My Husband Left Me Twenty Minutes After Our Wedding, and I Returned Fifteen Years Later With the Sons He Never Knew Existed. His Mother Recognized Their Faces, but the Secret Hidden Inside a Grand Piano Terrified Her More.
Every face turned toward Vivienne.
For fifteen years, she had been the indispensable power behind Vale Industries.
Board members courted her.
Executives feared her.
Grayson ran the company.
But everyone knew Vivienne could make his life impossible.
Until now.
I looked at the envelope again.
That was what she had feared when Samuel and Elias walked in.
Not scandal.
**Loss of control.**
But Grayson was reading the letter.
His hands had begun shaking.
“What?” I asked.
He looked at me.
“My father knew.”
“Knew what?”
“About us.”
He handed me the letter.
The handwriting was masculine and uneven.
Lillian,
If you are reading this, then Grayson has failed to find what I left for him, or someone has made certain that he never looked.
My son believes love makes him stronger. His mother believes love makes him controllable.
Do not underestimate the difference.
I stopped reading.
The room blurred.
I forced myself onward.
I have amended the trust because I believe Vivienne intends to prevent your marriage from surviving. I cannot yet prove everything. Edwin Ross has copies of what I can prove.
The piano will remain where Grayson can reach it.
If you become his wife, what is inside belongs to you.
Arthur Vale
I lifted my head.
Vivienne looked completely still.
“You knew,” I said.
She gave me a cold smile.
“Arthur wrote many things.”
Grayson turned on her.
“What did you do?”
Vivienne sighed.
“Must we perform this in front of employees?”
“They’re directors,” he said. “And yes.”
She looked around the room.
For the first time, I saw calculation fail her.
“Fine,” she said. “Your father disliked me near the end. He imagined conspiracies. Lillian disappeared because Lillian chose to disappear.”
I laughed.
It came out colder than I intended.
“You gave me a check for two hundred thousand dollars and told me my marriage had already been annulled.”
Grayson turned toward me.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“No.”
His face changed.
“No, I never annulled anything.”
“You left me.”
“For the hospital.”
I stared at him.
“What hospital?”
“My father collapsed during the reception.”
