Chapter 2 - The Secret in the Envelope
"Her sister," Griffin answered. "Paige Marlowe."
Dominic looked toward the ballroom doors.
"Get a car."
Griffin didn't move.
"Sir?"
"Bring my wife home."
"She's not going to come."
Dominic slowly turned his head.
It was a dangerous thing to contradict him in front of other people. Griffin knew that. He had watched men lose their jobs for less.
But he had also watched Dominic make enough mistakes over the past three years to know that obedience wasn't always loyalty.
"She left voluntarily," Griffin continued. "And I don't think sending security after her is going to help."
Celeste gave a quiet laugh.
"Honestly, Griffin, this is a family matter. You don't need to involve yourself."
Griffin ignored her.
Dominic looked down at the envelope.
The first page contained Eliza's name, his name, and the date they had married.
The second contained the date she had filed.
He turned another page.
There was a handwritten note.
I loved the man who stood beside me seven years ago. I don't recognize the man standing beside Celeste tonight. Please don't make this harder than it already is.
Dominic read it twice.
Then he folded it and slipped it into his jacket.
"Cancel the announcement," he told the event coordinator.
Celeste's smile disappeared.
"What announcement?"
Dominic didn't answer.
She grabbed his arm.
"You cannot be serious."
He looked at her hand until she released it.
"You wanted everyone to know where we stand. Congratulations. They know."
"Dominic, don't do this."
"Not another word."
He walked away, leaving her beneath the chandeliers.
Outside, Eliza sat in Paige's guest bedroom, still wearing the champagne dress.
It was nearly midnight.
She had removed her shoes and placed the ultrasound card on the bedside table.
Paige appeared in the doorway carrying two cups of tea.
"Your phone has been ringing for twenty minutes."
Eliza looked at the screen.
Dominic.
Dominic.
Dominic.
Three missed calls.
Then a message.
Come home. We need to talk.
She stared at it.
Seven years ago, those words would have made her feel safe.
Tonight, they sounded like an order.
She turned the phone facedown.
Paige placed a cup beside her.
"Did you sign the petition?"
"Yes."
"All the pages?"
"Every one."
"Good."
Eliza looked at the window.
"I didn't tell him."
Paige knew exactly what she meant.
"Maybe it's better that way."
"I don't know."
"Eliza, he stood in front of four hundred people and announced another woman as his future wife. You don't owe him an opportunity to celebrate a baby he might not even want."
Eliza flinched.
Paige immediately regretted the words.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
But it wasn't.
The truth was, Eliza had no idea what Dominic wanted anymore.
For three years, he had been absent in ways that were difficult to explain.
Late meetings.
Private phone calls.
Weekends spent at the Blackridge estate.
A growing collection of locked rooms and unanswered questions.
And Celeste Wynn.
Celeste had first appeared at a Blackridge charity auction two years earlier. She was a financial consultant with connections to several European investment groups. Dominic had introduced her as a business associate.
Then she became his dinner companion.
Then his travel companion.
Then the woman who sat beside him at company events while Eliza was told that her presence wasn't necessary.
Eliza had tried to be reasonable.
She had tried to be patient.
She had even convinced herself that there was an innocent explanation.
Until tonight.
Her phone vibrated again.
This time it wasn't Dominic.
It was an unfamiliar number.
Mrs. Rourke, my name is Margaret Bell. I worked for your husband's grandmother. I need to speak with you before Dominic finds out.
Eliza sat upright.
Margaret Bell.
The elderly woman had been the family's housekeeper for nearly thirty years. She had retired shortly before Dominic and Eliza's wedding.
Eliza typed a reply.
About what?
The response arrived almost immediately.
The emerald necklace. And the child you are carrying.
Eliza's stomach tightened.
She read the message again.
Paige noticed her expression.
"What happened?"
Eliza showed her the screen.
Paige's face hardened.
"How does she know?"
"I don't know."
"Do not meet her alone."
Eliza looked down at her stomach.
Then another message appeared.
Your husband has been searching for a document his grandmother hid. It concerns the ownership of Blackridge. You need to know what happens if Celeste gets it.
Eliza felt the room tilt.
Blackridge.
Dominic's empire.
The business that had swallowed nearly every hour of their marriage.
She typed one question.
What does this have to do with my baby?
Margaret's answer took almost a minute.
Because your child may be the only person who can legally prevent Celeste Wynn from taking everything.
Eliza's blood ran cold.
Across the city, Dominic stood inside his private office, staring at the divorce petition.
Celeste had gone home.
Griffin was still waiting by the door.
"Find out where Eliza is."
"I already know."
Dominic looked up.
"Then why haven't you told me?"
"Because she asked me not to."
Dominic's expression turned dangerous.
"She spoke to you?"
"Before she left the hotel."
"What did she say?"
Griffin hesitated.
"She said she needed time."
Dominic looked back at the petition.
For the first time that evening, he noticed something strange.
Eliza had signed the papers six hours before the gala.
Which meant she had known.
She had known about Celeste's announcement before he made it.
He reached for his phone.
"Pull the security footage from the house. The last month. Every entrance, every exit."
"Why?"
Dominic stared at the emerald necklace in the photograph on his desk.
"Because my wife didn't leave me tonight."
He paused.
"Something made her prepare to leave long before I knew it."
Then Griffin placed a small photograph on his desk.
It showed Celeste entering the private medical wing of St. Catherine's Hospital.
At 9:17 that morning.
With a man Dominic recognized immediately.
His personal physician.
May you like
And the date beneath the photograph was three weeks earlier.
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