Karma Wears My Wedding Ring

The Trap Under the Pier

"Nyx!!"

My scream tore through my throat as I lunged forward, but Vesper shoved me hard, sending me crashing onto my knees.

"Stay down, Lyra!" she laughed, holding her phone toward Sienna on the video call. "Go join your daughter in the river!"

I crawled to the pier's edge, expecting to see the dark water swallow my little girl. Instead, a black tactical rescue boat waited beneath the wooden beams. Ryder stood on its bow, holding Nyx securely in his arms.

He gave me a sharp nod before gesturing toward the warehouse entrance.

Four armed guards burst from the shadows, overpowering the scarred man before he could reach his switchblade. Vesper spun around to escape, but I grabbed her hair and dragged her backward. She crashed onto the planks, dropping her phone.

On the screen, Sienna squinted curiously. "Vesper? Did you throw Lyra in yet?"

I ended the call, opened Vesper's messaging app, and typed: The brat is in the water, and Lyra jumped in after her. My boyfriend and I are leaving town.

Seconds later, Sienna sent a voice note.

"Good. Throw your phone into the river. Tonight, I'll tell Jaxson that Lyra ran away with your ex-boyfriend and stole company money. Your five hundred thousand dollars will be in your offshore account by midnight."

Vesper's face drained of color.

"She promised you money for murdering my daughter," I said coldly. "Do you really believe she'll pay you now?"

"Lyra, please! Sienna threatened to stop paying for my kidney medication!"

"For four years, I paid your medical bills and gave you my savings. In return, you helped someone throw my four-year-old daughter into a freezing river."

"I didn't think he'd actually push her!"

I pried her fingers from my ankle. Ryder climbed onto the pier carrying Nyx, her face hidden beneath a blanket. At my signal, he walked straight toward the waiting SUV.

Vesper stared at the empty water. "Where's Nyx? Did she drown?"

"You and your boyfriend committed attempted murder, and I have everything recorded."

"No! I'll testify against Sienna and Jaxson!" Vesper shrieked. "Six months ago, Jaxson and Zane created a company in Sienna's name. They diverted payments from your supply contracts into their joint Swiss account!"

My jaw tightened. While I worried about household expenses, Jaxson had been stealing from the company I built.

"Where's the ledger?"

"In the wall safe behind the painting in his study! The combination is Sienna's birthday, 0814!"

I ordered Ryder's men to secure Vesper and her accomplice until I dealt with Jaxson.

Inside the SUV, Nyx reached for me. "Mommy!"

I pulled her against my chest, burying my face in her hair as my hands trembled. "It's okay, baby. Mommy's here. Nobody will hurt you again."

Ryder glanced at us through the mirror. "She wasn't hurt. My men had a safety net beneath the pier before you arrived."

"Thank you, Ryder."

"You don't have to thank me. I warned you about Jaxson years ago."

"Breaking his legs is too easy," I replied, opening the leather folder Vesper had brought. The papers inside were blank invoices I'd substituted before arriving. The real equity contract remained in my bag.

"Sienna thinks we're dead," Ryder said.

"She hasn't told Jaxson about the murder plot. She wants to frame me for stealing company funds tomorrow. Tonight, he'll expect me to sign the villa papers."

I checked my watch. Five-thirty.

"Take Nyx to your estate and protect her. Then drop me near my house. Jaxson is expecting his gullible wife to cook dinner and sign away everything she owns."

Forty minutes later, I entered our villa alone and went straight to Jaxson's private study.

For four years, he'd kept the room locked, claiming he didn't want Nyx touching his contracts. Using the spare key hidden beneath my vanity drawer, I opened the door and removed the landscape painting behind his mahogany desk.

A digital safe was embedded in the wall.

I entered 0814.

The safe clicked open.

My heart sank. Even his most private security code was his mistress's birthday.

Inside lay a black ledger, three offshore bank tokens, and a velvet box. The ledger documented twenty-eight million dollars stolen through fraudulent transfers.

The velvet box contained a property deed for my parents' old house, transferred to Sienna's younger brother using my father's forged signature.

Before I could photograph it, a car pulled into the driveway.

Jaxson was home early.

Peering through the curtains, I saw him approaching the entrance with Zane and Sienna, who carried champagne and gift bags.

"Lyra! Sweetheart, are you home?" Jaxson called cheerfully. "I've brought Zane and his fiancée to celebrate the new villa! Where's Nyx?"

I shoved the ledger and bank tokens into my handbag, returned the painting to its hooks, and stepped into the hallway.

Jaxson reached the top of the stairs.

"You're back early," I said calmly.

His eyes narrowed as he examined my handbag. "What were you doing in my study? And where's Nyx? Didn't Vesper bring her home from the amusement park?"

Downstairs, Sienna looked up.

The moment she saw me standing there, alive and completely dry, the champagne bottle slipped from her hands and shattered across the marble floor.