Contract Wife To My Enemy's Heir

Chapter 5

What does the daughter know?

I stood there reading it multiple times, until the words stopped making sense and started making something worse instead.

Someone hadn't just documented my mother, and now, they had turned their attention to me.

They were watching and also asking questions about me, the same way they had once asked questions about her.

I put the photograph back exactly where I found it, straightened the folder, and walked out of the study with my heart slamming against my ribs. I closed the door behind me without a sound and stood in the dark living room pressing one hand flat against the wall.

The study door had been unlocked. I hadn't thought about it when I walked in, but standing here now, the cold came over me slowly.

What if it wasn't an accident?

I got back to my room looking so confused because I couldn’t make sense of everything that was happening.

That night, I didn't sleep. I kept turning over until morning came, and when I finally got up, I moved through the penthouse quietly, said nothing to Malvin over coffee, and kept everything I was carrying pressed flat behind my face.

He noticed, he always did, but he said nothing either, and we rode to the office in the same silence we had been building for days, and at work, I kept my head down and moved carefully.

I had been cross-referencing old company archive files for days, framing every request as research for my urban planning report. Three days of searching had led me to a shell company, the same one my mother had mentioned, the one my father had found weeks before he died.

It had been used to redirect funds from a land acquisition project. That same project appeared in Harrington Development's early records under a different name, and the primary stakeholder listed before the company restructured was a name I now recognized. Celeste Kain.

Maya noticed my mood and didn’t bother to approach me. I was left with my thoughts circling in my head, but I made sure it didn’t affect my work.

I was still staring at the screen when Malvin appeared at my desk.

"You've been here since seven," he said.

I minimized the window before I fully thought about it, but his eyes had dropped to the screen for half a second before I turned to face him.

"Just finishing the report," I said.

He looked at me for a moment. "You haven't eaten. Come on. Let’s go out for lunch."

I grabbed my bag and followed because refusing would raise more questions than agreeing.

We ate at a small restaurant two blocks from the office. It was quiet enough that no one bothered us, then Malvin ordered without looking at the menu.

Halfway through the meal, he set his fork down. "What are you looking for, Elena?"

My chest tightened. "I don't know what you mean."

"The archive requests, and the early mornings. You minimized your screen when I walked over." His voice was completely stern. "And I saw you come out of my study last night."

The restaurant hummed quietly around us, and I wasn’t sure if I should keep my findings to myself or spill everything out.

"I found a shell company," I said carefully. "Connected to an early Harrington land deal, and Celeste's name is on the original stakeholder record."

Something moved behind his eyes, but he was not surprised, he looked like someone whose suspicion was justified.

"How far back did you go?" he asked quietly.

"Far enough," I said.

He picked up his fork again without saying anything and continued eating.

"Malvin." My voice dropped. "My father's name was on a document in your study, with your family seal on it. I need to know what you know. Please."

He set the fork back down slowly. When he looked at me this time, something in his expression had shifted, not cold or open, but something caught painfully between the two.

"I'm handling it. So Elena, give me some time to figure things out," he said.

"My father died disgraced." My throat froze around every word. "My mother lost everything, and you're telling me you're handling it?"

"If this moves too fast, the evidence trail breaks and nobody answers for anything." His jaw was tight. "I need more time."

"How long have you already known?" I asked.

He didn't answer and kept staring at me instead.

"Malvin." I pressed my lips together hard. "How long?"

He looked away, and that was enough for me to take as an answer.

I didn't speak to him for the rest of the day.

That evening, the Kain family estate called about the quarterly family weekend dinner. Malvin's assistant had already added it to my calendar, and attendance was not optional.

Saturday came faster than I wanted. The Kain estate was everything my mother had described and worse. It was built to remind you exactly where you stood in relation to the people who owned it.

Celeste met us at the entrance. She kissed Malvin's cheek and turned to me with both hands extended.

"Elena." She held my hands warmly. "You look so much like your mother."

She said it like a compliment, but her eyes said something else entirely. Before I could find a single word, a broad-shouldered older man appeared behind her, he had Malvin's exact jaw and none of his restraint.

He looked at me once, assessed everything in that one look, then shifted his gaze to Malvin.

"We need to talk tonight after dinner." His voice dropped to something only the three of us could hear. "The hidden file is missing from the safe, and you're the only person in this family stupid enough to go looking."

Malvin said nothing, but beside me, I felt his entire body go still.

Then, he looked at me again, slowly this time, and what I saw in his eyes was not anger.

It was a warning meant specifically for me.