Chapter 5 - SAMANTHA'S SECRET
The next morning, Samantha Hayes appeared at my father's attorney's office.
Alone.
She looked terrified.
“I need to talk to Nora.”
Raymond asked me whether I wanted to see her.
I did.
Samantha sat across from me.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she pushed a flash drive across the table.
“I didn't know about Chloe.”
I stared at her.
“You were with my husband while my daughter was dying.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
“Why are you here?”
“Because Brendan lied to me too.”
That caught my attention.
Samantha explained that Brendan had promised her they would marry after his divorce.
But he had never planned to divorce me.
He needed me married to him for another reason.
My father's trust.
Apparently, Brendan's family had discovered that my marriage gave them access to certain investment relationships and business introductions my father had established.
But they had never been able to control the trust itself.
Samantha had recently discovered another secret.
Brendan had been planning to declare me mentally unstable and seek full control of my remaining assets.
She handed me another file.
Inside was a draft petition.
My name was already on it.
So was Chloe's.
The petition claimed I had been an “emotionally unstable mother incapable of making rational medical decisions.”
I stared at the words.
“They were going to blame me?”
Samantha nodded.
“I couldn't let him do that.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
She swallowed.
“Because I'm pregnant.”
The room went silent.
My heart stopped.
“Does Brendan know?”
“No.”
She looked down.
“And I don't know if the baby is safe around him.”
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For the first time, I realized this wasn't only about revenge.
It was about stopping a machine that had been hurting people for years.
