Chapter 8 - The Woman at the District Attorney’s Office
Elise Warren had not known Sienna existed when she first met Garrick.
At least, that was what she told investigators.
Garrick claimed he was divorced.
He said his “former wife” remained at the estate temporarily because she was pregnant and emotionally unstable.
Elise believed him until she saw photographs from a charity gala showing Garrick and Sienna together.
When confronted, Garrick changed the story.
He claimed Sienna refused to accept the separation.
By then, Elise was living in the river mansion and financially dependent on him.
Then she became pregnant.
Sienna closed her eyes when Charles revealed it.
The betrayal still hurt, even after everything else.
Elise had lost the pregnancy two months later.
During her hospitalization, she learned Garrick had listed her under a false surname and instructed staff not to contact his family.
That was when she began copying his records.
She discovered the shell companies.
The forged waiver.
The plan to move money overseas.
And an old letter from Miriam.
The letter was dated thirty-two years earlier.
It was addressed to Garrick’s father, William Ashford.
In it, Miriam admitted that Garrick was not William’s biological son.
The truth had been hidden to protect the family name.
William raised Garrick as his own and never revealed the secret publicly.
Garrick found the letter after his father died.
He used it to blackmail Miriam.
If she refused to help him take control of the company, he threatened to expose her affair and challenge the family trust.
Miriam sank back into her chair.
For the first time, she looked smaller than everyone around her.
Sienna expected denial.
Instead, Miriam whispered, “I spent my life protecting him.”
Sienna’s mother answered.
“No. You spent your life protecting the lie.”
Garrick stared at Miriam with contempt.
“You owed me.”
“I gave you everything.”
“You gave me a name that was never mine.”
Charles shook his head.
“William legally adopted you. Your position in the family was never at risk.”
Garrick knew that.
His blackmail had never been about survival.
It was about control.
He had turned Miriam’s shame into a weapon.
Miriam had then helped him destroy Sienna to preserve the secret.
But the old letter contained another page Garrick had overlooked.
William Ashford knew the truth from the beginning.
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And before his death, he had changed the family trust.
👉 William’s hidden amendment gave thirty-eight percent of Ashford Industries to someone Garrick had spent years underestimating.
