Chapter 4 - THE TRAP
I didn't tell Ethan that I knew.
Instead, I called him the next morning.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
His voice was warm.
Normal.
It made my skin crawl.
“How's Boston?”
“Exhausting.”
“Did the meeting go well?”
“Very.”
He lied effortlessly.
“I miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
I almost laughed.
“Come home tonight.”
There was a pause.
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“I thought I'd stay another day.”
“Why?”
“Business.”
“Ethan.”
I made my voice soft.
“I just want my husband home.”
He agreed.
“I'll be back by dinner.”
Perfect.
I ended the call.
Then I turned to Hector.
“Let him come home.”
He looked surprised.
“Ma'am?”
“I want him to believe nothing has changed.”
That evening, I dressed beautifully.
I cooked dinner.
I poured wine.
I kissed him when he walked through the door.
He smiled.
“You look amazing.”
“So do you.”
He had no idea I had spent the previous twelve hours dismantling his financial empire.
After dinner, he showered.
His phone remained on the counter.
It vibrated.
Once.
Twice.
I looked at the screen.
LAUREN: DID SHE FIND OUT?
I took a photograph.
Then another message.
LAUREN: THE LAWYER SAYS WE NEED TO MOVE FASTER.
I didn't touch the phone.
I didn't need to.
I already had enough.
But there was one more thing I wanted.
Proof of intent.
I placed a tiny recording device inside the study.
Then I waited.
At midnight, Ethan entered.
He thought I was asleep.
I wasn't.
He called Lauren.
“She's fine.”
I listened through the recording.
“She doesn't suspect anything.”
Lauren asked something.
Ethan laughed.
“She trusts me completely.”
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
“Once the insurance money clears, we won't have to worry about her anymore.”
My blood froze.
I listened to the entire conversation.
They discussed money.
The house.
The forged divorce documents.
Rebecca.
And the insurance policy.
Then Ethan said:
“We just need to make it look natural.”
I stopped the recording.
That was enough.
The next morning, I gave everything to federal investigators.
They listened.
They reviewed the financial evidence.
They examined the insurance policy.
And then they asked me something I hadn't expected.
“Would you be willing to help us build the case?”
I looked at them.
“How?”
“Let him believe you're still unaware.”
I understood.
They wanted Ethan to confess more.
So I became the wife he thought he had fooled.
For the next three weeks, I played the role perfectly.
I told Ethan I trusted him.
I told him I was considering moving some assets into his control.
I even apologized for being distant.
He loved every second.
Because he believed victory was close.
Meanwhile, investigators followed every transaction.
Every call.
Every meeting.
Every transfer.
Then we found the missing link.
The insurance policy had been purchased through a broker named Martin Hale.
Martin had also handled Rebecca's policy.
And Michelle's.
And Tara's.
Three women.
Three policies.
Three relationships.
Three suspicious financial collapses.
I looked at the evidence.
“What happened to the other women?”
The investigator looked at me.
“One survived.”
“Who?”
“Michelle.”
“Where is she?”
“She has been living under another name.”
“Find her.”
Two days later, Michelle agreed to meet.
She arrived wearing sunglasses.
She sat across from me.
“I knew Ethan would come for you.”
I stared at her.
“How did you survive?”
She swallowed.
“Because I stopped trusting him before he had a chance to finish.”
“Why didn't you warn me?”
“I tried.”
“What?”
“I contacted you six months ago.”
I frowned.
“When?”
She gave me a phone number.
I recognized it.
A number that had called me three times.
I had ignored it because Ethan told me it was a telemarketer.
My stomach turned.
“What were you going to tell me?”
Michelle looked directly into my eyes.
“He doesn't marry women because he loves them.”
She leaned closer.
“He marries them because he wants access to their money.”
I already knew.
But hearing it from another woman made it real.
Then she said:
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“Lauren isn't the mastermind.”
I froze.
“Who is?”
Michelle looked frightened.
“Your husband answers to someone.”
“Who?”
She whispered:
“Your father's former business partner.”
My blood went cold.
“Victor Shaw.”
She nodded.
“The man who disappeared from your family's company twelve years ago.”
May you like
I stared at her.
Victor Shaw was supposed to be dead.
