Chapter 2 - The Ghost From the Past
No one in Marcus’s family knew who I truly was. When Marcus met me twelve years ago, I was working as a "consultant" for a boutique financial firm. I let him believe I was just a mid-level analyst. I played the part of the supportive, quiet wife perfectly. I hosted the galas, I picked out Eleanor's Mother's Day gifts, and I paid Julian's gambling debts to keep the Sterling family name out of the tabloids.
What Marcus didn't know was that the boutique firm was owned by my late father, and I wasn't just an analyst. I was a forensic accountant and a corporate fixer. I specialized in finding hidden money, dismantling hostile takeovers, and burying corporate espionage. I was a ghost in the financial machine.
When my father passed, Marcus manipulated the grieving process to merge my father's firm with his massive law practice, thinking he had acquired the assets of a naive heiress. He never bothered to read the fine print of the merger. He never realized I had embedded absolute failsafes into the corporate charter.
Victor was waiting in the back of a sleek, black SUV idling by the curb. As I slid into the leather seat, he handed me a tablet. Victor was a former intelligence officer who had worked with my father for twenty years. He was the only family I had left.
"Look at this," Victor said, a rare, vicious smile playing on his lips.
I looked at the screen. It was live footage from the airport security cameras, which Victor had tapped into. Marcus was at the airline counter, arguing furiously with the gate agent. The mistress, whose name I had learned was Chloe, was looking increasingly embarrassed.
"His credit cards were declined," Victor explained. "All six of them. The gate agent just informed him that the tickets—which were booked on the corporate card—have been flagged for fraud and canceled."
I watched Eleanor throw a massive tantrum, screaming at a poor airline supervisor. Julian was aggressively tapping his phone, no doubt realizing his own bank accounts were currently frozen solid.
"They built a life on my money," I said quietly, tracing the edge of the tablet. "Did you secure the house?"
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"Locks changed, alarm system upgraded, and the security team is on site," Victor confirmed. "His access codes have been wiped. He's officially homeless."
"Good. Let him sleep in the airport." I leaned back against the headrest, closing my eyes. For twelve years, I had made myself small so Marcus could feel big. Today, he was going to learn how vast my shadow really was.
