PART 2 — THE SECRET ACCOUNT
Patricia stared at the laptop screen.
“What are you doing?”
I kept my voice low.
“Finding out exactly what your family has been hiding.”
She looked terrified.
“Jessi, you don’t understand. Arthur owns half the companies in this city.”
“I know.”
Her eyes widened.
“How?”
“Because I spent the last six years investigating people exactly like him.”
I opened the first file.
Thousands of transactions appeared across the screen.
Transfers between companies.
Fake consulting agreements.
Offshore accounts.
Luxury properties purchased through corporations that technically didn’t exist.
Then I noticed something strange.
Every major transfer had been approved by the same person.
Luca.
I turned the screen toward Patricia.
She covered her mouth.
“No…”
“Did you know about this?”
She shook her head.
“Arthur told me the companies were legitimate.”
I scrolled farther.
There was a payment made every month to an account in Patricia’s name.
She stared at it in disbelief.
“I never received that money.”
“I know.”
“That account isn’t mine.”
“Exactly.”
Someone had been using her identity.
And suddenly the bruises, the financial records, and the threats began forming one enormous picture.
Arthur wasn’t simply abusive.
He had been hiding money.
And Patricia’s name had been used to hide it.
PART 3 — THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Patricia finally told me the truth.
Thirty-two years earlier, Arthur had married her because her father owned several profitable businesses.
After the wedding, he gradually took control of everything.
He isolated her.
He controlled her bank accounts.
He monitored her phone.
Whenever she tried to leave, he threatened to destroy her reputation.
Then Luca was born.
Patricia lowered her voice.
“Arthur taught Luca that women were supposed to obey.”
My stomach tightened.
“That explains what happened last night.”
She nodded.
“Luca has watched his father hit me since he was a child.”
“Why didn’t you leave?”
Patricia looked toward the hospital window.
“Because every time I tried, Arthur threatened to make sure I’d never see Luca again.”
I reached across the chair and squeezed her hand.
“You’re not going back.”
She looked at me.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
I closed the laptop.
“You’re not going back to that penthouse.”
For the first time, Patricia began to cry.
Not because she was afraid.
Because someone had finally told her that she had a choice.
PART 4 — THE POSTNUP
See more on the next page