Chapter 4
The car ride back to the house was silent.
Sophia fell asleep ten minutes in.
Her head rested on my lap.
Her hand still curled around the remains of her necklace.
Victor drove.
Neither of us spoke.
There was nothing left to say.
When we pulled into the driveway, the lights were on.
Two cars were parked in front.
My oldest brother, Marcus.
And my second brother, Julian.
Marcus was in his Senate suit.
His tie was loose.
Julian wore his banker's uniform—crisp white shirt, no jacket, sleeves rolled up.
They both got out when they saw us.
Marcus opened the back door.
He saw Sophia sleeping.
His face softened.
He picked her up gently.
"Let's get her inside," he said.
We carried her up to her room.
Marcus tucked her in.
He brushed the hair from her face.
"I'll sit with her until she's settled," he said quietly.
Julian led me down to the kitchen.
He poured me a glass of water.
Victor sat across from me.
The kitchen table was covered in papers.
Bank statements.
Marriage records.
Phone logs.
Julian pushed a stack toward me.
"We've been digging since Victor called," he said.
"There's more. A lot more."
I stared at the papers.
I didn't want to read them.
But I had to.
"Tell me," I said.
Julian took a breath.
"Dominic has gambling debts. Almost four million dollars, spread across three casinos in Atlantic City and Vegas. He's been paying them off with the money he siphoned from Veridian. The twelve million Lila thought was in their joint account? It's gone. Most of it went to the casinos. The rest went to... other women."
I closed my eyes.
"How many?"
"At least six, that we can prove. Over the last five years. Two of them were Veridian employees. One was Chloe."
Chloe.
Of course.
That explained the smirk at the gala.
She wasn't just his secretary.
She was his partner in crime.
His mistress.
"Does Lila know?" I asked.
"Not yet," Victor said.
"I sent two of my people to her house. They're standing by. We wanted to tell you first."
I thought of Lila's face in the dining room.
The shock.
The tears.
The realization that her whole life was a lie, too.
"Call them," I said.
"Tell her she can come over. Bring Ethan. She deserves to know everything. All of it. No more secrets."
Victor nodded.
He stepped out to make the call.
Julian reached across the table.
He squeezed my hand.
"We're going to fix this, Viv. Every last bit of it. He'll never hurt you again. He'll never hurt Sophia again."
I pulled my hand back.
"I let this happen," I said.
My voice shook.
"I knew something was wrong. The late nights. The secret phone calls. The way he'd get defensive when I asked about work. I ignored it. I told myself I was being paranoid. I told myself I was lucky to have him."
"You loved him," Marcus said from the doorway.
He walked in.
"Sophia's asleep. Good and deep."
He sat down next to me.
"Love makes you blind, Viv. That's not your fault. That's his. He's the one who chose to lie. He's the one who chose to cheat. He's the one who chose to build a life on sand. Not you."
An hour later, the doorbell rang.
Victor answered it.
Lila walked in.
She wore sweatpants and an old hoodie.
No makeup.
Her hair was in a messy ponytail.
Ethan held her hand.
He carried a stuffed dinosaur.
He looked around the kitchen shyly.
"Is Sophia here?" he asked.
"She's asleep upstairs," I said.
"You can see her in the morning, if you want."
He nodded.
Lila sat down across from me.
She looked at the papers on the table.
"What is all this?" she asked.
I pushed the stack of gambling debts and other women toward her.
"You need to read this," I said.
She read.
Her face went from shock, to anger, to a cold, hollow nothing.
When she finished, she dropped the papers.
"He told me the money was for a new house," she said.
"A lake house. For Ethan. For us. He said we'd move there this summer. He said we'd finally be a real family."
She laughed.
It was a broken sound.
"I'm such an idiot."
"You're not an idiot," I said.
"He's a professional liar. He spent years practicing. He fooled all of us."
Lila looked at Ethan.
He was playing with his dinosaur on the floor.
Oblivious.
"What do we do now?" she asked.
"We take him down," Victor said.
He walked back in.
"All of us. Together. We press every charge. Fraud. Embezzlement. Bigamy. Perjury. Whatever it takes. He goes away for a long time. And we make sure he never comes near either of your kids again."
Lila nodded.
She wiped her eyes.
"I'm in," she said.
"Whatever you need. Witness statements. Bank records. Everything. I just want it over. For Ethan."
"For Sophia," I added.
We looked at each other.
Two women.
Two kids.
One monster between us.
May you like
And for the first time all night...
I didn't feel alone.
