Chapter 5 - THE MISTRESS AT THE FRONT DOOR
I stared through the peephole at the woman who had demanded my daughter stop using her only language. The woman who was pregnant with my husband's child. The woman who had blackmailed my father.
Victoria pressed the doorbell again, her manicured finger holding it down for a long, obnoxious second.
I didn't panic. I didn't cry.
I unlocked the heavy oak door and pulled it open.
Victoria offered a tight, condescending smile. She didn't look like a guilty mistress. She looked like a landlord arriving to inspect a property.
“Hello, Hannah,” Victoria said smoothly, stepping past me into the foyer without waiting for an invitation.
“Victoria,” I replied, my voice perfectly neutral. “The security gate usually calls before letting guests through.”
“Nathan gave me the gate code months ago,” she said, looking around the massive foyer with an appraising eye. “I must say, you’ve kept the place very nice. A bit traditional for my taste, but the bones are good.”
I closed the front door. “What do you want, Victoria?”
She turned to face me, dropping the polite facade. “Nathan told me you agreed to play the good wife for the Kyoto merger on Saturday. I wanted to come by and make sure we had an understanding.”
“An understanding?” I asked.
“Yes,” Victoria said, crossing her arms. “I know you’re angry, Hannah. But let’s be adults. Nathan doesn't love you anymore. He hasn't for a long time. Once the Japanese sign that contract, your marriage is over. I just want to ensure you don't do anything stupid between now and Saturday.”
I looked at the woman who had helped embezzle forty million dollars from deaf children.
“Like what?” I asked quietly.
“Like trying to negotiate a larger divorce settlement by threatening a scandal,” Victoria sneered. “Nathan’s lawyers will destroy you. Take the million dollars and the modest house, Hannah. It’s more than a stay-at-home mother deserves anyway.”
She reached into her designer handbag and pulled out a small, velvet jewelry box.
She opened it. Inside was a massive, flawless diamond ring. It easily cost half a million dollars.
“Nathan bought this for me this morning,” Victoria smiled, holding it up so the chandelier light caught the facets. “He’s going to officially propose on Sunday, right after he files the divorce papers. He wants me to wear it at the Kyoto celebration dinner.”
I stared at the diamond. My own engagement ring, currently sitting in my jewelry box upstairs, was a modest one-carat stone Nathan had bought when he was just starting the company.
“Congratulations,” I said, my voice eerily calm.
Victoria frowned slightly. She had expected tears. She had expected me to yell, to slap her, to break down. My absolute lack of emotion unsettled her.
“Where is the deaf girl?” Victoria asked, looking toward the living room.
My blood turned to ice water. “Her name is Lily.”
“Right,” Victoria waved a dismissive hand. “Look, Hannah. I know you’re attached to this house. But my baby is going to need space. And frankly, the master suite is much too large for a single woman anyway. I’ve already hired an interior designer to begin renovations on Monday.”
She was standing in my foyer, wearing a diamond bought with stolen money, measuring the drapes while my daughter was in the next room.
“You’re very confident, Victoria,” I said softly.
“I don't leave things to chance,” she replied confidently.
“Neither do I.”
I took a slow step toward her. I didn't raise my voice. I didn't threaten her.
“You think you hold all the cards because you recorded a conversation between Nathan and my father,” I said.
Victoria’s confident smile instantly vanished. The color drained from her perfectly made-up face.
“I... I don't know what you’re talking about,” Victoria stammered, taking a step backward toward the heavy front door.
“Forty million dollars, Victoria,” I whispered, stepping closer. “From the Sterling Deaf Children’s Initiative. You orchestrated it. You transferred the funds. And then you blackmailed them for fifteen percent of the company.”
Victoria looked terrified. The confident mistress was gone, replaced by a criminal who had just realized she wasn't the smartest person in the room.
“Nathan told you,” Victoria breathed, her eyes darting toward the door.
“Nathan thinks I’m a naive housewife,” I corrected her. “He thinks I’m packing my bags. But I’m not, Victoria. I know everything.”
“If you go to the police, Nathan goes to prison!” Victoria panicked, her voice rising in shrill desperation. “You lose all your money! Your daughter loses her billionaire future!”
“I don't care about the money,” I said coldly. “I care that you stole from deaf children to buy that diamond ring.”
Victoria scrambled for the door handle. “You can't prove anything! It’s my word against yours!”
“I don't need to prove it to the police,” I said smoothly as she yanked the door open. “I just need to prove it to the Kyoto executives on Saturday.”
Victoria froze in the open doorway. “You wouldn't dare. Your father will destroy you.”
“Get out of my house,” I ordered.
Victoria stumbled out onto the front porch, her pristine white trench coat fluttering in the cold wind. She didn't look back as she practically ran to her car.
I closed the door and locked the deadbolt.
I had just accelerated the timeline. Victoria was going to panic. She was going to call Nathan, and Nathan was going to call my father. They were going to try to silence me before Saturday.
I walked into the kitchen. Lily was drawing a picture of a large, beautiful butterfly.
I knelt beside her.
We are going on a special trip, I signed to her.
Where? Lily asked, her eyes wide with excitement.
To meet a new friend, I signed. A lady who writes stories.
I grabbed the USB drive, packed a small overnight bag, and buckled Lily into my SUV. I drove straight to the downtown coffee shop to meet Elena Rostova.
But as I pulled into the parking lot of the cafe, my phone rang.
It was a FaceTime call from Nathan.
I hesitated, then answered it.
Nathan’s face filled the screen. He was sitting in his massive corner office, but he didn't look angry. He looked devastated.
“Hannah,” Nathan said, his voice breaking. He was openly weeping.
“What is it, Nathan?” I asked, keeping my face entirely blank.
“It’s your father,” Nathan sobbed, wiping tears from his face. “Hannah, I’m so sorry. The police just called me.”
My heart stopped. “What happened to my dad?”
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“He was found in his office ten minutes ago,” Nathan said, his voice trembling violently. “He’s dead, Hannah. Your father took his own life.”
TITLE: THE CHAIRMAN'S FINAL MOVE
