Page 104 of The Husband Contract
“Well, thanks. Good to see you as well.”
“How’s it going?” he asks, then grimaces. “Actually, that’s a stupid question.” He takes a seat in the leather chair on the other side of the desk. “I just finished meeting with the investigator. He’s wrapped everything up.”
“Okay? I mean, we already know she didn’t know Sergio. We already know it was the wrong Willow. What does it matter? She hates me.Ihate me. I fucked this up.”
“It matters,” Jack says with a sigh. He hands me a manila folder. “Open it.”
“What am I looking at?” I placed it on the desk and flip it open. He glares at me until I started going through the contents. Photos. Reports. I flip one over and frown. These are pictures of Sergio with Louisa.
“Fucking Louisa,” I mutter. But then I happen upon photos of Sergio, Louisa, and another woman. She’s blonde and cute. “Who’s that?” I look up at Jack.
“Go to the paperwork,” he says.
I flip through the photos until I reachseveral pages of documents. I pick up the first one. “Okay, this is about Sergio. He’s my brother. I know this stuff.”
“Look at the next page.”
“This is about Louisa.”
“Next.”
“Okay, this is about a woman named Charlotte.” I was about to flip to the next page when I pause. My eyes narrow. “Wait. Did that say Charlotte?”
Jack nods solemnly. “Yep. You’ve heard of her, right?”
“I mean, Willow has a cousin with that name.”
“She does. And she happens to be the owner of the Whispering Haven Bed and Breakfast.”
I stare at him. “But I thought Willow?—”
“Sebastian, are you that fucking dumb? Of course Willow doesn’t own it.”
“But she told me she owned it.” I sigh, shaking my head. “So you’re telling me this Charlotte owns it?”
“And she knows Louisa and Sergio.”Jack leans forward. “Sergio has been in a sexual relationship with Louisa on and off for the last five years. I guess they like to dabble in threesomes or polyamorous arrangements. Looks like this Charlotte has been in several setups with Louisa, where they sleep with different rich men and take them for their money.”
My blood runs cold. “You’re kidding.”
He shakes his head. “Most probably, Charlotte has been using Willow’s name. That’s why Sergio called her Willow. I don’t know the full story—we’ll have to ask Sergio. But from everything I can see, it doesn’t look like he was in on it.”
“Oh my God,” I whisper. “So it was a setup all along.”
Jack nods. “Louisa was in on it, and that’s why she was able to confirm thatyourWillow wastheWillow. She’s a nasty piece of work.” It’s like he’s just fit the finalpuzzle piece into the 1000 piece puzzle. It’s all making sense now. It’s twisted and unbelievable, but I see it all so clearly now.
“I can’t believe this,” I said, my head spinning. “I just absolutely can’t believe this. Sergio gave his shares to Louisa?—”
“Well, technically, he gave them to Charlotte. But Louisa’s the one who’s been controlling everything. He didn’t give her ten million in cash since he’s not the one who sold the shares. He wrote them over to Charlotte, and they’ve been selling them.”
I stare at him, dumbfounded. “So Louisa’s been trying to ruin my company, but why?”
“I don’t know her reasoning, but she’s always been twisted. I’ve never trusted her.”
“You’ve mentioned that. I don’t understand why she would do this to me. She’s been in my company for years. I’ve done everything I could to do right by her. What am I meant to do?” I rub my face. “This is a fucking shit show.”
“I just wanted you to have all the information,” Jack says. “You’re not fully in the wrong here. Everyone wanted you to believe that Willow Montgomery was the Willow who was fucking with Sergio. Everyone wanted you to believe that she took the money. The problem is... Willow is too pure. Too kind. The problem is, you fell for her.”
I stare at him in disbelief. “I love her, Jack.”
