Chapter 2 - The Night Everything Changed
Three days earlier, Eleanor had still been trying to save her marriage.
That was what made the scene in the mansion so painful.
She hadn't entered that house planning revenge.
She had entered hoping Julian would finally tell her the truth.
For months, something had been wrong.
Bank statements disappeared.
Business meetings happened without her.
Julian stopped leaving his phone unattended.
Then came the changes in Maya.
The little girl had become frightened whenever Julian entered a room.
She stopped asking him to read bedtime stories.
She stopped running to him when he came home.
And whenever Genevieve's name appeared on Julian's phone, Maya would quietly move closer to Eleanor.
Eleanor noticed everything.
She just didn't know what it meant.
Until one evening, Maya whispered something that changed her entire life.
“Mommy?”
Eleanor looked down.
“Yes, baby?”
“Why does Daddy tell me not to tell you things?”
Eleanor's heart stopped.
“What things?”
Maya looked toward the hallway.
“Daddy said it was our secret.”
Eleanor knelt.
“What secret?”
Maya's small fingers twisted the hem of her dress.
“He said you would be sad.”
Eleanor didn't push her.
She simply hugged her.
That night, after Maya fell asleep, Eleanor went downstairs.
Julian wasn't home.
His office door was unlocked.
She had never searched his desk before.
She opened the first drawer.
Nothing.
Second drawer.
Nothing.
Then she noticed a small key taped beneath the desk.
Eleanor stared at it.
She knew the cabinet.
Julian had always called it his “private business archive.”
The key turned.
Inside were folders.
Contracts.
Bank records.
And one printed message.
Eleanor read it once.
Then again.
Her hands began shaking.
Once Eleanor signs the transfer, the Vance Group will have complete control.
Below it was another message.
Make sure the child stays out of this.
Eleanor felt sick.
She kept searching.
There were payments to Genevieve.
Luxury hotel bills.
Private dinners.
Jewelry.
And transfers from company accounts into accounts controlled by Julian.
But one folder made her stop.
It contained documents relating to the Vance Group.
The company Eleanor had helped build.
The company she had inherited shares in from her father.
The company Julian had always claimed was “our future.”
At the bottom of the folder was a document titled:
MARRITAL ASSET TRANSFER AGREEMENT
Eleanor read the signature line.
Her name.
It wasn't signed yet.
But everything else had already been prepared.
She understood.
Julian wasn't divorcing her because he had fallen in love with someone else.
He was divorcing her because he wanted what belonged to her.
And Genevieve wasn't simply the mistress.
She was part of the plan.
Eleanor closed the folder.
She didn't cry.
Not yet.
She took photographs of every document.
Then she photographed the messages.
Then the account numbers.
Finally, she called the one person she had been avoiding for years.
Her father.
Grandfather Blackwood answered on the third ring.
“What happened?”
Eleanor swallowed.
“I need your help.”
There was silence.
Then his voice became very quiet.
“With what?”
“My husband.”
May you like
Her father understood immediately.
“Come home.”
