Chapter 1
PART 2 (CONTINUED): THE WOMAN WHO OWNED EVERYTHING
The Folder in My Father’s Library
By the time I reached my father’s estate, David had called three more times.
I answered on the fourth.
“Clara, are you alone?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Whatever you do, don’t confront Ethan yet.”
I looked through the car window at the iron gates opening ahead of us.
“David, what exactly has my husband done?”
There was a long silence.
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“He’s trying to remove you from your own company.”
I almost laughed.
“Sterling Dynamics is Ethan’s company.”
“No, Clara. That’s what he wants everyone to believe.”
I gripped the phone tighter.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your father left something in his private library. A blue leather folder. You need to find it before tomorrow morning.”
“Why tomorrow?”
“Because Ethan has scheduled an emergency board meeting at nine. And Chloe has been preparing the documents for six weeks.”
Before I could ask another question, David disconnected.
My father had died eighteen months earlier.
He had been a quiet man who believed that real wealth was measured not by what people saw, but by what you could protect when everything went wrong.
When I married Ethan, my father had warned me.
“Clara, a man who loves your generosity more than your character will eventually mistake your kindness for weakness.”
I had dismissed his words.
Now, standing inside his library, I wished I had listened.
The room smelled of leather, old paper, and the cedarwood cologne he used to wear.