Chapter 3 - The Secret Ledger
I didn’t read the journal in the hospital waiting room. I waited until I was sitting in the quiet, sterile confines of Irene’s private recovery room at 4:15 a.m., holding her pale, cool hand while she slept under the heavy influence of painkillers.
The hospital room was lit only by the amber glow of the city lights filtering through the blinds. On my phone, scrolling through the decrypted PDF document, my stomach churned into a knot of pure, unadulterated fury.
Irene hadn’t just been dealing with a difficult mother-in-law. She had been trapped in a psychological and physical chamber of horrors.
October 14: Margaret locked me in the pantry today for three hours because I accidentally threw away an old catalog she wanted to keep. She said I was 'unfit to manage a household' and that Austin would divorce me the second he realized I was a peasant trying to trap him with a baby.
November 2: Carla came over while Austin was at the site in Phoenix. She went through my dresser drawers, took my mother’s pearl necklace—the only thing I have left of her—and said she was 'taxing' me for the privilege of living in the Wentworth family home. When I tried to take it back, Carla shoved me against the doorframe. My arm is entirely purple.
December 18: Margaret told me today that if I don't sign a post-nuptial agreement transferring ownership of our Paradise Valley home to her and Carla, they will find a way to make me lose the baby. She smiled while she said it. She drank her tea and smiled. I’m so scared of what they’ll do when Austin isn’t looking. But Austin loves them so much. He believes every word they say.
The phone slipped from my numb fingers, clattering softly against the hospital blanket.
Irene stirred, her eyelids fluttering open. She looked around the dark room in a panic before her gaze locked onto mine. Her breath hitched, and she instinctively pulled her uninjured arm across her swollen stomach, a primal, defensive posture that nearly broke my heart.
“Austin...” she whispered, her voice cracking. “I’m sorry. I was going to tell you. I swear I was. But every time I tried, Margaret would do something kind when you were in the room, or Carla would laugh and call me crazy... I thought you’d think I was making it up. I thought you’d choose them.”
I leaned forward, burying my face in her palm, kissing her knuckles as fresh tears spilled over my lashes.
“Never,” I choked out, my voice breaking. “Never, Irene. I would burn my entire life to the ground before I ever let them touch you again. I am so sorry. God help me, I was so blind.”
She reached up with her trembling, bruised hand and stroked my hair, just like she always did when I was stressed over architectural deadlines.
“They’re going to try to ruin you, Austin,” she murmured, her eyes glassy with exhaustion. “Margaret controls half the social boards in the city. Carla knows every investor on your board. They’ll say we’re lying. They’ll say I staged the break-in to steal from you.”
May you like
I lifted my head, wiping the moisture from my cheeks, feeling a cold, hard resolve settle deep into my bones.
“Let them try,” I whispered, leaning in to kiss her forehead. “Let them try to lie to a judge when I present every bank record, every security camera log, and every police report. Tomorrow morning, they aren't just going to jail. They’re going to find out what happens when you wake a sleeping dog.”
