Chapter 2 - THE ANONYMOUS SENDER
“I Hired A Private Investigator To Destroy My Husband—But The Photos He Sent Revealed My Sister Was Sleeping With Someone Far Worse!”The penthouse apartment in Lake Forest was suffocatingly quiet. I sat at the kitchen island, staring at the empty spaces on the walls where our wedding photos used to hang. I had taken them down and burned them in the fireplace hours ago, watching twenty years of my life turn to ash in less than ten minutes.
It had been three days since the rooftop gala. The media in Chicago had gone into a frenzy. “Local Real Estate Mogul Announces Affair and Pregnancy at Victory Gala.” The headlines were brutal, but Daniel didn't care. He was riding a wave of arrogant notoriety. He had already moved Lily into a luxury rental downtown, leaving me alone in our estate.
My phone buzzed on the counter. It was an unknown number.
I picked it up. "Hello?"
"Mrs. Vance?" a gruff, low voice asked. "My name is Marcus Vance. No relation to your husband, though I've been keeping tabs on him for the last six months. I'm a private investigator."
My breath hitched. "Who hired you?"
"You did," the man said. "Or rather, your lawyer, Mr. Aris, did on your behalf as a precautionary measure when you first suspected the affair. I have a file for you. I think you need to see it immediately. It’s not just about your husband’s infidelity. It’s about who your sister is actually sleeping with."
An hour later, I met Marcus in a dimly lit diner on the outskirts of the city. He was a stocky man with tired eyes and a leather jacket that smelled of old coffee and tobacco. He slid a thick yellow manila envelope across the table.
"I’m sorry about what happened at the gala," Marcus said softly. "But your husband is a fool. He thinks he’s the puppet master, but he’s just a pawn."
I opened the envelope. Inside were dozens of high-resolution photographs.
The first few showed Daniel and Lily entering a boutique hotel in River North. My heart squeezed, but I pushed past the pain. I had already cried all the tears I had for Daniel.
But as I flipped through the photos, the locations changed.
The next set of images was taken at a secluded marina in Lake Michigan. Lily was standing on the deck of a luxury yacht. She wasn't with Daniel.
She was standing next to a tall, silver-haired man with a commanding presence. His arm was wrapped around her waist, his hand sliding down her thigh in a way that made my stomach churn.
I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth. "Julian Vance."
"Your husband’s older brother," Marcus confirmed, nodding grimly. "And the primary silent investor behind Daniel's entire construction empire. If Julian pulls his funding, Daniel’s company goes bankrupt by the end of the fiscal year."
My mind raced, trying to piece together the horrifying puzzle. Julian was fifty-five, a ruthless billionaire who had always despised Daniel’s loud-mouthed arrogance. He had tolerated Daniel only because our father-in-law's will had mandated they work together to keep the family trust intact.
"When were these taken?" I whispered, my fingers trembling as I stared at an image of Julian kissing Lily deeply under the shadow of the yacht's canopy.
"The dates are at the bottom," Marcus said. "October 10th through October 15th. Right around the time your husband was in London. And right around the estimated date of conception on that ultrasound your sister dropped at the party."
I stared at the photos, the realization hitting me like a physical blow.
Lily wasn't pregnant with Daniel’s baby.
She was pregnant with Julian’s baby.
"Why?" I muttered, shaking my head. "Why would she do this to Daniel? Why would she lie and say it was his?"
"Because Julian is married to a woman whose family owns half the banking sector in Chicago," Marcus explained, leaning forward. "If Julian’s wife finds out about the affair, she divorces him, takes him to the cleaners, and Julian loses everything. But if Daniel takes the fall? If Daniel believes the baby is his, Lily gets taken care of, Daniel gets his 'heir,' and Julian's secret remains safe. It’s a perfect setup. Lily gets the wealth of a Vance brother, and Julian gets to keep his marriage and his billions."
"And Daniel is so blinded by his own ego that he actually believes he’s the father," I said, a dark, dry laugh escaping my throat. "He thinks he won. He thinks he’s starting a new legacy, but he’s actually raising his brother's bastard child."
"Exactly," Marcus said. "But there’s more. Look at the last photo."
I flipped to the bottom of the pile. My breath caught in my throat.
It was a photo of Lily and Julian sitting in a car, but they weren't alone. In the driver's seat, looking directly at the camera with a sinister grin, was my lawyer—the very man who had hired Marcus.
Mr. Aris.
"He’s in on it," Marcus whispered. "The divorce lawyer you trusted to protect your assets is actually working for Julian Vance. They’re setting you up, Evelyn. They’re going to empty your bank accounts, strip you of your alimony, and leave you with nothing during the divorce proceedings."
I clutched the edge of the table, the walls of the diner spinning. The betrayal wasn't just an affair. It was a calculated, multi-million-dollar conspiracy designed to ruin me completely while protecting the family's darkest secrets.
I closed my eyes, taking a long, deep breath. When I opened them, the sorrow was gone.
Only fire remained.
"Marcus," I said, my voice steady and cold as ice. "How much do you want to double your rate?"
May you like
He smiled, a slow, predatory grin. "I like a woman who wants revenge. What's the plan, boss?"
"We aren't just going to get a divorce," I whispered. "We are going to destroy every single one of them."
