BETRAYED HEARTS, RECLAIMED DREAMS.

Chapter-4-THE-TRUTH

CHAPTER 4: THE TRUTH

Solomon's POV

I watched Judith hurry away from the café, her shoulders tense with fear, and felt anger burn in my chest. Benjamin Crawford was exactly the type of man I despised, entitled, cruel, and dangerous when his power was threatened.

My phone rang and I saw it was Franklin. "Tell me you didn't just threaten Benjamin Crawford in a public café."

"How did you already know about that?" I asked.

"Because Crawford just called our office making legal threats," Franklin said irritably. "Solomon, you can't keep inserting yourself into this woman's divorce."

"I'm helping someone who needs it," I said firmly.

"You're falling for her," Franklin corrected. "And that's going to cloud your judgment."

He wasn't entirely wrong but I ended the call anyway and headed back to my office. I had arrangements to make if Judith was leaving for Chicago tomorrow.

Valerie was waiting when I arrived. "Mr. Price, we have a situation, Benjamin Crawford hired a private investigator to follow you."

"Let him," I said. "I have nothing to hide."

"There's more," Valerie continued. "Our background check on Judith Scott revealed something interesting, her family trust fund was much larger than the eight million she gave Benjamin, there's another twelve million that's unaccounted for."

I frowned. "What do you mean unaccounted for?"

"It disappeared from her account three years ago, right after the wedding," Valerie explained. "But there's no record of where it went."

This didn't make sense, if Benjamin had stolen twenty million total from Judith, why was he only fighting over the eight million from the research center?

"Keep digging," I instructed. "I want to know where that money went."

My phone buzzed with a text from Robert, my private investigator: Found something about Sandra Reeves you need to see, not over the phone, meet me at your penthouse in one hour.

Robert was waiting when I arrived home, his expression grim as he handed me a file.

"Solomon, Sandra Reeves isn't who Judith thinks she is," Robert said. "Her real name is Sandra Morrison and she has a criminal record for fraud and identity theft from ten years ago."

I opened the file and felt my blood run cold. Sandra had been arrested for running a con where she befriended wealthy women and systematically stole their identities and money.

"There's more," Robert continued. "Sandra didn't meet Benjamin by accident, she targeted him specifically after researching his family connections."

"And Judith?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

"Sandra targeted her too," Robert confirmed. "She became Judith's friend in college specifically to get close to the Crawford family money."

"Does Judith know any of this?" I asked.

"I doubt it," Robert said. "Sandra's record was sealed after she completed a plea deal, but I have connections that go deeper than public records."

I sat down heavily, trying to process this information, if Sandra was a con artist then the entire story about her relationship with Benjamin might be fabricated.

"What about the daughter, Brielle?" I asked.

"The DNA test is real," Robert said. "Brielle is definitely Benjamin's child, but I haven't been able to confirm whether Sandra was actually in a relationship with him before Judith or if she got pregnant through other means."

My phone rang and I saw it was Judith. "Are you alright?"

"No," her voice was shaking. "Someone broke into Mirabel's apartment while I was packing, they destroyed all my photography equipment and left a note."

"What did the note say?" I asked, already grabbing my keys.

"It said that if I don't drop the divorce and the fraud investigation, they'll destroy everything I love," Judith said, and I could hear tears in her voice. "Solomon, I'm scared."

"I'm coming to get you right now," I said. "Pack only what you need, you're not staying there tonight."

"Where am I supposed to go?" she asked.

"My penthouse," I said firmly. "It has security that Mirabel's apartment doesn't have."

"I can't impose on you like that," Judith protested weakly.

"You're not imposing, you're accepting help from someone who cares about your safety," I said, already in the elevator heading to the parking garage. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes, don't open the door for anyone but me."

When I arrived at Mirabel's building, I found Judith waiting in the lobby with a single suitcase, her face pale and her hands trembling.

"Did you call the police?" I asked, taking her suitcase.

"They said they'd send someone but it could take hours," Judith said. "The detective on the fraud case is off duty until tomorrow."

I guided her to my car and made sure she was safely inside before driving toward my penthouse in the luxury district downtown.

"I don't understand why this is happening," Judith said quietly. "I just want my money back and to end my marriage, why does Benjamin have to make it so complicated?"

"Because men like him can't stand losing control," I said. "And you taking back your power terrifies him more than any legal consequences."

We rode the elevator up to my penthouse and I watched Judith's eyes widen as she took in the floor-to-ceiling windows and expensive furnishings.

"This is beautiful," she said softly.

"The guest room is down that hall," I pointed. "You'll have complete privacy and the building has 24-hour security."

Judith turned to face me and I saw gratitude mixed with something else in her eyes. "Why are you doing all this for me, Solomon? And please don't say it's because someone did it for you."

I took a step closer, close enough to see the gold flecks in her brown eyes. "Because from the moment I saw your photographs at that gallery, I knew you were someone special, someone worth protecting."

"You don't even know me," Judith whispered.

"Then let me get to know you," I said. "No pressure, no expectations, just two people who understand what betrayal feels like."

Judith looked like she wanted to say something but before she could, my phone rang with an unknown number.

"Don't answer it," Judith said quickly. "Benjamin sometimes calls from blocked numbers."

But something made me answer anyway. "Solomon Price."

"Mr. Price," a cold voice said. "This is Benjamin Crawford, I know Judith is with you and I'm calling to warn you that you're making a very dangerous mistake."

"Is that a threat?" I asked calmly, putting the phone on speaker so Judith could hear.

"It's a promise," Benjamin said. "I have resources you can't imagine and I will destroy anyone who tries to help my wife leave me, so I suggest you send her back before you regret it."

"Judith is staying exactly where she is," I said. "And if you contact her or me again, I'll make sure the police add stalking and harassment to your growing list of charges."

I hung up and saw that Judith looked terrified.

"He's never going to let me go, is he?" she asked.

"He doesn't have a choice," I said firmly. "The law is on your side and I promise you, I won't let him hurt you."

But even as I said the words, I wondered if I was making a promise I could keep, because Benjamin Crawford was clearly more dangerous than any of us had realized.

My phone buzzed with a text from Robert: You need to see this now, I'm sending you a video file that changes everything about this case.

I downloaded the file and pressed play, then felt my blood turn to ice as I watched security footage of Sandra meeting with Benjamin's lawyer two weeks ago, exchanging what appeared to be cash for documents.

"What is it?" Judith asked, seeing my expression.

I turned the phone so she could see the video, and watched her face go pale as she realized what it meant.

"Sandra has been working with Benjamin this whole time," Judith whispered. "Everything she told me about wanting to help was a lie."

But that wasn't even the worst part, because at the end of the video, Sandra turned toward the camera and smiled directly at it, as if she knew someone would be watching.

And in that smile, I saw something that made my skin crawl, the cold calculation of someone who had planned every detail of this betrayal from the very beginning.