Chapter 73

Jack

“I don’t. You don’t get to take my life from me. Not anymore.”

“You’re making a big mistake,” I tell Fiona, narrowing my eyes on her. She should’ve stayed in her shell because bravery isn’t her strong suit.

“No,” she snaps. “My mistake was trusting you.”

The venom in her voice is unexpected, but it makes me realize I won’t be winning this argument right now. So, I send one last threatening glance at her before leaving the office.

How dare that little witch threaten me?

She has no power here, no matter who is backing her.

She was rattled, shaken by me. I smirk, remembering the wide-eyed look she had when demanded that I give her money back. Money I have no intention of parting with.

Fiona doesn’t realize just how bad things are going to get for her, and once she realizes, she’ll give up like she always does. She’s not strong enough to fight me. It’s one of the reasons I married her- other than the payout.

Taking her money is like taking candy from a baby. Easier than breathing.

With satisfaction swelling my chest, I make my way down the hall, only stopping to duck into a side room when my phone rings.

“Hello?”

“Jack.”

“Mr. Bowen?” I pull the phone away from my ear to indeed find Fiona’s father’s name on the screen. “What can I do for you?” We’d agreed not to call each other unless it was an emergency.

“She took it. Fiona has her mother’s will,” he says in a panic.

“Are you sure?”

He laughs like my question is ridiculous.

“Of course. I’ve searched through the safe twice, and it isn’t here. She took it, and if she has it, her lawyer has it.” His voice cracks with anxiety.

“This is the only agreement you will be signing unless you want me to reveal all the dirty little secrets you think I don’t know about,” Fiona had said.

Crap.

How much did she know?

“Keep this quiet, Mr. Bowen. We only win if we stay calm and collected,” I instruct him. The older man’s life had been busting at the seams with debt when we came up with this plan. He needs the portion I promised him, but if he panics, everything could go down the drain. “Let me deal with everything. All you have to do is keep Fiona at a distance while continuing to back me and Jessica.”

“I can do that,” he mutters.

I silently curse the situation as I end the call and slip back into the hallway. Fiona is craftier than I originally thought, so I quietly walk back to her lawyer’s office door and press my ear to the wood.

“I’ve looked over the information you gave me, Fiona,” her lawyer says followed by the sound of shuffling papers. “On paper it looks like this company, Golden Harmony Cruise Line, is an older company that is trying to make a comeback. We’re digging further into their dealings while looking into the possibility that the Cruise Line is merely a front for money laundering.”

“Do you think it’s a legit company?” Fiona asks.

“From what you’ve told me about your husband, probably not, but we won’t know for sure until the investigation comes back,” he tells her.

Shit.

Fiona has been sneaking around investigating me, and now she’s found not only her mother’s will but where I’ve been hiding her money. She’s closer than I thought she was, and now her threat makes sense. It’s not a bluff.

She knows.

“The document with your signature on it is one of the documents they send to investors. You said you didn’t sign this, so I’m having the signature scanned and tested to see if it was written or copied and printed.”

Double shit.

“There were several transactions from Jack to the company. I want to get my money back. Is there a way to do that?” Fiona asks, and my chest tightens in panic.

“If the labs can prove that you didn’t sign this document, I will contact the company and have them transfer your money back to you.”

“Thank you, Mr. Adair. I’ve got to get going, but could you call me as soon as they make a decision?”

“Of course, Mrs—”

“Just call me Fiona please,” she says, and I move away from the door. That little snake is smarter than I gave her credit for. In the years we’ve been married, Fiona never fought so hard against me. She was the perfect little wife that she thought I wanted.

It was pathetic, watching her try so hard, but now, she’s completely different. She’s determined to fight back and win, and it doesn’t help that she has the most powerful man in the city behind her.

I should’ve thought of a way to keep her from fighting back, but I never thought she would. When we formed this plan, I imagined her curling up in a corner somewhere and crying, not arming herself with a lawyer and a shield.

None of this is going the way I planned. She was never supposed to find the money, and now that she had, I need to get it away from the cruise line before they find the forged signature.

“You’re lucky I haven’t pressed charges for assault, fraud, and identity theft.”

Fiona’s words ring through my mind. Just how much has she figured out?

Shaking my head, I try to push down the rising anger and panic. I whip my phone out and rush down the hallway.

I dial my contact at Golden Harmony Cruise Line and clench my fist around my phone anxiously as I ride the elevator down to the lobby.

After several nerve-wracking rings, the line picks up.

“Thank you for calling Golden Har—”

“Brayden, cut the crap,” I growl, annoyed enough as is. I don’t need his idiocy right now. “It’s me.”

“Jack! Hey, man. You have another transfer to send?” He asks. I glance around the lobby, making sure no one is close enough to hear my next words.

“No. My wife found our connection. She’s having Golden Harmony investigated, so I need you to transfer my money to a new account so we can cover our tracks. If I can move my funds, it’ll be easier to convince the investigators and anyone else that the paperwork she found is false,” I tell him.

As I climb into my car, I take a deep breath to calm myself. I can work this in my favor. I’m a well-respected lawyer who has connections within the law-world and no stains on my career, I have much more prestige than Fiona or even her lawyer.

Brayden hums then asks for the account number for the transfer. I rattle it off, making him repeat it back once he’s got it.

“Good. Now have the funds transferred to me and then erase any trace of our previous transactions as soon as it’s done,” I instruct him. “I’ll contact you soon about the next transfer amounts and when I’ll send them.”

“Got it. The transfer should process in a few minutes.”

“Great. Don’t contact me unless there’s a problem,” I say and then hang up. Then, I erase the call log and change his contact name, erasing the company name from the profile.

When that’s finished, I pull up my bank account and log in, tapping my foot as the icon in the middle of the screen indicates it’s loading. The circle swirls and swirls, and the longer it takes, the more my nerves grow.

Then, the screen clears, and my two accounts pop up. I click my checking account and go still at what I see.

Balance: $80,631.61

Pending Deposit: $750,000

“What the hell,” I growl, anger simmering in my blood. It was supposed to be an exact million that transferred, not seven-hundred-fifty thousand.

Anger and panic mix, making me slam my fist into the steering wheel and yell.