The Heiress He Rejected

TheTruth He Couldnt Hide

I didn't sleep that night.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Alexander.

Standing beside our bed.

His shirt half-buttoned.

Lily behind him.

My wedding ring sitting on the table where I had left it.

I pressed my palms against my face.

How could five years disappear in a single night?

I had loved that man with everything I had.

And he had thrown it away for our maid.

But the message I'd received before leaving frightened me even more.

Ask Alexander about the inheritance he stole from you.

I was sitting inside my father's old house now, surrounded by memories I'd spent years avoiding.

The house hadn't changed much.

Dust covered the furniture.

The curtains were faded.

My father's books were still arranged exactly as he'd left them.

I walked into his study and looked at the painting of the lake.

The stranger had told me to look behind it.

I moved the painting aside.

My fingers found a small indentation in the wall.

I pressed it.

Click.

A hidden compartment opened.

My heart began pounding.

Inside was a black metal box.

I found a key taped beneath the shelf and used it to open the box.

There was an envelope inside.

My name was written on it.

EMMA.

My father's handwriting.

My throat tightened.

I carefully opened it.

My dearest Emma,

If you are reading this, then I am no longer here to protect you.

Tears filled my eyes.

I continued.

There are things about our family that I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid the truth would put you in danger.

I swallowed.

Then I reached the sentence that changed everything.

You were never poor.

I stared at the words.

I read them again.

You were never poor.

My entire life had been built around a lie.

I had watched my father lose everything.

I'd believed his company had collapsed.

I'd believed his debts had consumed our family's fortune.

I'd believed that was why I'd entered my marriage with nothing.

But my father continued.

What they told you about my company is false.

I didn't lose everything.

It was taken from me.

My hands began shaking.

Then I saw the documents beneath the letter.

Business agreements.

Bank records.

Share certificates.

And one document with a name that made my stomach twist.

Richard Hale.

Alexander's father.

I turned the page.

My heart stopped.

Thirty-five percent.

That was the percentage of the Hale empire my father had legally transferred to me.

Thirty-five percent belonged to me.

I sank into the chair.

"No..."

A sound escaped my lips.

How could that be possible?

Then I remembered Alexander.

The way he'd asked questions about my father's company after we married.

The way he'd suddenly become interested in old Carter family documents.

The way he'd always insisted that I didn't need to concern myself with business.

Had he known?

My phone was still in my hand.

I stared at his name.

I didn't want to call him.

But I needed the truth.

I pressed his number.

He answered immediately.

"Emma?"

His voice sounded tired.

"Where are you?"

"At my father's old house."

There was a pause.

"What are you doing there?"

"Looking for answers."

Silence.

My heart began pounding.

"Alexander."

"I'm listening."

"Did you know about my father's inheritance?"

Nothing.

Not even a denial.

I closed my eyes.

"You knew."

"Emma, please let me explain."

"When?"

He exhaled slowly.

"Two years ago."

My fingers tightened around the phone.

Two years.

He had known for two years.

"And you never told me?"

"I was going to."

"When?"

"I don't know."

I laughed bitterly.

"You don't know?"

"I was trying to handle it."

"Handle what?"

"The company."

Of course.

The company.

Everything with Alexander always came back to the Hale empire.

I looked at the documents on my father's desk.

"Did you use my inheritance?"

His silence answered before he did.

"Yes."

My eyes burned.

"How much?"

"Emma—"

"How much?"

"I used some of it to stabilize the company."

I couldn't breathe.

"So while I was living in your mansion, believing we were struggling..."

"I was going to repay you."

"You knew I had money."

"Yes."

"You knew my father left me shares."

"Yes."

"And you still let me believe I had nothing."

"I didn't want you worrying about the business."

"No."

My voice broke.

"You didn't want me knowing what I owned."

He went silent.

I remembered every sacrifice I'd made during our marriage.

The necklace I'd sold.

The times I'd gone without new clothes.

The nights I'd told myself we couldn't afford something because Alexander's business needed money.

And all along...

I had been the one with the wealth.

"You watched me sacrifice for you."

"I'm sorry."

"You watched me believe I was helping save your family."

"I know."

"And you never told me."

"I was wrong."

Tears slipped down my cheeks.

"No, Alexander."

I wiped them away.

"You were selfish."

He didn't argue.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

Then his voice changed.

"Emma, please come home."

I stared at the documents.

"I don't have a home with you anymore."

"Please."

"I want a divorce."

His breathing stopped.

"No."

"I've made my decision."

"Emma, don't do this."

"Why?"

"Because I love you."

I closed my eyes.

The words hurt.

Not because I believed them.

Because once, I would have given anything to hear them.

"You should have remembered that before you took Lily to our bed."

He was silent.

Then he whispered,

"I regret it."

I laughed through my tears.

"Do you regret cheating on me?"

"Yes."

"Or do you regret that I found out?"

"No."

His voice cracked.

"I regret losing you."

I stared at the wall.

"You're too late."

"Give me another chance."

"You had five years."

"I'll change."

"You shouldn't have needed to lose me to realize my value."

He said nothing.

I looked down at the documents again.

Then I remembered the wedding ring I'd left behind at the mansion.

I'd walked away without it.

And strangely, I didn't want it back.

Not yet.

Maybe not ever.

"Goodbye, Alexander."

"Emma—"

I ended the call.

For several minutes, I sat in silence.

Then my phone vibrated.

A message from the unknown number.

Now you know what he took from you.

My heart pounded.

Another message appeared.

But you still don't know why he married you.

I froze.

A third message arrived.

Ask Alexander what happened the night your father died.

My blood ran cold.

My father had died five years ago.

The same year I married Alexander.

I slowly looked at the documents scattered across the desk.

Something was terribly wrong.

Maybe my husband's affair wasn't the beginning of the betrayal.

Maybe it was only the first betrayal I had discovered.

And somewhere inside the Hale mansion, Alexander was still holding the wedding ring I had left behind.

He had no idea that while he was planning how to win his wife back...

I was preparing to uncover the truth about why he married me in the first place.