Chapter 3

I didn't sleep that night. I lay in our bed, the space next to me cold and empty, and stared at the ceiling. The financial statements Atticus had shown me were burned into my memory. Twenty million dollars.

When the sun came up, I looked in the mirror. Dark circles hung under my eyes. My face was pale, tight with a rage so cold it felt like a new part of my anatomy.

Harden came into the bathroom, humming. He was making coffee, acting like it was just another Tuesday.

"You look tired, Ken," he said, his voice full of fake concern. He tried to wrap his arms around my waist.

I stepped away. "Don't touch me."

His performance was flawless. The concerned husband. The loving partner. It was all a lie. I could see the strings now.

I had to stay calm. I had to play his game, but better.

"I need you to cancel your afternoon," I said, my voice even. "I need full access to the primary server room. I'm running a new diagnostic on the core."

"Of course," he said, easily. "Anything for my genius wife."

Later that morning, he brought it up. Casually. "You know, Celine is looking for a new challenge. She has a huge social media presence. We could bring her on to do some PR for Helios. It would be great for our image."

My blood ran cold. He wanted to bring his mistress into our company. To pay her with our money to be near him.

I looked him straight in the eye. "No."

"Why not? She's got reach."

"Because she's an unqualified, fame-hungry parasite," I said, the words sharp. "And she will never have a place at Helios."

He actually had the nerve to look hurt. "That's a little harsh, Ken. You're just a different kind of ambitious."

"A different kind?" I laughed, a bitter, broken sound. "You're comparing me to her?"

"No, of course not," he backpedaled, seeing he'd gone too far. "I love you, Kendra. You know that."

"Get out," I said, my voice dangerously low. "I have work to do."

He left. I immediately called my head of IT, a young genius named Leo who was loyal only to me.

"Leo, I need you. Helios headquarters. Server room. And bring your best gear. This is off the books."

An hour later, we were in the server room. "I need you to mirror Harden Marshall's laptop. Every file, every email, every keystroke from the last two years. And I need a keylogger installed. I want to know everything."

Leo's eyes widened, but he didn't ask questions. He just went to work.

I watched the data stream across a monitor. It was all there. Folders inside of folders. Hidden accounts. Encrypted files. Leo broke through them one by one.

The full picture was worse than I could have imagined. Not just the Cayman Islands account. There were others. Zurich. Singapore. A web of lies and theft stretching across the globe.

And the pictures. Hundreds of them. Harden and Celine on yachts, on private jets, in hotel suites. Laughing, kissing, living a life he had stolen from us. There was a picture of her wearing a diamond bracelet. I clicked on the file properties. The date it was taken? The same day I had my first failed embryo transfer. While I was at the clinic, crying over another loss, he was buying her diamonds.

The betrayal was so complete, so absolute, it was almost clarifying. The pain was a physical thing, a white-hot point in my chest. I dug my fingernails into my palms, the sharp sting grounding me.

"Copy everything," I told Leo, my voice a whisper. "And make sure the keylogger is untraceable."

"Done," he said, closing the laptop.

We left the server room, slipping out like ghosts. As we walked through the lobby, the elevator doors opened. Harden stepped out, holding a bouquet of my favorite lilies.

"Ken! I was just coming to find you," he said, his smile bright and false.

Leo's assistant, a young woman who idolized Harden, sighed. "He's so devoted to you, Dr. Sloan."

A performance. It was all a performance.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw the evidence in his face and watch his world burn. But not yet. Not here. I had to be smart. I had a baby to protect. And a company to save.

I let him pull me into a hug, my body stiff. I would use his own treachery against him. My pregnancy was my ace. The company was my kingdom. He wanted a war? He would get one.

"We should get going," I said, pulling away. "We'll be late for the gala."

In the car, he held my hand, talking about seating charts and keynote speakers. I smiled and nodded, my mind miles away, planning my attack. I would get what was mine. I would take control of Helios. And I would destroy him.