Chapter 4 - Uncovering the Web
By the next morning, Lily was awake, eating pancakes in her hospital bed and giggling as Maria read her a story. Seeing his daughter smile again gave Ethan the strength he needed to face the nightmare brewing outside the hospital walls.
Arthur Vance arrived with a thick leather briefcase. The senior lawyer didn’t mince words.
“Ethan, Clara’s legal team has already filed a petition for emergency spousal support and half of your liquid assets, claiming you’ve wrongfully locked her out of the estate and made defamatory allegations,” Arthur said, laying out several documents. “She’s trying to spin this as a domestic dispute where you’re framing her to avoid a prenuptial payout.”
“She won’t get a single dime,” Ethan replied quietly. “Has Detective Vance seen the backup video?”
“He has. An arrest warrant was issued two hours ago. But when officers went to the estate, Clara was gone. She emptied her personal safe and cleared out two off-shore accounts she held under her maiden name.”
Ethan frowned. “Off-shore accounts? Clara claimed she had no financial assets prior to our marriage.”
Arthur slid another file forward. “We ran a forensic background audit last night. ‘Clara Vance’—no relation to the detective—is an alias. Her real name is Clara Montgomery. Ten years ago in Florida, she was investigated for the mysterious drowning of an elderly husband whose life insurance policy had been quietly quadrupled three months prior. The case went cold due to lack of evidence.”
Ethan stared at the mugshot from a decade prior. It was the same icy blue eyes, the same sharp jawline. She wasn't just a bitter stepmother; she was a calculated predator who targeted wealthy men, removed any obstacles—or children—that threatened her inheritance, and vanished into thin air.
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“She saw Lily as a threat to her inheriting the estate,” Ethan realized aloud, the terrifying truth dawning on him. “Lily is the sole beneficiary of my trust. If something happened to Lily, and then later to me...”
“She would have inherited everything,” Arthur finished grimly. “We need to find her before she flees the country.”
