The Heiress's Revenge

Secrets Revealed

After getting Jessi to bed, I made my way to my office where Ace, Jason, Melissa, and Melinda were all waiting for me. "Jase, I wasn't expecting to see you so late, what's wrong?" I asked my lawyer when I sat down.

"He didn't sign the papers, Hailey. He thinks you forged the paternity test. I told him repeatedly that you had it done with him in the room on the day Miss Jessica was born. He still thinks you were sleeping with the technician and that's how you were able to falsify the test," he said.

"He knows damn well that I never once cheated on him, but I'll deal with that mess later. You all want the truth? As to why I'm just now filing for divorce?" I asked everyone in the room.

"Yes, Hailey. We all knew he was an ass to be around, but we all want to know why you stuck around," Ace said.

"I'll need to start from the beginning then, won't I?" I asked.

"Preferably, yes," Melinda said.

"Okay. From the beginning. Christopher and I were about 19 when we first met. He was dating someone else at the time, but we became fast friends. He started working in my father's office at the corporation as his assistant. My father asked that I show him the ropes and the ins and outs of the office to help him, and to get to know him better, since we would be working side by side. In that time, he had broken up with his then-girlfriend and had attempted to flirt with me. I called him on it and suggested he take a few months before he felt ready enough for a new relationship. I didn't want to be accused of breaking up a relationship, nor did I want to be a rebound. In the few months following his break-up, we grew closer and I started developing feelings. After about six months, he asked me out, again. This time, I said yes. We were together for a year and a half when we decided to move in together. It was another year and a half before he proposed. I said yes immediately because I genuinely loved him and wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. It was around that time that he started showing his true colors. He was verbally abusive and constantly put me down about everything. Nothing I did was good enough for him. He'd start fights with me over nothing. I thought that we were just going through a rough patch, like any other couple. I had no idea just how bad it would get," I started. "He went from being verbally abusive to emotionally and mentally abusive. He started trying to control what I did, who I saw, what I wore. I finally had enough and told him that we either went to counseling or we were over. He agreed to counseling, and over time, it got better. He stopped being abusive in any way and was less controlling. He was still cautious about who I was around, especially since, during this time, he had started taking on more tasks for my dad and was learning the ropes of being CEO. I never told my dad any of this. If he knew, he would've cut him off completely and never would've given his blessing for us to get married. We started wedding planning about three months after we started counseling and had gotten married when we were twenty-three when we got married. I got pregnant with Jess a month or two after our honeymoon. I was working a lot more and was away for several days at a time on business trips during that time, but when I was home, my focus was on my new husband and our home, the same home I bought outright before we were ever married. I never added his name to the lease just in case something happened. When I was getting closer to giving birth, I worked from home more often and did my best to stay in my office to finish projects that I knew were not going to wait for me after I had Jess. When Jess was born, Christopher asked that I take a few weeks off work to focus on being a mom and wife. I did most of the cleaning and cooking while he worked, and when he came home, I made sure he always had a cold beer with his dinner. It wasn't until Jess was about 1.5 years old did he ever get violent with me. He started hitting me, leaving bruises where no one could see them. He tried to force me to have another child, but when I repeatedly refused, I guess he went to look elsewhere to have his son. I found out about Jade a few months ago when my P.I. took pictures of him meeting up with her, and then again when he took pictures of their 'wedding'. She knew he was married, she also knew about Jess. She chose to fool around with a married man, and now she thinks that she'll get the life she wants."

"Why didn't you tell us? Let alone, Ace?" My dad asked from the doorway. I hadn't even heard him come in.

"How did you even get into the house? Or the gate? Melissa changed the code and the locks," I said, both shocked and horrified.

"She texted me the code earlier, and I called your housekeeper to let me in the house. If you don't want me to know the code, that's fine, we can change it again. I was just worried for your safety after you never showed up to my office," he said.

"Dad, it's fine. Where's Ashley?" I asked.

"Getting you a cup of tea from the kitchen. She came in with me, but when she heard of the abuse she needed to leave and do something for you. You know how she gets when that sort of topic gets brought up," he said.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, dad," I said.

"You should've told us, Hailey. I know I didn't do my best to show that I care about you or Jess, but I would've tried harder if I had known what you were going through. I know it's not an excuse for not trying harder, and I am so sorry," Ashley said.

"It's fine. I didn't want you or Dad to worry about me. I'm a grown woman. I should be the least of your worries. Right now, I'm just worried about Jess. The doctor didn't find any internal injuries, but her external ones are enough to cause concern. He should be here in a few minutes with his full report so I can go to the police station in the morning and file a report," I said, just as Dr. Patterson walked in.

"Good evening, Mr. and Ms. Imbram. I have the report from Jess's check-up earlier. Included are the pictures and X-rays," Dr. Patterson said. "If you'll excuse me, I'll leave this with you and be on my way."

"Is this your only copy?" I asked.

"No, ma'am, I have another copy on my person. I was about to deliver it to Mr. Henderson, he deserves to see the extent of his daughter's injuries," he said.

"Absolutely not!! You will not give that report to him. It is his fault my daughter was injured. His bastard son did this. If I find out you went behind my back to give that piece of s**t man the file, you will be fired, and I will report you to the proper authorities so you'd lose your license to even practice medicine. Do I make myself clear?" I said, outraged at his possible idea.

"Of course, Ms. Imbram. I'll destroy the copy right now. I would never intentionally put you or your daughter in danger," he said.

"Use my shredder, it's right here, and after your previous statement, I can no longer trust you," I said. "You are dismissed from my office once it's done. I will decide whether you can continue to work for me. For now, you are on probation and will have one of my security officers follow you closely."

"Yes, Ms. Imbram," he said as he left my office.