Chapter 4 - THE FILE WITH MY NAME
We rented a motel room under false names.
The flash drive contained hundreds of files.
Most were encrypted.
One wasn't.
ROSALIND — PERSONAL
I clicked it.
A video opened.
Garrett appeared on screen.
My husband.
The man who had kissed me goodnight the evening before the river.
He was sitting across from a man I recognized.
Gideon Hale.
Garrett looked exhausted.
“You said she'd sign.”
Gideon shook his head.
“She trusts you.”
“I know.”
“Then make her trust you more.”
Garrett looked away.
“I love her.”
Gideon laughed.
“Love doesn't belong in business.”
Garrett's jaw tightened.
“I won't hurt her.”
“You won't have to.”
Gideon leaned forward.
“Once she signs, everything transfers.”
The recording ended.
I stared at the screen.
Tobias didn't speak.
Then another video opened.
Garrett again.
This time alone.
“If Rosalind discovers the truth, I'll protect her.”
The file ended.
I felt confused.
Angry.
Heartbroken.
“He was going to betray me.”
“Yes.”
“But he also planned to protect me.”
Tobias nodded.
“That's why this is complicated.”
Then we found the real twist.
A medical file.
My name.
Three years of prescriptions.
Drugs I had never requested.
I stared at the screen.
“What are these?”
Tobias read the names.
“Sedatives.”
My blood turned cold.
“Why was I taking them?”
“You weren't.”
I remembered.
Garrett bringing me vitamins.
Herbal supplements.
Sleeping tablets after stressful weeks.
My stomach turned.
“He was drugging me.”
“Not enough to kill you.”
“Why?”
“To keep you exhausted.”
I looked at the prescription dates.
They began two months after our wedding.
Then stopped six months ago.
“Why did he stop?”
Tobias stared at the screen.
“Because someone else took over.”
A new name appeared.
PENELOPE MERCER.
My half sister.
I felt sick.
Penelope had been monitoring my medication.
She had access to my home.
My kitchen.
My bathroom.
My life.
Then Tobias found one final file.
A pregnancy test.
Positive.
Penelope's.
But the date was wrong.
It was six months old.
Tobias looked at me.
“She isn't pregnant with Garrett's child.”
“Then whose?”
He opened another file.
The answer was worse.
The father was Gideon Hale.
And Penelope wasn't helping Garrett steal the shipyard.
She was helping Gideon control Garrett.
The family wasn't united.
May you like
They were fighting each other.
We had walked into a war.
