Chapter 10 - SHE KNEW WHO I WAS BEFORE I SAID “I DO”
Marcus’s statement took two hours.
The truth took longer to absorb.
Selina had discovered my identity accidentally.
Three years earlier, she had hired Dana to investigate me after Rowan announced our engagement.
Not because Selina disliked me.
Because she disliked uncertainty.
Dana found an old school record connecting Phoebe Hart to Phoebe Sterling.
Then she found my mother’s obituary.
Gideon Sterling’s daughter.
Marcus stared at the table.
“Selina thought Rowan had hit the lottery.”
Rowan looked sick.
“I didn’t know.”
“I believe you,” Marcus said.
“That doesn’t help.”
“No.”
I asked, “What did Selina want?”
“At first? Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“She thought you’d tell Rowan.”
“I didn’t.”
“So she waited.”
Rowan whispered, “She kept asking why Phoebe’s father never visited.”
Marcus nodded.
“She wanted confirmation.”
Dad asked, “When did she get it?”
“Your wedding.”
I frowned.
“Dad wasn’t there.”
“No.”
Marcus looked at him.
“But your family office sent flowers.”
Dad’s eyes closed briefly.
I remembered them.
White peonies.
No card beyond three words.
Always, Dad.
Selina had asked about them.
I said they were from “an old family friend.”
She had smiled.
I understood that smile now.
Marcus continued.
“After that, she started planning.”
“Planning what?”
“To put Rowan in a financial position where he’d need help.”
Rowan looked at him.
“What?”
Marcus swallowed.
“She encouraged the bigger house.”
I stared at Rowan.
He had pushed hard for that house.
He said it was for our future children.
Had Selina whispered in his ear?
“She helped with the down payment,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Money she got from vendors?”
“Some.”
Dad spoke quietly.
“And eventually she expected Phoebe’s father to rescue the household.”
Marcus nodded.
There it was.
The actual scheme.
Not a clever mastermind plot to steal billions.
Something more believable.
Greed mixed with entitlement.
Selina believed that eventually my family money would surface.
When it did, she wanted Rowan financially dependent on her, compromised at work, and tied to assets that could benefit her.
If Sterling money entered the marriage, she expected to be positioned nearby.
But I never revealed my identity.
Dad never intervened.
So Selina’s scheme had become increasingly desperate.
Rowan stared at the wall.
“She ruined me because she thought Phoebe was rich?”
Marcus shook his head.
“You helped.”
Rowan looked at him.
Marcus held his gaze.
“You signed the approvals.”
Silence.
Good.
No absolution.
No easy villain.
Rowan’s choices remained his.
I looked at him.
“You knew she manipulated you.”
“Not about you.”
“But you knew the vendor scheme.”
“Yes.”
“You kept choosing silence.”
“Yes.”
Marcus continued.
“Dana created Westbridge payments to inflate Phoebe’s income because Selina thought if the mortgage ever became a problem, Gideon would pay rather than let his daughter be dragged into court.”
Dad’s face went hard.
“She used my dead wife’s company to threaten my daughter.”
Marcus nodded.
“I think that was the point.”
Claire asked, “Where is Dana?”
“I don’t know.”
“What does she have?”
“Records.”
“What kind?”
“Everything.”
Rowan looked at him.
“You said she disappeared.”
“Selina accused her of stealing.”
“Did she?”
Marcus laughed nervously.
“Everybody stole.”
Claire stopped him.
“Don’t speculate.”
He nodded.
“Dana copied the books.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
That was believable too.
People in fraud schemes rarely trust each other.
Good.
Because they shouldn’t.
Three days later, investigators from Mercer & Lowe interviewed Rowan.
He did not ask for immunity before speaking.
His attorney hated that.
But Rowan said something I never forgot.
“I spent too long protecting myself.”
He looked at Mason.
“I’m done.”
He turned over emails.
Bank records.
Texts with Selina.
Vendor approvals.
He admitted what he signed.
What he suspected.
What he ignored.
What he knew.
He was fired that afternoon.
Not suspended.
Fired.
When he called me, his voice was flat.
“It’s done.”
“I heard.”
“Mason thinks charges are possible.”
“I know.”
“I may lose my license.”
“You work in development.”
“My professional certification.”
“I know.”
Silence.
Then, “Can I see Leo?”
“Yes.”
He arrived an hour later.
No suit.
No car.
He had taken the subway.
He sat in the nursery chair holding Leo.
“I thought money made me important.”
I leaned against the door.
“You had money.”
“Not enough.”
“For what?”
He laughed bitterly.
“To impress people who didn’t care.”
“Your mother?”
He didn’t answer.
I did not push.
After a while he said, “I loved you.”
I looked at him.
“You still might.”
His eyes lifted.
“That isn’t enough.”
“No.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
That was the closest thing we had to closure.
But the story wasn’t finished.
May you like
Because Selina still had Dana’s records to worry about.
And two days later, Dana walked into Claire’s office carrying a red flash drive.
