Chapter 5 - MY HUSBAND TAKES OFF THE MASKJulian dismissed the guards.
That frightened me more than if he had kept them.
He waited until the greenhouse door closed.
Then he loosened his tie.
No trembling hands.
No nervous excuses.
No husbandly concern.
The gentle mask disappeared completely.
“You’ve caused me a remarkable amount of trouble,” he said.
I stood beside Marcus.
Chloe remained near the window.
I looked at Julian.
“You tried to kill me.”
“I didn’t touch your brakes.”
“Did you order it?”
He smiled faintly.
“That depends on what you consider an order.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Careful.”
Julian looked at him with amusement.
“What are you going to do, Marcus? Arrest me?”
“No.”
“Then stay out of my marriage.”
I laughed.
The sound surprised even me.
“Marriage?”
Julian’s expression tightened.
“That ended the moment you planned to sell my father’s company.”
“Our company.”
“My company.”
“There,” Julian snapped. “That. That arrogance.”
For the first time, real emotion cracked through.
“You never saw me as your equal.”
“I defended you for seven years.”
“You tolerated me for seven years.”
“I put you on the executive board.”
“You put me there because I was your husband.”
“I put you there because you begged me to believe you deserved it.”
His jaw tightened.
Chloe looked between us.
Julian walked toward the glass wall.
“You inherited everything.”
“No. I inherited shares. I built the rest.”
“You inherited the name.”
“And you married it.”
Silence.
That hit him.
Hard.
Julian turned.
“I could have built something without you.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
His face changed.
There it was.
The truth he had spent years hiding.
He didn’t hate me because I had mistreated him.
He hated me because my success reminded him of his insecurity.
And Blackwell had found that insecurity.
Used it.
Fed it.
“How did Mercer recruit you?” I asked.
Julian’s eyes narrowed.
“You know about Mercer?”
“Enough.”
Chloe looked frightened.
Julian looked at her.
“You told her.”
“No.”
“She knows about the offshore payments.”
His expression hardened.
“You told her.”
Chloe stepped backward.
“You were going to sacrifice me.”
“What?”
“The brake footage. You made sure I appeared on camera.”
Julian smiled.
“At last. She catches up.”
Chloe went pale.
“You planned to blame me.”
“If Victoria died, investigators would find you near the vehicle.”
“You son of a—”
Marcus raised a hand.
“Enough.”
Julian laughed.
“You’re all pretending this matters. Tomorrow the board reconvenes. Pierce will certify Victoria’s deterioration. The trust documents will be replaced. Blackwell closes Friday.”
“No,” I said.
Julian looked at me.
“No?”
“You’ve already lost.”
His smile faded.
I didn’t have enough evidence yet.
But he didn’t know that.
So I lied.
“Arthur has everything.”
A pause.
“What does Arthur have?”
“Copies.”
“Of?”
I smiled.
“If you knew, you wouldn’t be asking.”
For the first time, Julian looked uncertain.
Good.
I pressed harder.
“The forged trust. The offshore transfers. The sedatives. Security logs.”
His eyes moved toward Chloe.
I continued.
“And recordings.”
That part was false.
But Julian’s reaction told me everything.
He went still.
“What recordings?”
I had him.
“Interesting.”
Marcus understood immediately.
Chloe did too.
Julian realized his mistake.
Too late.
He stepped toward me.
Marcus blocked him.
“Don’t.”
Julian’s eyes turned murderous.
Then his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Everything in his expression changed.
Fear.
He answered.
“Hello?”
We couldn’t hear the caller.
Julian listened.
Then said:
“No. She’s under control.”
Pause.
“I said it’s handled.”
Pause.
His face drained.
Then:
“You don’t threaten me.”
The caller hung up.
Julian stared at the phone.
I knew immediately.
“Mercer?”
He looked at me.
No answer needed.
Blackwell wasn’t asking anymore.
They were giving orders.
Chloe whispered:
“He’s going to eliminate us.”
Julian spun on her.
“Shut up.”
“You know it’s true.”
“Shut up!”
Chloe flinched.
Then I noticed something outside the greenhouse.
Across the neighboring rooftop.
A red light.
Tiny.
Blinking.
Marcus saw it too.
“Down!”
The glass shattered.
A bullet ripped through the greenhouse.
Chloe screamed.
Marcus tackled me behind a concrete planter.
Another shot exploded through the glass.
Julian dropped flat.
Chloe crawled toward cover.
“Sniper!” Marcus shouted.
A third bullet struck the metal frame exactly where Julian’s head had been.
That changed everything.
They weren’t shooting only at me.
They were shooting at all of us.
Blackwell was cleaning house.
Marcus dragged me toward the stairwell.
“Move!”
We ran.
Julian followed.
Chloe stumbled behind him.
Security alarms erupted throughout the building.
We reached the stairwell.
Marcus slammed the fire door shut.
“Who knew we were here?” I demanded.
Julian’s face was white.
“No one.”
“Mercer knew,” Chloe said.
“How?”
She looked at Julian.
“Your phone.”
Marcus grabbed it.
“Tracker.”
He smashed it against the concrete step.
Then removed his own.
Mine didn’t exist.
Chloe’s went next.
We descended fourteen floors before stopping in a secure maintenance room.
Everyone was breathing hard.
Julian sat against the wall.
For the first time, he no longer looked powerful.
He looked like a man who had finally realized he wasn’t the mastermind.
He was disposable.
I stood over him.
“You nearly got me killed for money.”
He stared at the floor.
“Victoria—”
“Don’t.”
“We can fix this.”
I actually smiled.
“You still think there’s a ‘we’?”
He looked up.
“I know Mercer. I know Blackwell’s structure. I can testify.”
Chloe laughed bitterly.
“Now you want immunity.”
“I want to survive.”
“So did Victoria.”
Silence.
Marcus looked at me.
“We need law enforcement.”
“No.”
“Victoria.”
“If we go to local police now, Mercer knows within an hour.”
Julian looked up.
“She’s right.”
I hated that.
But he was.
Blackwell Global had spent decades building connections.
We needed federal investigators.
And evidence.
Real evidence.
Not suspicions.
Not forged documents alone.
Something connecting Mercer directly to the attempted murder.
Chloe sat on the floor.
“I have something.”
We looked at her.
She pulled a tiny flash drive from inside her necklace.
Julian stared.
“What is that?”
“Insurance.”
His expression changed.
“What did you copy?”
“Everything I could.”
She looked at me.
“Offshore transfers. Blackwell communications. Julian’s messages. Mercer’s instructions.”
Julian lunged.
Marcus shoved him back.
“You stole my files?”
“You were setting me up for murder.”
“What’s on the drive?” I asked.
Chloe swallowed.
“One audio recording.”
My pulse jumped.
“Of who?”
“Mercer.”
“Saying what?”
Her eyes filled with fear.
“He told Julian that once you signed the transfer, your recovery wouldn’t matter.”
“That’s not enough.”
“No.”
She looked at Julian.
“Tell her the rest.”
He said nothing.
“Tell her.”
His jaw tightened.
Finally:
“Mercer said he would make sure Victoria never recovered enough to challenge the sale.”
My stomach dropped.
“What does that mean?”
Julian closed his eyes.
“He said accidents happen twice.”
There it was.
Premeditation.
Not proof of the first attempt.
But proof another was planned.
Chloe handed me the drive.
“We take this to the FBI.”
I nodded.
Marcus said:
“I know someone.”
Twenty minutes later, we left Sterling Tower through an old underground loading tunnel.
No motorcade.
No company vehicle.
Rosa’s nephew picked us up in a delivery van.
Julian sat beside me in silence.
Chloe sat opposite.
Marcus watched the rear windows.
At 2:15 a.m., we reached a private residence in Evanston.
A woman opened the door.
Special Agent Rebecca Cross.
FBI financial crimes.
Marcus had worked with her years earlier.
She listened to everything.
Then she took the flash drive.
“You understand,” she said, “if this contains what you claim, we have fraud, conspiracy, market manipulation, and potentially attempted murder.”
I nodded.
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then I’m a confused head-injury patient accusing my husband of crimes.”
Rebecca looked at Julian.
“He willing to cooperate?”
Julian stared at the floor.
“I want counsel.”
“Of course.”
Then the lights went out.
Every light.
Inside.
Outside.
Marcus reached for his weapon.
Rebecca drew hers.
“Stay down.”
A vehicle stopped outside.
Doors opened.
Multiple footsteps.
Rebecca whispered:
“No one knew this meeting was happening.”
Marcus looked toward Julian.
Then Chloe.
Then me.
Someone had leaked it.
Again.
A phone began ringing.
Not Marcus’s.
Not mine.
Not Julian’s.
Chloe slowly reached into her coat.
Her face went pale.
She pulled out a second phone.
Julian stared.
“You had another?”
Chloe looked horrified.
“I forgot.”
The screen displayed one incoming message.
May you like
WE FOUND YOU.
Then the front window exploded inward.
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