Chapter 17 - The Shadow of the First Wife
I didn't confront Richard immediately.
I was a nurse—I knew the value of gathering data before making a diagnosis.
I contacted Julian under the guise of "organizing the foundation archives."
“Julian,”
I asked over coffee in a quiet cafe.
“Tell me about Sarah.”
The color drained from Julian’s face.
He looked around the room as if checking for spies.
“Where did you hear that name?”
“I found a letter,”
I said.
“She was his wife,
wasn't she?”
“She was,”
Julian whispered.
“And she’s the reason Richard was so vulnerable when the accident happened.
Sarah didn't just disappear,
Maya.
She died.
An accident.
Very similar to Richard’s.”
My heart hammered against my ribs.
“The same road?”
“Sheridan Road,”
Julian confirmed.
“The police ruled it a mechanical failure.
But Richard never believed it.
He spent years and millions trying to prove Ethan had sabotaged her car.
That’s why the brothers hated each other.
That’s why Ethan tried to finish the job.”
I felt a wave of relief,
followed by a deeper,
darker fear.
“So Richard didn't tell me because he was protecting me?
Or because he’s still obsessed?”
“He’s obsessed with justice,”
Julian said.
“And Marcus Thorne knows it.
Thorne was the lead investigator on Sarah’s case back then.
He’s the one who buried the evidence.”
I realized then that the war wasn't just about a company.
It was about a decade-old murder.
And I was standing in the middle of a battlefield I didn't even know existed.
As I walked back to our home,
I saw a black sedan following me.
Not a Vance car.
An Apex car.
May you like
The message was clear:
The truth about the first wife was the weapon they were going to use to bury us both.
