THE HEIRS THAT DESTROYED HIM

The old Voss warehouse stood on the edge of the river, three blocks from the property where Martin's father had built his first manufacturing plant.

I arrived at 7:55 the next morning.

I wasn't foolish enough to come completely alone. Margaret's investigator waited in a car nearby, and my phone was recording.

Clara stood beside a stack of shipping crates.

She wore a cream-colored coat and carried the baby in a designer stroller.

She looked exhausted.

Without the gala makeup and expensive jewelry, she appeared younger than I remembered.

“Thank you for coming,” she said.

“I didn't come to make friends.”

She gave a bitter laugh.

“Neither did I.”

I stayed several feet away.

“What do you want?”

She looked down at the baby.

“I want you to understand that Martin lied to me, too.”

“About what?”

“Everything.”

She took a breath.

“After I became pregnant the first time, Martin told me his doctor had confirmed that he was fertile. He said you had been diagnosed with infertility and had hidden it because you were afraid he'd leave you.”

I felt something tighten in my chest.

“He said that?”

“He showed me a medical document. It had your name on it.”

I shook my head.

“There was no such document.”

“I know that now.”

She pulled a folded paper from her handbag.

It was a copy of a fertility report.

My name appeared at the top.

But the signature wasn't mine.

The report claimed I had a reproductive condition that made pregnancy impossible.

It was completely fabricated.

“Where did you get this?”

“Martin gave it to me.”

I stared at the document.

He hadn't merely lied about my inability to have children.

He had created a false medical record to justify humiliating me.

Clara watched my face.

“I believed him. I thought he was a man trapped in a marriage with someone who couldn't give him a family.”

“And you decided to have an affair with him.”

“Yes.”

She didn't try to excuse it.

“I was ambitious. I wanted the life he promised me. The house, the money, the company. I convinced myself that you were the obstacle.”

“And now?”

“Now I know I was just another person he used.”

She opened her phone and showed me a series of messages.

Martin had told her that the donor arrangement was temporary. He claimed Richard had agreed to help them create a family because of the medical problem.

But one message stood out.

Once the second child is born, Evelyn will have no reason to remain. The prenup will protect the company. Clara gets the children and the house. Richard gets his shares. Everyone gets what they want.

I read it twice.

“What does this mean?”

Clara swallowed.

“He planned to divorce you after the second baby. He wanted the children to make him look like the victim. He would claim you had abandoned the family.”

“He thought I would simply leave?”

“He thought you'd sign whatever he put in front of you.”

I handed back the phone.

“Why are you telling me now?”

“Because yesterday Martin told me he was going to take the children away.”

My eyes narrowed.

“Why?”

“He says Richard has become a liability. He's planning to have him removed from the company and discredit him publicly. He also said the children could be placed with his mother while he handles the situation.”

I looked at the stroller.

The little girl inside stirred.

“Those children have done nothing wrong.”

“I know.”

Clara's voice broke.

“I made a terrible mistake, Evelyn. But I love them.”

For the first time, I believed her.

Then she reached into her coat and handed me a small black flash drive.

“There's a recording.”

“Of what?”

“Martin and his father. From three years ago.”

I took it.