THE DIVORCE MY REVENGE

THE DIVORCE MY REVENGE CHAPTER 3

Chapter Three

The handshake lasted only a second.

But Elena felt it for much longer.

The warmth of Damian's hand against hers brought back memories she had spent three years trying to bury. She pulled away first. We have work to do. Damian watched her carefully.

“Agreed.”

Elena turned toward the photograph on his desk. Tell me everything you know about Richard Blackwell Damian's expression darkened. Not much. That's convenient.

I was twenty-four when my grandfather introduced me to him. Blackwell handled several international investments for Sterling Holdings.

And then?”

He disappeared. You said he died. That was what I was told. Elena stared at him. You never questioned it?” I did.

And?”

Damian's jaw tightened. My grandfather told me to leave it alone. Elena gave a bitter smile.

Your grandfather seems to say that a lot. Damian didn't respond. She picked up the photograph again. Why would Richard Blackwell be meeting my father three months after his supposed death? I don't know.

Then find out.

Damian stepped closer. We will. Elena looked at him.

Don't say *we* like you and I are suddenly a team.

His eyes held hers. We are, whether you like it or not. She looked away. She hated the

confidence in his voice.

She hated the way some part of her still trusted it.

Before she could respond, Damian's phone rang.

He answered.

“Yes?”

His expression changed almost immediately.

“Where?”

A pause.

Don't touch anything. I'll be there.

He ended the call.

What happened?” Elena asked.

My security team found something.

What?

A storage facility.

He looked at the photograph.

One of the old Sterling properties.

Elena's pulse quickened.

Connected to Blackwell?

We don't know.

Then let's go.

The storage facility was hidden beneath an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city.

Dust covered the concrete floor. Old furniture and sealed boxes filled the dark corridors

security team had already opened one of the rooms.

Elena walked inside.

Her eyes immediately landed on a metal cabinet.

That's it?

Damian nodded.

The records were hidden behind a false wall.

He handed her a folder. Elena opened it.

Her breathing stopped. Inside were financial records from seven years ago.

Marlowe Industries.

Sterling Holdings.

Blackwell International.

Everything she had spent three years searching for was suddenly sitting in front of her.

She turned page after page. Then she found something that made her blood run cold.

A transfer authorization.

The money that had destroyed her father's company had not been sent directly by Sterling Holdings.

It had been transferred through Blackwell International, but beneath the authorization was a name. But beneath the authorization was a name.

Damian Alexander Sterling.

Elena froze.

Damian noticed.

What?

She turned the document toward him. His eyes fell on the signature. He went completely still.

That isn't my signature. Elena laughed once.

Of course. I mean it. You expect me to believe someone forged your signature?

Yes.

Convenient.

Damian stepped toward her.

Elena, look at the date.

She did.

Her eyes widened. This was six months before our wedding.

Yes.

So?

I was in London. She looked at him. How do you know?

Because I was negotiating the Ravenscroft acquisition.

Elena stared at him. She wanted to believe him. That was the problem. She wanted to believe him so badly that it frightened her.

Then she noticed another document beneath the authorization. A photograph. Her father was standing beside Damian. Elena's fingers trembled. What is this?

Damian took the photograph. His face became unreadable. I don't remember this. You're

standing beside my father. I know.

And you told me you barely knew him. I said I didn't know him well. You never told me you met him because I didn't remember meeting him.

Elena stared at him. “How convenient. Damian looked directly at her. Not everything is a lie, Elena.

She looked away. That's what liars say. The words hurt him. She could see it. But she didn't apologize. Not this time. They returned to the Sterling mansion that evening.

Elena had refused to speak to Damian during the drive.

Her mind was filled with questions.

If Damian had really been in London when the money was transferred, who had forged his signature? Why had her father met him?

And why had someone gone to such lengths to make her believe the Sterling family was responsible?

She stood in the mansion's library while Damian searched through old family records.

This house hasn't changed, Elena said quietly.

Damian looked at her You remember it?”

Unfortunately. “You hated living here.”

I hated feeling like a prisoner. His expression tightened.

“You could have left. Elena turned toward him. Could I?

Damian didn't answer. You know what your family did to me.

I know.

No. You don't. Her voice cracked.

They made me feel like I was never good enough for you. Damian lowered his eyes.

“Elena…

They told me you regretted marrying me.

I never said that.

You didn't have to. She swallowed. Your silence said it for you. Damian walked toward her.

I was wrong.

She looked at him.

“What?”

I should have defended you. The words caught her off guard.

He continued.

“I should have stood beside you. Elena's eyes filled with emotion.

For three years, she had imagined him saying those words.

Now that he finally had… they hurt more than she expected. She stepped backward.

Don't.

Why?

Because I don't know what to do with the man you're pretending to be.

His face hardened. Pretending?”

Yes.

She walked toward the door. Damian caught her wrist.

Elena. She stopped. His hand remained around her wrist.t Neither spoke.

The silence between them became unbearably intimate.

His eyes dropped briefly to her lips. Elena noticed. Her breath caught.

For one dangerous moment, neither of them remembered the divorce.

Then she pulled her hand away. We're not doing this. Damian's voice was quiet. Doing what?

Whatever this is. She left the room. Damian remained standing there.

He stared at the doorway long after she disappeared. That night, Elena couldn't sleep.

She walked into the guest room and found another envelope on the bed.

No name, no return address. Her heart began pounding. She opened it. Inside was a single sheet of paper.

YOU'RE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE.

Beneath it was another photograph. Elena picked it up. Her face went pale.

It showed her father entering the Sterling mansion. But that wasn't what frightened her.

Standing beside him was Victoria Laurent. Elena stared at the photograph.

The date was printed in the corner. Seven years ago. Before Elena had ever met Damian.

Before the divorce. Before Victoria had supposedly become interested in Damian.

Elena's hands began to shake. Then she noticed something else. In the background of the photograph stood Alexander Sterling. And he wasn't looking at Elena's father.

He was looking directly at Victoria. As if they were meeting secretly. As if they already knew each other. Elena's heart pounded. She suddenly heard footsteps outside the room.

She quickly hid the photograph beneath her pillow. The door opened.

Damian stood there. Elena? She looked at him. What do you want?

“I found something.

Her stomach tightened.

“What?”

Damian stepped inside.

His expression was serious. I found the original authorization. Elena stared at him.

And?

He slowly placed a document on the table.

The signature wasn't forged. Her blood ran cold. Then whose signature is it?

Damian looked at her. It was authorized using my identity. Elena frowned.

What does that mean?

It means someone had access to my private credentials.

Who? Damian's expression darkened. There were only three people who had access.

Elena's heart sank.

“Who?”

He hesitated. My grandfather. A pause.

My father. Then Damian looked directly into her eyes.

And Victoria. Elena felt the room tilt. Victoria. The woman Damian's family had chosen.

The woman Elena had spent years believing was simply the perfect replacement for her.

Suddenly, she wasn't sure Victoria had ever been the innocent woman she appeared to be.

And worse, she wasn't sure Damian knew her at all. Elena slowly looked at the hidden photograph beneath her pillow.

For the first time, she wondered if the woman Damian had chosen over her had been part of the conspiracy from the beginning. But there was one question she couldn't escape.

If Victoria had access to Damian's identity seven years ago, why had she waited until now to destroy Elena?

Somewhere in the mansion, a phone began to r

ing. Damian looked toward the hallway.

Elena's heart pounded. Neither of them knew it yet.

But the person calling was about to reveal a secret that would change everything.