Chapter 6 - THE SECRET MARRIAGE
Clara descended the metal stairs slowly.
Mason raised his gun.
“Put it down,” she said.
He didn't.
“You've caused enough damage.”
Clara smiled.
“You still think this is about money.”
I stared at her.
“Then what is it about?”
“Your father.”
“What did he do?”
“He built something he couldn't control.”
Clara's expression changed.
“He discovered that the investment company wasn't merely moving money.”
“What was it doing?”
“Buying influence.”
She explained that my father's firm had quietly acquired controlling interests in dozens of companies.
Hospitals.
Insurance administrators.
Medical suppliers.
Technology firms.
Political consulting companies.
It had become an invisible network.
And someone wanted it.
“Who?”
Clara looked at Mason.
“Your husband's uncle.”
I frowned.
“Mason doesn't have an uncle.”
“He does.”
Mason's face went white.
“Victor?”
Clara nodded.
“Victor Ross.”
Mason lowered his weapon.
“My uncle died twenty years ago.”
“No.”
Clara smiled sadly.
“He disappeared.”
Then she revealed the final piece.
Victor had been secretly controlling several Ross family companies through intermediaries.
He had also been behind Ravenstone.
But there was more.
Victor had learned about my father's trust.
He knew that only I could legally take full control.
So he needed me isolated.
Afraid.
Angry.
And desperate.
Daisy had been the perfect pressure point.
I felt sick.
“Did Victor cause Daisy's death?”
Clara looked at me.
“I don't know.”
The uncertainty hurt more than an accusation.
“But someone altered her medication authorization,” she continued.
“Nora found the trail.”
“Then why didn't she tell me?”
“Because Victor threatened her family.”
I looked at Mason.
“What were you doing at the clinic?”
His jaw tightened.
“I was investigating the medication.”
My heart stopped.
“You knew?”
“I suspected something was wrong.”
“When?”
“Two weeks before Daisy died.”
I slapped him.
The sound echoed through the warehouse.
“You knew something was wrong and didn't tell me?”
“I had no proof.”
“She was dying!”
“I know.”
“You should have told me!”
“I was trying to find whoever was behind it!”
“You were too busy with Sabrina.”
His face changed.
“Sabrina wasn't my mistress.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She was an investigator.”
I stared at him.
“The woman you were seen with?”
“She was working for my uncle.”
I almost laughed.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“She was pretending to work for him.”
“Then why hide it?”
“Because Victor had people watching you.”
Mason stepped closer.
“I thought if I stayed away from you, they'd believe I wasn't protecting you.”
I shook my head.
“You destroyed our marriage.”
“I know.”
He looked devastated.
“I thought keeping you ignorant would keep you alive.”
I wanted to hate him.
But suddenly every memory looked different.
The cancelled vacations.
The cold conversations.
The distance.
Maybe he hadn't stopped caring.
Maybe he had been afraid.
Then Clara whispered:
“There is one thing you still don't know.”
She handed me a document.
A marriage certificate.
My name.
Mason's name.
And another woman's signature.
Sabrina Cole.
I stared at it.
“What is this?”
Clara answered quietly.
“Your husband legally married Sabrina six months ago.”
Mason went completely still.
“That's impossible.”
Clara smiled.
“Is it?”
I looked at Mason.
He looked as shocked as I was.
Then I saw the date.
Six months ago.
Exactly when he had supposedly been traveling constantly.
Mason whispered:
“I never signed this.”
Clara looked at me.
“That's the point.”
Someone had forged Mason's identity.
Someone wanted him legally tied to Sabrina.
And if the marriage were real, my own marriage could become vulnerable.
Then my phone rang.
The caller ID showed:
SABRINA.
I answered.
Her voice was shaking.
“Elizabeth, you need to come to the hospital.”
“Why?”
“Because I found the original medication records.”
“Where?”
“I'm holding them right now.”
May you like
A pause.
“And Victor just found me.”
