PART 2 — THE WOMAN BEHIND THE NAME
By eight the next morning, Prescott Global was no longer talking about quarterly numbers.
They were talking about me.
About Claire Prescott.
About the message I had posted at 3:17 a.m.
And most importantly…
about Jasmine Cole.
I sat across from Nathan Brooks in his office while he reviewed the documents I had brought.
He turned one page.
Then another.
Finally, he looked up.
“Claire, are you absolutely certain you want to do this?”
“Yes.”
“You understand that once we file, Aaron will know everything that becomes relevant to the divorce proceedings.”
“I know.”
“And if he discovers the extent of your separate assets, he may challenge the prenup.”
“I expected that.”
Nathan studied me.
“You really have thought this through.”
I looked toward the window.
Three years earlier, I had stood in almost the exact same emotional position.
Only then, I had been terrified.
Terrified of losing my husband.
Terrified of being alone.
Terrified that everyone would say I hadn't been good enough.
Now?
I was terrified of only one thing.
Waking up five years from now and realizing I had wasted even more of my life begging someone to love me.
“I want the papers filed today,” I said.
Nathan nodded.
“Then I'll make it happen.”
My phone vibrated.
Aaron.
Again.
I didn't answer.
A few seconds later, a message appeared.
Claire, please come home. We need to talk.
I stared at it.
Three years.
Three years of asking him to come home.
And now that I had stopped asking…
he wanted me waiting at the door.
I put the phone facedown.
Nathan noticed.
“Do you want me to respond?”
“No.”
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
Then he opened another folder.
“There is something else.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Your grandfather's investment company.”
My stomach tightened.
“What about it?”
“The ownership structure is more complicated than you told me.”
I frowned.
“I inherited the shares.”
“You inherited control.”
I said nothing.
Nathan slid a document toward me.
“Your grandfather didn't simply leave you stock. He created a private holding structure before he died. Your shares are protected through a trust.”
I stared at the document.
“I knew about the trust.”
“You knew about part of it.”
He tapped the final page.
“This clause was activated six months before your wedding.”
I leaned closer.
My grandfather's signature appeared at the bottom.
And beneath it was a sentence I had never seen.
In the event that Claire Prescott enters a marriage in which her independent financial interests are threatened, control of the Prescott Family Investment Trust shall transfer exclusively to Claire.
I slowly looked up.
“Why would he do that?”
Nathan's expression changed.
“Because your grandfather knew people would try to marry into the family.”
I felt a chill move through me.
“Aaron?”
“I don't know.”
“But my grandfather died before I met Aaron.”
“Exactly.”
The room became very quiet.
I remembered something.
Something I hadn't thought about in years.
The last conversation I ever had with my grandfather.
I had been twenty-four.
He had held my hand and said:
“Claire, never confuse someone standing beside you with someone standing with you.”
At the time, I thought he was talking about business.
Maybe he wasn't.
My phone vibrated again.
This time, it wasn't Aaron.
It was his mother.
You have embarrassed our family enough. Come to my house at noon.
I almost laughed.
Nathan noticed my expression.
“Problem?”
“A summons.”
“Are you going?”
“Yes.”
His eyebrows rose.
“Why?”
“Because I'm tired of being afraid of these people.”
At exactly noon, I arrived at the Prescott family mansion.
The front door opened before I could knock.
Aaron's mother, Adelaide Prescott, stood there.
Her face was pale with anger.
“You've lost your mind.”
I stepped inside.
“No. I finally found it.”
She stared at me.
“How dare you humiliate Aaron publicly?”
“I didn't mention his affair.”
“You implied it.”
“I stated a fact.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Jasmine is an employee.”
“Then why was she with my husband every night?”
Silence.
She looked away.
That was answer enough.
Then she lowered her voice.
“You don't understand what you're doing.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“You'll destroy Aaron's career.”
“No.”
I looked directly at her.
“Aaron did that himself.”
She stepped closer.
“You think you're powerful because of some money your grandfather left you?”
My heart stopped.
“How do you know about my grandfather's money?”
Her expression changed.
Only for half a second.
But I saw it.
Fear.
“You just told me,” she said quickly.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“I didn't.”
She said nothing.
I walked toward the door.
Then she spoke.
“Claire.”
I turned.
“You should ask your husband why he was interested in you in the first place.”
My blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?”
But she had already walked away.
I left the mansion with one thought repeating in my head.
Why was Aaron interested in me?
For three years, I had believed our marriage began with love.
Now I wasn't sure.
When I returned to Nathan's office, he was waiting.
I told him everything.
He didn't interrupt.
When I finished, he asked one question.
“Claire, do you still have the original financial documents from before your marriage?”
“Yes.”
“Bring them tomorrow.”
“Why?”
Nathan looked at me.
“Because if Aaron married you for your money, I want to know exactly what he knew before he proposed.”
My blood ran cold.
Because suddenly…
the divorce wasn't the biggest mystery anymore.
Our marriage was.
* * *
