Chapter 9: My Wife’s Final Move
I stared at the file name.
Sarah Miller.
My wife.
The person I had defended for years.
The person I had chosen above everyone else.
Now her name was sitting inside a folder my father created before he died.
I didn’t open it immediately.
Part of me was afraid.
Because once I saw what was inside, there was no going back.
But I already knew that.
The life I thought I had was already gone.
I clicked.
The first document was a timeline.
Dates.
Meetings.
Transactions.
My eyes moved faster as I read.
Sarah had contacted Daniel three months after my father’s death.
Three months.
Before we even finished grieving.
The next document showed emails.
Sarah:
*I need to know what James inherited.*
Daniel:
*You need to stop searching. Your husband is not ready.*
Sarah:
*I’m tired of waiting.*
I closed my eyes.
I wanted to be angry.
But underneath the anger was something worse.
Pain.
Because I remembered that time.
I remembered Sarah holding my hand at my father’s funeral.
I remembered her telling me we would get through everything together.
And all that time, she was searching for what my father left me.
My phone rang.
Sarah.
I almost ignored it.
But I answered.
“Why?””
There was silence.
Then her voice.
“Where are you?””
“Why?””
“Because I need to talk to you.””
I laughed softly.
“You’ve had years to talk to me.””
“James.””
Her voice broke.
“I made mistakes.””
“Those weren’t mistakes.””
“Then what were they?””
I looked at the documents.
“Choices.””
Silence.
Then she whispered:
“I know you found something.””
My grip tightened.
“How?””
“Because Daniel called me.””
My heart sank.
“What did he say?””
“He said you opened the files.””
I looked around.
Daniel knew.
Sarah knew.
Everyone knew.
Except me.
“Sarah, tell me the truth.””
“I am.””
“No. The real truth.””
She started crying.
“I never wanted to hurt you.””
“Then why?””
Her answer took several seconds.
“I was afraid.””
“Of what?””
“That one day I would wake up and realize everything belonged to you.””
I closed my eyes.
“It did belong to both of us.””
“No.””
Her voice became sharper.
“You always say that because your name was on the papers.””
I didn’t respond.
Because I realized something.
Sarah didn’t see what she did as betrayal.
She saw it as survival.
And that made it even more dangerous.
“Where are you?”” she asked again.
I didn’t answer.
Then she said something that made my entire body go cold.
“James… Daniel isn’t the person you should be afraid of.””
I froze.
“What does that mean?””
“He’s been protecting something.””
“What?””
Sarah lowered her voice.
“Your father didn’t leave you the company.””
I frowned.
“What are you talking about?””
“He left you something bigger.””
My heart started racing.
“What?””
She whispered:
“He left you proof that your entire family was built on a lie.””
Before I could respond, the call ended.
A second later, another message appeared.
Not from Sarah.
Not from Daniel.
From Michael.
May you like
One sentence.
*Come home now. I found out who was really behind all of this.*
