Chapter 6
For a moment, I couldn't touch the envelope.
My mother's name was written across the front.
Elena Bennett.
Seeing those letters in Marcus's possession felt like another violation.
He had never known her.
He had no right to use her memory.
My hands trembled as Danielle opened the envelope.
Inside was a copy of my mother's death certificate.
And a document titled:
BENNETT FAMILY TRUST — BENEFICIARY SUMMARY.
I looked at my father.
"Dad?"
His face had gone pale.
"Where did he get that?"
Danielle examined the pages.
"This appears to be an old summary of the family trust. Arthur, did Marcus ever have access to these records?"
My father shook his head.
"Not with my permission."
The summary included my mother's name.
My grandmother's name.
And mine.
Beside my name was a handwritten note.
SOLE SUCCESSOR — VERIFY CONTROL.
I felt cold.
"What does that mean?"
Danielle answered carefully.
"It looks like someone was researching which assets might eventually come under your control."
I stared at the paper.
My grandmother's apartment was only one piece of her estate.
There were investments.
A small commercial building.
A trust account she had established for future generations.
I had never paid much attention to the money.
Grandma had taught me that wealth was useful only when it gave people freedom to live with dignity.
Now Marcus had been studying every financial connection in my family.
"When was this prepared?" I asked.
Danielle checked the date.
"Almost three years ago."
I looked up sharply.
"Three years?"
My father nodded.
"You met Marcus three years ago."
The room seemed to shrink.
We had married eighteen months after our first date.
I remembered meeting him at a charity reception.
He was charming.
Attentive.
Funny.
He had asked about my work as an interior designer.
He had told me he admired how independently I lived despite my family's wealth.
I had fallen in love with the idea that he wanted me instead of my surname.
Now I wondered whether that idea had been his greatest lie.
"Are you saying he targeted me?" I whispered.
Danielle didn't answer immediately.
"The documents raise serious questions. They don't prove when or why he began the relationship."
I appreciated her caution.
But my heart had already made its own judgment.
My father turned away.
"I introduced him to you."
I stared at him.
"You did?"
He nodded slowly.
"At the reception. Marcus approached me first. He seemed interested in supporting the foundation."
I remembered.
Dad had called Marcus over and introduced us.
The man I loved hadn't entered my life by accident.
At least, that was what I now feared.
I felt suddenly foolish.
I stood.
"I need air."
Tasha followed me onto the terrace.
The morning was warm.
Birds moved through the trees.
Everything looked painfully normal.
I gripped the railing.
"Was any of it real?"
Tasha stood beside me.
"The way he looked at me. Our wedding. The nights he held me when I missed Mom."
My voice broke.
"Was he just waiting for me to sign something?"
Tasha slipped an arm around my shoulders.
"I can't answer that."
I began crying.
"But I can tell you something."
I looked at her.
"The person you loved was the person he showed you. His lies belong to him, not to you."
I leaned into her.
For the first time, I stopped trying to explain Marcus.
I allowed myself to grieve him.
Not the man who had assaulted me.
The man I had believed existed.
Later that day, Samantha gave Danielle access to the relevant business records in her possession.
They revealed payments from M&E Holdings to a private research company.
The dates began shortly before Marcus met me.
Some invoices referenced public property records.
Others referenced background reports.
One listed:
ELENA BENNETT ESTATE RESEARCH.
Danielle contacted the company through formal channels.
By evening, she had confirmation that Marcus had commissioned a lawful public-record search under his business account.
It was not proof that our entire marriage had been planned.
But it was enough to make me question how it began.
Then Danielle discovered something even more disturbing.
An email from Evelyn to Marcus.
It had been sent two weeks before our first date.
Find out whether Arthur's daughter controls the grandmother's property directly. We cannot waste another year on the wrong opportunity.
I read it three times.
My eyes filled with tears.
Another year.
The wrong opportunity.
I felt like a business prospect.
A name on a spreadsheet.
A target.
My father reached for the page.
His hands shook as he read it.
"I'm sorry, Nia."
I shook my head.
"Stop apologizing for what they did."
He stared at me.
I stepped closer.
"You loved me. That's why you welcomed Marcus. That's why you trusted him."
My father closed his eyes.
"I just wanted you to be happy."
"I know."
We embraced.
He held me the way he used to when I was little.
Only now, I held him back just as tightly.
That night, I received an unexpected call from Danielle.
She sounded excited.
"Nia, the investigator located Richard Cole."
"The notary?"
"Yes. He's agreed to speak with us through his attorney."
My pulse quickened.
"Why would he cooperate?"
"He says Evelyn lied to him."
I frowned.
"About what?"
Danielle paused.
"She apparently told him you were aware of the transfer arrangement and that certain documents had already been approved."
"But he met me."
"Yes. That's one of the questions he'll have to answer."
I sat on the bed.
"Do you believe him?"
"Not yet. But he wants to provide his records before investigators compel them."
I looked toward my mother's photograph.
"What does he have?"
Danielle exhaled.
"Emails, drafts, payment records, and notes from meetings with Evelyn."
Then she said something that made me stand.
"Nia, there may be a way to establish exactly when this conspiracy began."
I gripped the phone.
"How?"
"Richard kept copies of Evelyn's original instructions."
My voice trembled.
"And?"
"One instruction explicitly discusses your marriage."
I swallowed.
"What does it say?"
Danielle read it slowly.
Ensure Marcus obtains the necessary authority before Nia becomes suspicious. Marriage alone is not sufficient.
I stared into the dark.
My husband had planned to control my property.
My mother-in-law had helped him.
But they had forgotten one thing.
May you like
I was still here.
And I wasn't giving them anything.
