Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCHBy midnight, every exterior lock had been replaced.
The security system had been upgraded.
The corporate accounts had been placed under temporary review.
And I had finally stopped asking myself whether I was overreacting.
I wasn't.
The evidence was too clear.
Still, one question remained.
Why had Caleb waited until I was eight months pregnant?
The answer arrived the next morning.
At 9:14 a.m., my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then I answered.
“Hello?”
A woman's voice whispered:
“Mrs. Reed?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Natalie Brooks.”
I didn't recognize it.
“Who are you?”
“I used to work for your husband.”
My stomach tightened.
“Where?”
“At Reed Contracting.”
I sat down.
“What did you do?”
“Accounts payable.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“What do you want?”
“To warn you.”
“About Caleb?”
“About everyone.”
The line went silent for a second.
Then Natalie said:
“Do you know why I left?”
“No.”
“Because I discovered payments I wasn't supposed to see.”
I looked toward the kitchen.
“Payments to Brooke?”
“Yes.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
“How much?”
“Enough to make me afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
Natalie lowered her voice.
“That I would be blamed.”
She gave me an address.
A coffee shop downtown.
“One hour,” she said.
Then she hung up.
Marcus wanted me to stay home.
I refused.
“I'll take security.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Marcus—”
“You're eight months pregnant, someone has been moving company money, and a former employee just contacted you.”
He looked at me.
“You're not going alone.”
So an hour later, I sat in a corner booth while one of Marcus's security people waited outside.
Natalie arrived wearing a gray coat and sunglasses.
She looked exhausted.
She sat opposite me.
“You look like him.”
I frowned.
“Who?”
“Your grandmother.”
That immediately got my attention.
“What does that mean?”
Natalie placed a flash drive on the table.
“I copied these before I left.”
I stared at it.
“What are they?”
“Internal communications.”
“Between whom?”
“Caleb and Brooke.”
My heart sank.
“About what?”
Natalie hesitated.
“The company.”
I took the drive.
“Anything else?”
She nodded.
“Your house.”
I froze.
“What about it?”
“They were looking for a way to claim an interest in it.”
My jaw tightened.
“How?”
“Through the business.”
I didn't understand.
Natalie leaned closer.
“Your husband created a series of internal documents suggesting the company had contributed to renovations on the property.”
“But it didn't.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“To create a paper trail.”
My blood ran cold.
“He was trying to make it look like the house was partly a business asset.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“So if you divorced him, he'd have something to fight over.”
I couldn't breathe for a moment.
The baby moved.
I put a hand over my stomach.
Natalie looked at me.
“You need to leave him.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Her voice became urgent.
“You don't understand.”
“What?”
“This isn't about divorce.”
I looked up.
“What is it about?”
Natalie glanced toward the windows.
“They are planning to move money.”
“Where?”
“Into another company.”
“Whose?”
“Caleb's.”
My heart sank.
“How soon?”
“Before the baby is born.”
I thought about Brooke's message.
Get the company stuff handled before the baby arrives.
I suddenly understood.
The baby wasn't just a deadline.
She was part of their strategy.
They believed childbirth would make me vulnerable.
Natalie stood.
“I shouldn't have come.”
“Wait.”
She stopped.
“Why are you helping me?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because I have a daughter.”
That answer stayed with me.
Before leaving, she added:
“There is someone else you need to talk to.”
“Who?”
“Your husband's former business partner.”
“What's his name?”
“Daniel Price.”
I knew the name.
Everyone in Chicago's construction industry did.
Daniel Price had been Caleb's original partner.
They had split two years earlier.
Caleb always claimed Daniel had stolen money.
Now I wondered.
“Where can I find him?”
Natalie wrote an address.
Then she disappeared.
That evening, I called Marcus.
“Find Daniel Price.”
“I already did.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“He contacted me this afternoon.”
My stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“He said he knows why Caleb pushed him out.”
“Did he tell you?”
Marcus shook his head.
“He wants to tell you personally.”
The meeting was arranged for the next morning.
Daniel arrived carrying a battered folder.
He looked nothing like the wealthy businessman I remembered from old photographs.
His coat was worn.
His face was tired.
But his eyes were sharp.
“You look like you hate my husband,” I said.
Daniel gave a bitter smile.
“I don't hate Caleb.”
He placed the folder on the table.
“I hate myself for trusting him.”
Inside were contracts.
Bank statements.
Emails.
And one photograph.
I picked it up.
Caleb stood beside another man.
A man I didn't recognize.
“Who is that?”
Daniel looked at the photograph.
“Victor Lang.”
I frowned.
“Who's Victor?”
“Your husband's new partner.”
My blood chilled.
“I thought Caleb was creating another company alone.”
“He told you that?”
“Yes.”
Daniel shook his head.
“He isn't alone.”
He pointed to the photograph.
“Victor has been financing him for more than a year.”
I stared at the man's face.
“Why?”
“Because Caleb promised him something.”
“What?”
Daniel's answer was quiet.
“Control.”
“Of the company?”
“No.”
He looked directly at me.
“Of the property.”
My stomach dropped.
“Why would Victor care about my house?”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Because your house sits on land someone has wanted for twenty years.”
I felt a strange chill.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel opened another document.
A map.
My property was marked in red.
Across the street were several large commercial parcels.
Together, they formed something.
A development corridor.
My house stood directly in the center.
Daniel whispered:
“Your grandmother knew.”
I stared at the map.
“She's the reason the entire project never happened.”
“And Caleb?”
“He's trying to finish what they couldn't.”
I looked at my wedding ring.
Suddenly, it felt like a stranger's hand had placed it there.
“Who is Victor Lang?”
Daniel leaned forward.
“That's the question you should be asking.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor isn't interested in marrying your husband to your property.”
He paused.
“He's interested in buying your husband.”
I looked up.
“What?”
Daniel's expression was grim.
“And if Caleb can't deliver your house…”
May you like
He closed the folder.
“…Victor has another way to get it.”
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