Chapter 5 - RYAN FINALLY LEARNS WHAT HIS FAMILY DID
Ryan called me at midnight.
“They found the documents.”
My stomach dropped.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Then he paused.
“But my father isn't dead.”
I sat upright.
“What?”
Ryan explained that he had discovered an encrypted file hidden in his father's old office.
Inside were financial records.
Payments.
Threats.
Names.
And my mother's name.
I drove to his office with Alexander.
Ryan was waiting.
He looked different.
Broken.
He handed me a laptop.
“I read everything.”
I opened the file.
My mother had been followed.
Watched.
Threatened.
There were recordings.
One showed Rebecca arguing with Charles.
She knows too much.
Another voice answered:
Then make sure her daughter never finds out.
My hands shook.
Ryan stared at the screen.
“My mother knew.”
“Yes.”
“She knew what they did to your family.”
“Yes.”
He sat down.
“I spent eleven years blaming you.”
I looked at him.
“I know.”
“I told everyone you couldn't give me children.”
“I know.”
“I humiliated you.”
“Yes.”
“I left you.”
“Yes.”
His eyes filled.
“I'm sorry.”
I didn't answer.
He looked at me.
“Say something.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“That you forgive me.”
“I can't.”
He nodded slowly.
“I understand.”
Then Alexander walked in.
“We have a problem.”
He placed another file on the desk.
“This is the original trust.”
I opened it.
My mother had named me sole beneficiary.
But there was a second clause.
I read it twice.
Then again.
“If Mariana Hart marries a Montgomery heir, control of the company transfers to the Montgomery family.”
I looked at Ryan.
He went pale.
“That means…”
“Yes.”
My mother had never wanted me to marry Ryan.
Not because she hated him.
Because she knew the Montgomery family wanted my inheritance.
Suddenly everything made sense.
Rebecca's obsession with our marriage.
Her pressure for children.
Her cruelty.
She wanted an heir connected to my bloodline.
But when I didn't become pregnant, she decided I was useless.
Then Vanessa appeared.
A younger woman.
Easier to control.
I looked at Ryan.
“Your family never wanted me to be happy.”
“No.”
“They wanted my inheritance.”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
“I married you because I loved you.”
“Maybe.”
He looked up.
“I did.”
I believed him.
And that was the worst part.
Because love didn't erase what he had done.
Before we could say anything else, the office lights went out.
A crash came from downstairs.
Ryan stood.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Mariana—”
“I've spent eleven years being afraid.”
I grabbed the file.
“I'm done.”
We descended the stairs.
The office door was open.
The window shattered.
And on Ryan's desk was a single envelope.
My name was written across it.
Inside was a photograph.
My children.
Sleeping.
Taken inside my house.
My blood froze.
On the back was a message.
You have forty-eight hours to surrender the trust.
Ryan stared at it.
“Mariana…”
I looked at him.
“No.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“They made one mistake.”
“What?”
“They think I'm still the woman they threw away.”
May you like
I closed the envelope.
“They're about to learn who they created.”
