€22
K10%真
The next morning dawned grey and cold, matching my mood as I sat in Leo’s study, surrounded by boxes of my mother’s medical records. Sofia’s team had retrieved them from storage overnight, racing against the DA’s investigation.
“Here.” Leo placed a cup of tea beside me, his hand lingering on my shoulder. “You need to eat something too.”
I shook my head, focusing on the document in my hands – a consent form from six years ago. My mother’s signature trembled at the bottom, already showing signs of her illness.
“Victoria.” Leo knelt beside my chair, gently taking the paper from my shaking fingers. “You’ve been at this for hours.”
“I have to find it.” My voice cracked. “There has to be proof that I didn’t… that I wouldn’t…” “We know you didn’t.” His hands cupped my face, thumbs brushing away tears I hadn’t realized were falling. “The doctors, the nurses they’ll testify.”
–
“Will they?” Bitterness crept into my tone. “After what Nathaniel’s done? The news is calling me a black widow who killed both parents for money. Who would risk their career to defend me?”
As if on cue, Sofia entered, tablet in hand. “It’s worse. The morning shows are running with the story. They’ve dug up everything your teenage shoplifting charge, that fender bender in college, even your high school boyfriend’s restraining order.”
“The one he filed after stalking me?” I laughed hollowly. “Let me guess
it look like I was the aggressor.”
“You need to see this.” Sofia handed me the tablet, her expression grim.
–
Nathaniel’s made
The screen showed a morning talk show, where a tearful Jessica sat across from a sympathetic host. The caption beneath read: “EXCLUSIVE: Nathaniel Steele’s Mistress Reveals Victoria Lane’s Dark Past.”
“She was obsessed with control,” Jessica’s voice wavered perfectly. “The way she manipulated Nathaniel, isolated him from friends and family… I tried to help him see the truth, but by then she had her claws in too deep.”
“And the allegations about her mother’s death?” The host leaned forward, eyes gleaming with manufactured concern.
“I found the diary.” Jessica dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “Victoria wrote everything down – how she resented her mother’s illness taking attention away from her wedding plans, how the medical bills were ‘inconvenient.‘ She even…” Jessica’s voice broke. “She even calculated how much she’d inherit after both parents were gone.”
The tablet slipped from my fingers. Leo caught it, his jaw clenched tight enough I saw a muscle twitch.
128
Marry My Ex husband’s Rival
it.”
“It’s all lies,” I whispered. “I never kept a diary. I never…”
“We know, cara.” Leo pulled me into his arms as fresh sobs wracked my body. “We’ll prove
“How?” I clutched his shirt, breathing in his familiar scent of cologne and coffee. “Nathaniel’s thought of everything. He’s turned my whole life into a weapon against me.”
“Not everything.” Sofia’s voice held a note of triumph. “Boss, remember that nurse you helped last year? The one whose son needed special treatment?”
Leo’s body tensed, “Maria Gonzalez. She worked in the oncology ward.”
“She was my mother’s night nurse.” The memory surfaced slowly. “She used to sneak me extra jello when I stayed past visiting hours.”
“And she kept records.” Sofia was already dialing. “Personal notes about her patients, their families. She said it helped her provide better care.”
H
Hope flickered in my chest. “Would she help us?”
“She owes me a favor.” Leo kissed my forehead before standing. “A big one. Sofia, get the car ready. And call our contact at the DA’s office tell him to stall that arrest warrant.”
–
“Already done.” Sofia paused at the door. “But boss? There’s something else. Harrison Wells was found dead in his office an hour ago. Apparent suicide.”
My blood ran cold. “Nathaniel.”
“Has to be.” Leo’s expression hardened. “He’s tying up loose ends.”
“The banker knew too much.” I stood on shaky legs, mind racing. “And if Wells is dead…” “Then Nathaniel’s planning something big.” Leo pulled out his phone. “Sofia, get everyone on high alert. Check every account, every property Wells had access to.”
“What about the nurse?” I asked. “If Nathaniel figures out she could help us…”
“I’ll send a protection detail.” Leo’s arm slipped around my waist as we headed for the door. “But first, we need those records.”
The drive to Maria Gonzalez’s modest suburban home felt endless. I watched rain streak down the bulletproof windows, remembering long nights in the hospital when Maria would bring me tea, tell me stories about her son to distract me from my mother’s declining condition.
“She was the only one who didn’t treat me like I was crazy,” I said softly. “When I insisted on trying every treatment, exploring every option… she understood.”
Leo’s hand found mine. “Because she was a mother too.”
“What if Nathaniel got to her first?” The thought sent ice through my veins. “What if-” The words died in my throat as we turned onto Maria’s street. Three police cars sat outside her house, lights flashing against the grey morning.
“No.” I lurched forward as Leo’s driver slowed. “No, no, no…”
DO
22:46 Fri, 21 Feb 0
Marry My Ex husband’s Rival
I
“Stay in the car.” Leo’s voice held steel, but I was already opening the door.
* 10%
The front door hung off its hinges. Yellow crime scene tape fluttered in the wind. And there,
being wheeled out on a stretcher, was a black body bag.
My knees gave out. Leo caught me before I hit the ground, pulling me back toward the car as
neighbors gathered to whisper and point.
“I killed her.” The words tasted like ashes. “Just by existing in her life, I killed her.”
“This isn’t your fault.” Leo’s voice was fierce against my ear. “This is Nathaniel. Only
Nathaniel.”
Sofia jogged up, her face grim. “Single gunshot to the head. Made to look like suicide, just like Wells. But…” She held up an evidence bag containing a piece of paper. “She left this in her son’s room. Addressed to you, Victoria.”
With trembling fingers, I opened the note. Maria’s handwriting was cramped but clear:
“Victoria, if you’re reading this, I’m already gone. But what they’re saying about you isn’t true. I kept everything every conversation, every moment with your mother. The real records. are in a safety deposit box at First National, box 247. The key is taped under my son’s desk at school. Your mother loved you, Victoria. And she knew you loved her. Don’t let them take that truth from you.
Maria”
“She knew.” My voice broke. “She knew he’d come for her, and she still…”
“She gave us a chance.” Leo took the note, reading it quickly. “Sofia, get someone to that school. Now.”
But I barely heard them coordinating. All I could see was Maria’s face, years ago, as she held my hand while my mother slipped away. She’d been there at the end, witnessing my grief, my love, my desperate attempts to save a life that was already fading.
And now she was gone too. Another casualty in Nathaniel’s war against me.
“I want him dead.” The words came out cold, empty of emotion. “Not arrested. Not imprisoned. Dead.”
Leo’s arms tightened around me. For a long moment, he said nothing. Then, softly: “Okay.” It should have frightened me, how easily he agreed to murder. How natural it felt to plan a death. But as rain soaked through my clothes and police radios crackled around us, I felt only certainty.
Fri, 21 Feb
Marry My Ex husband’s Rival
