CHAPTER 4
Nina paced back and forth through the house, unable to sit still. No matter how many times she told herself it was all just speculation, that she’d worked herself up for nothing, the anxiety wouldn’t subside.
Her hands were shaking, her heart pounding so loudly that the dull thudding echoed in her ears.
She dropped into an armchair and covered her face with her hands.
“God, Nina, you’ve completely lost it,” she muttered into her palms.
It had to be paranoia. Maybe she really did need to go back to her therapist. It had been far too long since her last visit.
And then she remembered the safe deposit box.
Frank had opened it several years earlier, after yet another search at the company. Nina had access to it. She’d never gone there even once. She hadn’t cared.
But now…
Nina glanced at the clock. The bank was still open. If Frank was hiding something, what were the chances it’d be there? This was her only clear shot.
She couldn’t get into his office safe. And he could’ve had a dozen hiding places. But the safe deposit box… If she were in his place, that’s exactly where she’d stash something deeply incriminating.
Her heart thudded heavily in her chest as she grabbed her purse and keys. She drove fast, barely caring about the traffic laws. One thought kept spinning in her head.
"This is just paranoia, Nina. You won’t find anything. Frank’s just an ordinary guy who went out with his friends, got drunk, lied to his wife, and that’s all."
Then why was she so terrified?
At the bank, she went up to the counter and gave the number of the box. A routine procedure. After verifying her authorization, no one asked any questions.
“By the way,” the teller added with a polite smile, “your authorization expires in a week. Your husband hasn’t renewed it.”
Nina’s pulse spiked.
“He hasn’t?” she asked, forcing herself to stay calm.
“No,” the girl nodded. “So if you’d like to keep access, you’ll need to discuss it with him.”
Nina made herself smile.
“I will,” she said, slipping her ID back into her purse.
She was led into a small private room with a heavy door and left alone.
A metal box was set in front of her.
She hesitated for a second.
It wasn’t too late to turn back. What she was doing was low.
Digging for dirt on a husband who hadn’t given her a single reason for distrust in twenty years.
She should’ve been grateful to him. For his patience.
For how well he treated her. For marrying her at all.
He’d taken on a damaged, broken girl, shielding her — and the family — from disgrace.
But something inside her wouldn’t let go.
Nina inserted the key, turned it, slid the box out, and froze.
Everything looked… normal.
Stacks of cash lay on top, bound with bank bands. Under them were folders with documents. She even let out a small breath of relief. Just the usual things people kept in safe deposit boxes. Nothing criminal.
She kept sifting through the papers. And then she found the one thing she least expected to see.
A birth certificate.
Not their daughter’s.
Nina went completely still, as if she’d been struck. Slowly, like in a dream, she took the document into her hands.
Name of child: Ethan Osborne.
The air punched out of her lungs.
She couldn’t believe her eyes. Her heart began to hammer wildly, a sharp ringing filled her ears. She scanned further.
Mother: Vivian Hayes.
Nina grabbed the edge of the table to keep from collapsing.
It couldn’t be true. But documents didn’t lie. Vivian. The same Vivian who smiled so sweetly at her, who chatted about her supposedly loving husband. She was her husband’s mistress. And they had a son.
Nina let out a bitter laugh.
It didn’t fit in her head. Did Vivian know that Nina was Frank’s legal wife?
Of course she must have. Or at least, she would have found out by now.
If all this was true, then she must’ve grown tired of waiting for Frank to leave his wife and decided to scout out the situation herself.
To see whether he was lying to her. To size up her rival.
Or something else entirely. Who even knew what went on in that snake’s head?
How could you smile at a woman whose husband you were sleeping with?
Why not just tell the truth? Why hide, why lie, why drag this out instead of leaving peacefully? Their daughter was grown. There was no longer any need to keep the family intact for a child.
But she already knew the answer.
It was too obvious.
It was all about the damn company. The company that brought in millions. Frank had sunk his teeth into it and wasn’t about to let go.
She kept going through the documents.
He’d bought Vivian a car. He’d bought their son an apartment for the future. All financed with her inheritance. That infuriated her the most.
All those designer clothes, beauty salons, vacations for Vivian, a private nanny for her son. Every bit of it had been paid for with her money.
That was the final straw.
Nina kept flipping through the papers. Copies of contracts. Statements. He’d kept everything. That sealed the truth completely. Her husband had a second family, and he was generously providing for it.
She couldn’t breathe. Her chest burned. She squeezed her eyes shut, but the birth certificate still hovered before her eyes. Ethan. The boy who’d drawn that very picture her husband had so carefully kept in his car.
Her head spun. Her husband’s name in the “father” line flashed inside her mind.
Just a few hours ago, she would’ve laughed in the face of anyone who dared tell her that Frank was living a double life. And now she was holding proof in her hands. Literally.
So what now? What was left for her to do?
Nina forced herself to breathe more evenly. She couldn’t make a scene right now.
So Nadine had been right. And if that “married womanizer” supporting Vivian really was preparing for a divorce, did that mean Frank was planning to leave Nina with nothing?
An icy chill ran down her spine. This was no longer just betrayal. This was a calculated plan.
He knew the company had come to her as an inheritance. Which meant that in a divorce, he had no rights to it. That was why he’d been pressuring her, persuading her, telling her it’d be easier this way.
“Let’s simplify everything, Nina. Transfer the shares to me.”
And she… she’d almost agreed.
Heat flooded her. She had no idea what to do. There was no one she could even ask for help. Frank had all the authority, not her. He’d spent twenty years working beside her father, building connections, earning a reputation. And she… she was nobody.
The luxury house in the suburbs, the apartments, the elite foreign property were bought over the years of marriage. What guarantees did she have that he hadn’t already sold it all through fake deals? That the money from their accounts hadn’t already been funneled offshore long ago?
If she let him strip her of everything, if he got the shares, she’d be left with nothing. It was a devastating, sickening realization.
He didn’t want a simple divorce. He wanted everything.
Nina made herself breathe slower. Panic wouldn’t save her now.
She carefully put the documents back into the safe deposit box, photographing every single page first. She would need those later.
As long as Frank believed everything was under control, as long as he thought she knew nothing, she still had time to prepare for the divorce.
Had he even thought about their daughter? Had he decided to throw her out of his life with empty hands too, just like Nina? What was going on in his head?
And that traitor Vivian… So much for trusting the woman she’d let into her life.