Chapter 4: My Husband Had Another Wife
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Tiana stared at the woman standing in the nursery doorway.
The same dark eyes.
The same shape of her face.
The same small scar above the left eyebrow.
Even the way she tilted her head was familiar.
It was like looking into a mirror that had spent thirty years living a completely different life.
But there was one detail Tiana couldn't ignore.
The diamond ring on the woman's left hand.
It was identical to the ring Darius had given Tiana five years earlier.
Same oval diamond.
Same platinum setting.
Same tiny engraving inside the band.
Tiana looked at Darius.
“Tell me she's lying.””
Darius didn't move.
The woman smiled without warmth.
“Still waiting for him to tell you the truth?””
Tiana swallowed.
“Who are you?””
The woman lowered her gun slightly.
“I'm Lydia. Your younger sister.””
Tiana's knees weakened.
“My sister died.””
“No. She was sold.””
The words landed with such force that Tiana almost forgot to breathe.
Darius shook his head.
“Lydia, put the gun down. We can talk about this.””
Lydia laughed.
“Talk? You had five years to talk.””
Marcus moved toward her.
“Put the weapon on the floor.””
Lydia immediately pointed the gun at him.
“Take one more step, and I'll shoot.””
Marcus stopped.
“You have no idea what you're interfering with.””
“Oh, I know exactly what I'm interfering with.””
She looked at the open metal box.
“The ledger. The drive. The original documents.””
Then she turned toward Tiana.
“And the money that belongs to both of us.””
Tiana looked at her.
“What money?””
Lydia pulled a folded document from her coat.
“Grandmother's inheritance.””
Tiana stared.
“Our grandmother left me eleven million dollars.””
“She left both of us eleven million each. You received your portion because your grandmother believed I was dead. Mine was placed in a separate trust.””
Tiana shook her head.
“That's impossible.””
Lydia's eyes filled with anger.
“Is it? Ask your husband.””
Everyone looked at Darius.
He closed his eyes.
Lydia continued.
“He knew about the second trust. He found out three years ago, when he was investigating the family assets. That's when he found me.””
Tiana felt sick.
“You knew my sister was alive?””
Darius finally spoke.
“I didn't know at first.””
“Don't lie.””
“I found her through an attorney. She was living in London. She had a different surname.””
Lydia stepped forward.
“And he came looking for me.””
Tiana stared at the ring on Lydia's finger.
“Why are you wearing the same ring?””
Lydia glanced down.
Then she looked at Darius.
“Because he married me.””
The nursery went silent.
Tiana shook her head.
“No.””
Lydia held up her left hand.
“Three years ago. A private ceremony in Las Vegas. No guests.
No photographs. He told me you were separated.””
Tiana looked at Darius.
“Separated?””
Darius rubbed his face.
“It was complicated.””
Tiana let out a broken laugh.
“You married my sister while you were still married to me?””
Lydia's expression hardened.
“He told me you were unstable. That you had signed divorce papers. That the marriage was over.””
Tiana turned toward her.
“And you believed him?””
Lydia looked down.
“I wanted to.””
For the first time, Tiana saw something beneath her sister's anger.
Shame.
But it didn't make the betrayal hurt less.
“You knew who I was,” Tiana whispered.
Lydia nodded.
“I found out six months into the relationship.””
“And you stayed?””
“I wanted to know what he was doing.””
“You could have called me!””
“I tried.””
Tiana froze.
Lydia pulled out her phone.
She opened a folder containing dozens of screenshots.
Missed calls.
Unanswered messages.
Emails.
Photographs of handwritten letters.
Every message had been sent to Tiana's personal number or email address.
Tiana looked at them in disbelief.
“I never received these.””
Darius stepped forward.
“I blocked them.””
Tiana slowly turned toward him.
“You what?””
“I didn't want you getting involved.””
Lydia laughed bitterly.
“You didn't want her finding out that you were using both of us.””
Darius's expression hardened.
“That's enough.””
“No, Darius. You don't get to tell me when to stop.””
Lydia took another step.
“You told me you loved me. You told me Tiana was just a business arrangement. You said you married her because of the inheritance.””
Tiana felt the room spinning.
Darius had once told her that meeting her had been the luckiest day of his life.
He had proposed beside the ocean.
He had cried during their wedding vows.
He had promised to love her until his final breath.
Now every memory seemed contaminated.
Marcus suddenly raised his device.
“Family reunion is over.””
He pointed the red beam at Lydia.
“You've brought enough trouble into my operation.””
Lydia immediately aimed her gun at him.
“Don't.””
Marcus smiled.
“You think you can shoot your way out of this?””
“I think you should try me.””
Darius seized the opportunity.
He grabbed the laptop from the chair and threw it toward the window.
The screen shattered.
Marcus spun around.
“YOU IDIOT!””
The guards released Darius and rushed toward the laptop.
In the confusion, Lydia grabbed Tiana's arm.
“Come with me!””
They ran toward the hallway.
A gunshot exploded behind them.
Tiana screamed.
A bullet struck the nursery door.
Lydia pulled her down the corridor and into a small storage room.
She locked the door.
For a moment, both women stood breathing hard in the darkness.
Tiana pressed her back against the wall.
“Why did you come here?””
Lydia looked at her.
“To get you out.””
“Why should I trust you?””
“You shouldn't.””
The answer surprised Tiana.
Lydia continued.
“But you should trust the evidence.””
She opened her phone.
A video appeared.
It showed Darius sitting in his office, speaking to Vanessa.
The date was three months earlier.
Darius was saying something Tiana couldn't hear.
Lydia increased the volume.
“Once the second trust is released, we won't need Tiana anymore.””
Vanessa answered, “What about the marriage?””
Darius laughed.
“Which one?””
Tiana covered her mouth.
The video continued.
Vanessa leaned forward.
“What if she discovers the other trust?””
Darius's expression turned cold.
“Then we make sure she never gets the chance.””
The recording ended.
Tiana looked at Lydia.
“You recorded them?””
“I installed a camera in his office.””
“Why?””
“Because I wanted proof before I destroyed him.””
Tiana swallowed.
“Why didn't you come to me?””
Lydia's eyes glistened.
“Because I was ashamed. I thought I could fix everything without admitting what I'd done.””
Tiana looked away.
They were sisters.
They had shared the same mother, the same grandmother, and the same childhood stories.
But they had grown into strangers because one dishonest man had known how to exploit their differences.
A heavy impact shook the storage-room door.
Marcus's voice came from outside.
“Ladies. Open the door.””
Lydia raised her gun.
“Stay behind me.””
Tiana noticed a narrow ventilation opening near the ceiling.
“Is there another way out?””
“There's a service passage behind the shelves.””
They pushed a metal rack aside.
Behind it was a narrow door leading into the servants' corridor.
Lydia opened it.
Before stepping through, Tiana grabbed her sister's arm.
“One question.””
Lydia turned.
“Ask.””
“Were you really married to him?””
Lydia looked down at her ring.
Then she removed it.
“Yes.””
Tiana stared at the ring.
Lydia placed it in her palm.
“But the marriage was never legally valid.””
Tiana frowned.
“What?””
“Darius forged your divorce decree. He told me it was finalized, but he never filed it.””
A strange feeling passed through Tiana.
For the first time that night, something about Darius's plan became clear.
He hadn't simply wanted two women.
He had wanted two inheritances.
Two signatures.
Two sources of money.
And two women who believed they were the only ones he loved.
A crash sounded behind them.
The storage-room door was breaking.
Lydia pushed Tiana into the passage.
“Move!””
They hurried through the narrow corridor.
At the end was a staircase leading down to the basement.
Tiana reached the bottom first.
Then she heard Lydia gasp.
She turned.
Her sister was staring at her phone.
“What is it?””
Lydia showed her the screen.
A message had arrived from an unknown number.
*YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES. THE ORIGINAL TRUST BENEFICIARY IS STILL ALIVE.*
Tiana frowned.
“What does that mean?””
Lydia looked up.
Her face had gone completely white.
“There's someone else.””
“Who?””
Lydia swallowed.
“The person who arranged our separation.””
Then another message appeared.
This one contained a photograph.
An elderly woman sitting in a wheelchair.
Tiana recognized her immediately.
May you like
Her grandmother.
The woman everyone had told her was dead.
