Chapter 3 - The Spider’s Web
For the next three weeks, I was the perfect, tragic wife.
I cooked his dinners. I ironed his suits. I smiled weakly when he told me he had to work late.
“It’s the transition, honey,” he would say, kissing my cheek. “Your dad is handing over the reins. It’s a lot of paperwork.”
I knew exactly what paperwork he was doing.
Melissa had been hired as a "consultant" for Sterling Global just two days after Ethan’s funeral. Garrett was funneling even more money out, thinking my father was too blinded by grief to audit the accounts.
He was incredibly stupid.
My father and his team of forensic accountants were tracking every single cent. Every wire transfer. Every fake invoice.
They were building a federal case so air-tight that not even the best lawyers in the country could get Garrett out of it.
But the legal ruin wasn't enough for me.
I wanted his reputation. I wanted his pride.
I hacked into Garrett’s iPad while he was sleeping. He hadn't bothered to change his password from our anniversary date.
The messages between him and Melissa made me physically sick.
MELISSA: Is the old man officially retiring? GARRETT: Friday night at the gala. He’s announcing me as the new CEO. We’ve won, baby. MELISSA: And the miserable wife? GARRETT: Claire’s a ghost. She just sits in Ethan’s room all day. I’ll file for divorce six months after I get the company. Keep up the transfers.
I took screenshots of everything. Every text, every photo, every arrogant boast.
I didn't cry. I didn't scream.
I just forwarded them all to my father’s head of security.
Friday was the annual Sterling Global Charity Gala. Five hundred of the city’s elite would be there. Governors, mayors, business moguls.
It was supposed to be Garrett’s crowning moment.
May you like
I walked into Ethan’s empty bedroom and picked up Captain Ellie. I held the stuffed elephant to my chest, inhaling the faint scent of baby shampoo that still lingered on the fabric.
“Watch closely, baby,” I whispered into the dark room. “Mommy’s going to make him pay.”
