Chapter 3
The police searched the house for hours.
Chloe stood by the front door.
Watching.
Smiling.
She'd planted something.
I knew it.
And sure enough, one of the officers came to find me.
He was holding a box.
"We found this in your office safe," he said.
Inside the box was cash.
$50,000 in cash.
And documents.
Documents that looked like they proved I'd been embezzling from my own company.
"These are forgeries," I said. "Chloe planted them."
The officer looked skeptical.
"We'll need to take these in for analysis," he said. "And we'll need you to come down to the station for questioning."
I looked at Chloe.
She mouthed one word.
*Checkmate.*
I went to the police station.
My attorney met me there.
We spent hours answering questions.
Proving my innocence.
Showing the real financial records.
Proving the documents were forgeries.
It was after midnight when I was finally allowed to go home.
The police had enough to hold Chloe for questioning.
But they didn't have enough to arrest her.
Not yet.
She was still free.
And dangerous.
When I got home, the house was quiet.
Marisol was waiting up for me.
"The girls are asleep," she said. "They asked about you. I told them you had to work late."
I sat down on the couch.
I was exhausted.
"She's not going to stop," I said. "Chloe is going to keep coming after us. Until she gets what she wants. Or until we destroy her."
Marisol sat down beside me.
"Then we have to be stronger than her," she said.
I looked at her.
In the dim light of the living room.
Her face was soft.
Her eyes were kind.
And I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time.
Something I thought I'd never feel again after my wife died.
Hope.
And something more.
"Thank you," I said. "For being here. For everything."
She reached out and touched my hand.
"You don't have to do this alone," she said.
I held her hand.
And for a moment, everything felt okay.
But it wasn't over.
Not by a long shot.
The next morning, the news broke.
*BILLIONAIRE ALEXANDER VANCE ACCUSED OF EMBEZZLEMENT.*
The story was everywhere.
Online.
In the newspapers.
On the news.
Chloe had leaked the story to the press.
She was destroying my reputation.
My company's stock was plummeting.
My business partners were calling.
Demanding answers.
I held a press conference.
I denied everything.
I told the truth about Chloe.
About her abuse of my daughters.
About her criminal record.
About the forgeries.
But the damage was done.
People love a scandal.
And they love to watch a billionaire fall.
That afternoon, I got a call from Chloe herself.
"Hello, Alexander," she said. Her voice was cold. "How does it feel to have your perfect life destroyed?"
"What do you want, Chloe?"
"I want what's mine," she said. "Fifty million dollars. And a public apology. And you'll drop all charges against me. If you do that, I'll make all of this go away. If you don't… I have more documents. More stories. I'll destroy you completely. And I'll make sure you lose custody of those little brats."
My blood ran cold.
Custody.
She was threatening to take my daughters.
"You'll never get them," I said.
"Try me," she said. "I have friends in high places. And I have stories. Stories about how you work too much. How you're never home. How you leave your children with strangers. I can make a jury believe you're an unfit father. And I will. If you don't give me what I want."
She hung up.
I stared at the phone.
She was serious.
She was going to try to take my daughters.
I called my attorney immediately.
"We need to file for a restraining order," I said. "And we need to build a custody defense. Chloe is going to try to take the girls."
My attorney got to work.
But I knew it wouldn't be easy.
Chloe had money.
She had connections.
And she was ruthless.
That evening, I was sitting in the backyard.
Watching the girls play with Marisol.
They were laughing.
Chasing each other.
Happy.
Oblivious to the storm that was gathering around us.
Marisol caught me watching.
She walked over to me.
"Everything will be okay," she said.
"How can you be so sure?" I asked.
"Because love always wins," she said. "And you love those girls more than anything. And they love you. And I love them too. And we're going to protect them. Together."
I looked at her.
And I knew she was right.
We would protect them.
Together.
But as I watched the girls play, I noticed something.
A car was parked on the street outside the gates.
A black car.
With tinted windows.
And I knew.
May you like
Chloe was watching.
And she wasn't going to wait much longer.
