Chapter 3 - Tell Victor I Said No
Three men entered the penthouse.
They stopped when they saw Elias.
The confidence disappeared immediately.
The man in front cleared his throat.
“Mr. Vance.”
Elias remained seated.
“You came into my building armed.”
“We're here for Mrs. Miller.”
“No.”
The man hesitated.
“Her husband reported her missing.”
I almost laughed.
Missing.
Victor had dumped me beneath an overpass and now I was missing.
Elias leaned forward.
“Did he mention where he left her?”
Silence.
“Did he mention the newborn babies?”
Nothing.
Elias stood.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
“You're going to return to Victor.”
The man swallowed.
“And you're going to tell him Ava Miller and her daughters are under my protection.”
“He says they're his family.”
Elias glanced at me.
I expected him to answer for me.
He didn't.
Instead he asked, “Ava?”
I understood.
He was giving the choice back to me.
Something Victor had never done.
I looked directly at his men.
“Tell my husband I am never going back.”
The lead man stared at me.
“Mrs. Miller, you should think carefully.”
Elias's voice dropped.
“She just did.”
“Mr. Vance, this is a family matter.”
Elias took one step forward.
“You dumped a woman who had just given birth beneath a freezing overpass.”
His gaze moved between them.
“You lost the privilege of calling anything about her a family matter.”
The men left.
Elias turned toward Marco.
“Track them.”
“Already done.”
I frowned.
“What are you planning?”
“Finding out why Victor is suddenly desperate.”
“I told you. Because you rescued me.”
“No.”
Elias picked up the file.
“A man doesn't send armed people into my building because he's embarrassed.”
He opened it.
“He's scared.”
“Of what?”
“That is what we're going to discover.”
---
The answer arrived six hours later.
Marco spread documents across Elias's dining table.
I sat nearby with Rose asleep against my shoulder.
“Victor Miller Construction,” Marco said. “Six shell companies, questionable city contracts and several unexplained transfers.”
I stared at him.
“Victor told me his business was legitimate.”
Elias gave me a look.
“What?”
“You married him.”
“That doesn't mean I believed everything he said.”
For the first time, Elias smiled.
It changed his entire face.
Then Marco pushed forward another document.
“This is the important part.”
I looked down.
My name was on it.
“What is that?”
“A life insurance policy.”
My blood went cold.
“Five million dollars,” Marco continued.
I stared at the signature.
“That isn't mine.”
“We know.”
Elias became completely still.
Marco continued.
“The policy was taken out four months ago.”
“While I was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
My arms tightened around Rose.
“Why?”
Elias answered quietly.
“Because Victor planned for you not to survive.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
“The evidence says otherwise.”
“No. He was angry about the girls.”
“Maybe.”
Elias tapped another page.
“But this started months before they were born.”
I suddenly remembered something.
Victor asking me to sign documents.
Insurance paperwork, he'd said.
Household finances.
I had refused because I didn't understand them.
He had been furious.
I whispered, “He knew.”
Elias watched me.
“Knew what?”
“That I might leave.”
Silence.
“I told him when I was five months pregnant. I said if he ever hurt me again, I would take my child and go.”
Marco looked at Elias.
Elias's jaw tightened.
“So he created another solution.”
I felt sick.
Lily started crying in the nursery.
I stood too quickly.
Pain shot through my ribs.
Elias caught my elbow.
“Slow down.”
“I can do it.”
“I know.”
He released me immediately.
That mattered.
He never held on after I asked him not to.
I walked toward the nursery.
Behind me, Marco lowered his voice.
“What do you want done?”
I stopped.
Elias knew I was listening.
His answer came clearly.
“Nothing illegal.”
Marco looked surprised.
“Boss?”
“Ava has spent years living under one man's rules.”
Elias looked at me.
“She decides how this ends.”
For the first time since marrying Victor, someone powerful was not deciding my future for me.
I turned around.
“What can we prove?”
Marco smiled.
“A lot.”
“Then prove everything.”
Elias nodded once.
“Done.”
His phone rang.
He checked the screen.
“Victor.”
My stomach twisted.
Elias held the phone toward me.
“Your choice.”
I stared at it.
Then I took it.
“Put him on speaker.”
Elias answered.
Victor's voice filled the room.
“Where is my wife?”
I looked at my daughters.
Then at Elias.
And finally I answered.
“Right here.”
Silence.
“Ava?”
“Hello, Victor.”
His voice changed instantly.
“Come home.”
“No.”
“You don't understand what you've gotten involved in.”
“I understand more than you think.”
“Ava, bring my daughters home.”
I almost couldn't believe it.
“Your daughters?”
Elias's eyes narrowed.
Victor continued.
“We can fix this.”
“You called them a curse.”
“I was angry.”
“You left them to die.”
Another silence.
Then Victor made his mistake.
“Ava, you belong to me.”
Elias's face went cold.
I answered before he could.
“No, Victor.”
My voice didn't shake.
“I never did.”
Then I ended the call.
Three seconds later, Elias's security alarm began screaming.
Marco looked at the monitor.
“Boss.”
“What?”
Marco turned the screen toward us.
Victor Miller himself was standing downstairs.
May you like
And he hadn't come alone.
---
