Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO WANTED ME RUINED
Sloan Rivers appeared at Lily's door on a Tuesday morning.
She was wearing sunglasses despite the cloudy weather.
Lily opened the door halfway.
“What do you want?”
Sloan removed her glasses.
“I think we need to talk.”
“I don't.”
Sloan smiled.
“That's exactly what Cole said you'd say.”
Lily felt something tighten inside her.
“Then you already know where the door is.”
Sloan didn't leave.
Instead, she held up a folder.
“You should see this.”
Lily hesitated.
“What is it?”
“Your divorce settlement.”
“I've already signed it.”
“Not the version you signed.”
Lily opened the folder.
Her face changed.
There were two agreements.
One contained the settlement she had signed.
The second transferred several rights from Lily to Mercer Systems.
Her signature was on it.
But she hadn't signed that document.
Lily stared.
“This is forged.”
“I know.”
“Why are you showing me?”
“Because someone is forging documents using both your name and mine.”
Lily looked at her carefully.
“Why would you care?”
Sloan removed her sunglasses completely.
“Because I may be many things, Lily. But I didn't marry your husband.”
Lily blinked.
“What?”
Sloan laughed without humor.
“The ceremony photographs were fake.”
Lily stared at her.
“I saw the wedding.”
“You saw a staged event.”
“Cole married you.”
“No.”
Sloan opened another folder.
“Cole needed the public to believe he had moved on. He needed investors to believe his personal life was stable.”
“Why?”
“Because Mercer Systems is in trouble.”
Lily's stomach dropped.
“How much?”
“Enough that Cole would do almost anything to hide it.”
Sloan leaned closer.
“And your divorce gave him the perfect opportunity.”
Lily closed the folder.
“Why help me?”
Sloan looked away.
“Because I'm tired of being used.”
She walked toward the stairs.
Then stopped.
“One more thing.”
Lily waited.
“Don't trust Cole's CFO.”
“Who?”
“Marcus Vale.”
Lily knew the name.
Marcus had been Cole's closest adviser for years.
Sloan smiled sadly.
“He's not the man Cole thinks he is.”
That afternoon, Edward met Lily at a quiet restaurant.
He listened while she explained everything.
“Do you trust Sloan?” he asked.
“No.”
“Good.”
“I don't trust you either.”
“Even better.”
She frowned.
Edward almost smiled.
“Trust should be earned.”
For the first time, Lily noticed something different about him.
He wasn't trying to rescue her.
He was treating her like an equal.
That mattered.
They spent the afternoon tracing Project Orion.
The deeper they went, the worse it became.
Someone had reactivated Orion eighteen months earlier.
Someone had used Lily's old code.
And the system was now predicting corporate failures across dozens of American companies.
But the predictions weren't merely being observed.
Someone was profiting from them.
Billions.
Edward looked at the screen.
“Whoever is running this has access to financial information before the public does.”
Lily whispered:
“Inside information.”
“More than that.”
Edward pointed to one line.
“Government contracts.”
Lily stared.
The system wasn't just targeting companies.
It was influencing infrastructure.
Ports.
Airlines.
Hospitals.
Energy providers.
She suddenly understood why someone had wanted her silent.
Orion wasn't a business tool anymore.
It was a weapon.
That night, Lily returned home.
Her door was unlocked.
She stopped.
She had locked it.
Slowly, she entered.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
Then she saw her desk.
Her laptop was open.
A message was displayed across the screen.
YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED OUT OF IT.
Lily stepped backward.
Her phone rang.
Edward.
“Where are you?”
“My apartment.”
“Leave.”
“What?”
“Now.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Lily grabbed her coat.
The bedroom door opened.
A man stepped inside.
She recognized him.
Marcus Vale.
Cole's CFO.
He looked at her.
Then at her stomach.
“Mrs. Mercer,” he said calmly.
“You shouldn't have called Edward.”
Lily backed toward the fire escape.
Marcus smiled.
“Your husband made one mistake.”
“What?”
May you like
“He underestimated you.”
Then the lights went out.
