Chapter 12 - THE TRUTH ABOUT ALYSSA
Alyssa agreed to cooperate.
Her story was complicated.
Betsy had approached her months before the divorce.
She promised money.
A position in the company.
A wedding.
And one condition.
She had to convince Connor she was carrying his son.
But Alyssa wasn't actually pregnant when she first made the claim.
She had been paid to create the story.
The pregnancy came later.
With another man.
The baby's father was Richard's missing son.
The same man who had worked inside Connor's company.
He had been helping Betsy manipulate the financial records.
But then something changed.
He fell in love with Alyssa.
The entire plan became unstable.
Alyssa admitted everything.
The forged fertility document.
The false pregnancy timeline.
The secret accounts.
The staged social media campaign.
And finally, she gave investigators the most important evidence.
A recording of Betsy ordering Connor to make sure I signed the divorce settlement.
I listened to it once.
Then I closed my eyes.
For years, I had believed my marriage failed because Connor stopped loving me.
The truth was uglier.
He had never understood love at all.
To him, people were assets.
Women were replacements.
Children were heirs.
Marriage was a business arrangement.
And now his business arrangement had collapsed.
The divorce court date arrived.
Connor's attorney requested a settlement.
Parker rejected it.
"They're offering her two million dollars."
I laughed.
"Two million?"
Parker nodded.
"Connor believes that's generous."
"What does he actually owe?"
Parker placed a folder on the table.
"Much more."
I looked at the numbers.
Then I made my decision.
"Don't take his money."
Parker looked surprised.
"What?"
"I don't want Connor's money."
"Then what do you want?"
May you like
I smiled.
"I want the truth entered into the record."
