Chapter 13 - The Name Behind the Company
The second owner was Meredith Vale.
Elliot’s wife.
Margot had met her twice at charity dinners.
Ashdown was not simply Lucas’s secret company.
It was a partnership between the two men and Elliot’s family.
For more than a decade, Margot’s royalties had financed their properties, private investments, and lavish expenses.
Lucas stared at the report.
“You accessed confidential records.”
“They were built from my income,” Margot said.
Rebecca pointed to a transfer made three months earlier.
Nearly two million dollars had moved from Ashdown into a numbered account.
Lucas had planned to move abroad after the divorce agreement was signed.
The revised will ensured that if Margot died before challenging it, Lucas would control everything.
Claire covered her mouth.
“Were you planning to leave her?”
Lucas looked at their daughter.
“I was protecting what I built.”
Margot’s voice broke for the first time.
“You built it with my books.”
“I made your career possible!”
“You told me writing was a hobby.”
“And you believed me.”
The contempt in his answer silenced the room.
Lucas realized too late what he had admitted.
The camera inside the picture frame captured every word.
Elliot whispered, “Stop talking.”
Lucas shoved the report off the table.
Pages scattered across the floor.
Margot did not flinch.
She slowly picked up the divorce agreement and held it between them.
May you like
“You erased my name because you thought you had already erased me.”
👉 Lucas’s answer exposed the one betrayal even Margot had not discovered.
