful,” she said loudly.
“Now the family lawyer has arrived to help you invent an excuse.””
Margaret turned toward her.
“Mrs. Vale, I strongly recommend that you say nothing further until you've spoken with independent counsel.””
Victoria's expression hardened.
“I'm not your client.””
“No,” Margaret replied.
“But the documents you've submitted contain several serious irregularities.””
The guests went silent again.
Victoria's mother stepped forward.
“This is a wedding, not a courtroom.””
“Then perhaps we should all stop pretending that legal documents are part of a romantic celebration,” Margaret said.
Ethan had never heard her speak so sharply.
Victoria's cheeks flushed.
“What irregularities?””
Margaret opened the folder.
“The revised property agreement was submitted to my office eleven days ago. It included amendments to the ownership structure of three Carter properties, a change to the designated beneficiary of a private investment account, and a proposed transfer of voting rights in a subsidiary.””
Victoria lifted her chin.
“Ethan approved those changes.””
“I did not,” Ethan said.
Margaret looked at him.
“That's what I told the person who submitted them.””
Victoria's eyes darted toward her mother.
It was a tiny movement.
But Ethan saw it.
“Who submitted them?”” he asked.
Margaret removed a sheet of paper from the folder.
“Someone using your electronic authorization credentials.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“Can someone forge those?””
“Not easily,” Margaret said.
“The system requires a secondary verification code.””
Ethan felt a cold sensation spread through his chest.
Only three people had access to the secondary verification process.
Ethan himself.
His executive assistant, Laura Bennett.
And Richard Cole, the company's financial controller.
The anonymous note about Richard suddenly seemed much more important.
“Did the system record who approved the changes?”” Ethan asked.
Margaret nodded.
“It recorded the account and the device used. I'm waiting for the complete audit report, but there's something else you need to see.””
She handed him a photocopy.
At the top was the Carter family trust's name.
Below it were several paragraphs of legal language, followed by a signature.
Ethan recognized it immediately.
His father's signature.
He stared at the page.
“What is this?””
“A document recovered from an archived file belonging to your father.””
Ethan read the first paragraph.
Then the second.
His throat tightened.
“This can't be right.””
Margaret's voice softened.
“I'm afraid it is.””
Victoria watched them with an expression Ethan couldn't read.
For the first time that afternoon, she seemed less concerned about the wedding than about the document in his hand.
“What does it say?”” Daniel asked.
Ethan didn't answer.
He was still reading.
The document described a confidential arrangement created years before his father's death. It referred to a private holding company and an undisclosed beneficiary whose identity was concealed behind a separate trust.
The final page contained a clause that made Ethan's hands tremble.
If he married without completing a specified review of the trust's records, a dormant provision could be activated by a third party.
Ethan looked up.
“Margaret, who is the beneficiary?””
“I don't know yet. The original record is missing.””
“Then why did you bring this here?””
“Because the revised agreement Victoria submitted references the same trust.””
Victoria's composure finally cracked.
“That's impossible.””
Everyone turned toward her.
Margaret held up another page.
“Your name appears in the amendment request, Ms. Vale.””
Victoria shook her head.
“I've never seen that document.””
“Then you should have no difficulty explaining why your personal attorney sent it to my office.””
Patricia stepped between them.
“This is outrageous. Victoria has done nothing wrong.””
Margaret didn't raise her voice.
“Then she should welcome an independent investigation.””
Patricia's eyes narrowed.
“You've always been jealous of this family, Margaret. You were never more than an employee.””
For a second, Margaret's face became unreadable.
Then she closed the folder.
“Perhaps. But I'm an employee who knows the difference between a valid signature and a forged one.””
Ethan watched Victoria.
Her wedding bouquet trembled in her hands.
“Ethan,” she said, her voice suddenly sweet, “you can't possibly believe these people over me.””
He looked at her.
“Which people?””
“Your lawyer. Daniel. Whoever gave you whatever story you think you've uncovered.””
“I heard you talking on the phone.””
Victoria went still.
Ethan continued.
“You said you planned to marry me, change the financial arrangements, and divorce me in six months.””
She stared at him.
Then she began to cry.
Not the delicate tears she had produced during the ceremony.
These were angry tears.
“You were listening to my private conversation?””
“You were discussing my money and our marriage.””
“It was a joke!””
“A joke?””
“Yes!”” she snapped.
“I was nervous. I was venting to a friend. People say things they don't mean.””
“You said you never loved me.””
Victoria looked around at the guests.
Her breathing became uneven.
“Because I was angry!””
“You said I was an idiot.””
“I was upset!””
“You said you'd make me look like the villain if I tried to leave.””
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Ethan nodded slowly.
“Thank you. That's all I needed to know.””
Victoria suddenly grabbed his hand.
“Please, Ethan. Don't do this. We can go somewhere private and talk. I'll explain everything.””
He looked down at her fingers wrapped around his.
A week earlier, he would have given anything to hear those words.
Now they sounded like a desperate attempt to save an investment.
“Explain what?”” he asked.
“The phone call or the documents?””
“Both.””
“Then start with the truth.””
Victoria glanced at Margaret.
“I can't explain anything while she's standing here.””
“Why not?””
“Because she's twisting everything!””
Margaret remained silent.
Victoria turned back to Ethan.
“Darling, please. Think about what this looks like. Our families are here.
The press is here. You have business partners watching. If you cancel the wedding now, everyone will think you're unstable.””
Ethan almost smiled.
Even now, she was trying to control the story.
“You're worried about what everyone will think?””
“Of course I am!””
“Not about what you did?””
Victoria's lips tightened.
“I did nothing wrong.””
“Then you won't mind if Margaret examines every document connected to our marriage.””
Her expression changed.
“Every document?””
“Yes.””
Victoria pulled her hand away.
“You can't do that.””
“Why not?””
“Because some of those documents are private.””
“Private documents concerning my assets?””
“Concerning our future!””
Ethan studied her.
“Victoria, we don't have a future.””
The words landed between them like a dropped glass.
For several seconds, she didn't move.
Then she slapped him.
The sound cracked through the ballroom.
Someone gasped.
Daniel stepped forward, but Ethan raised a hand to stop him.
Victoria stood trembling, her palm pressed against her chest.
“You don't get to throw me away,” she said.
“Not after everything I've sacrificed for you.””
Ethan touched his cheek.
“What have you sacrificed?””
“I gave up my life for you!””
“You met me two years ago.””
“I could have married anyone!””
“Then perhaps you should have.””
Her face twisted with fury.
“You think you're better than me because you have money?””
“No,” Ethan said.
“I think I made a terrible mistake because I believed you loved me.””
Victoria's eyes filled again.
This time, he didn't care whether the tears were real.
Patricia grabbed her daughter's arm.
“Come with me. We are leaving.””
But Victoria pulled free.
“No.””
“Victoria, enough.””
“No!”” She turned toward Ethan.
“He doesn't get to do this. He doesn't get to humiliate me and walk away as though I'm nothing.””
Ethan looked at Margaret.
“Can you establish whether those documents are authentic?””
“I'm already working on it.””
“And the trust?””
“I'll need access to your father's archived files.””
“Take whatever you need.””
Margaret hesitated.
“Ethan, there's another issue. The trust contains a provision that could affect your control of Carter Global. If the wrong person activates it, your position as chairman could be challenged.””
Daniel stared at her.
“By whom?””
Margaret looked toward Victoria.
“I don't know yet.””
Victoria's face had gone completely pale.
Ethan noticed.
So did Margaret.
“Victoria,” Ethan said quietly, “what do you know about my father's trust?””
She shook her head.
“Nothing.””
“Then why did you recognize the document?””
“I didn't.””
“You said it was impossible before Margaret explained what it contained.””
Victoria looked toward the exit.
For the first time, Ethan saw genuine fear in her eyes.
Not fear of losing him.
Fear of something else.
Something much larger than the wedding.
Patricia grabbed her daughter's hand.
“We're leaving now.””
This time, Victoria followed.
As they passed the first row of guests, a man in a charcoal suit stepped out from beside the ballroom doors.
Ethan recognized him immediately.
Richard Cole.
The company's financial controller.
Richard looked at Victoria.
Victoria looked back.
Neither spoke.
But the exchange lasted just long enough for Ethan to understand that they knew each other far better than they should.
“Richard,” Ethan called.
The older man stopped.
“Ethan. I'm sorry to see this happen.””
“That's kind of you. I have a question.””
“Of course.””
“Why did Victoria meet with you last Thursday?””
Richard's face remained still.
But his hand tightened around the leather briefcase he was carrying.
“I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about.””
Ethan took the anonymous note from his pocket and held it up.
“Someone seems to think otherwise.””
Richard looked at the note.
Then he glanced toward the exit where Victoria and her mother had disappeared.
For a fraction of a second, his composure broke.
“You need to be very careful,” he said quietly.
“About what?””
Richard stepped closer.
“Your father left things unfinished, Ethan. Things you were never supposed to discover.””
Ethan felt his pulse hammer.
“Such as?””
Richard opened his mouth.
Then someone behind him spoke.
“Richard, don't.””
A woman stood near the ballroom doors, dressed in a plain black suit, with a thick envelope clutched against her chest.
Ethan had never seen her before.
Richard turned toward her.
The color drained from his face.
The woman looked directly at Ethan.
“My name is Olivia Shaw,” she said.
“Your father hired me three months before he died.””
Ethan stared at her.
“My father died five years ago.””
“I know.””
“Then why are you here now?””
Olivia glanced toward the hallway where Victoria had vanished.
“Because the woman you were about to marry isn't the only person who has been lying to you.””
She placed the envelope in Ethan's hands.
“And because your father didn't leave you his entire fortune.””
Ethan looked down at the envelope.
His name was written across the front in his father's unmistakable handwriting.
Beneath it were six words.
Open this only when Victoria says yes.
Ethan's blood turned cold.
He looked up.
“What does that mean?””
Olivia's expression was grim.
“It means your father knew exactly who Victoria was before you ever met her.””
May you like
And then she told him the one thing that made the entire ballroom disappear around him.
“Ethan, Victoria Vale is not the woman you think she is.””
