Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Knew About the First Wife
I had always believed I was Ryan's first wife.
That was what he told me.
He'd had girlfriends.
Serious relationships.
One engagement that ended badly.
But no marriage.
Now my uncle was telling me Diane borrowed fifty thousand dollars from my father to keep Ryan out of trouble.
I sat in Henry's workshop, staring at him.
"What trouble?"
Henry looked uncomfortable.
"Your dad didn't tell me everything."
"Tell me what he did say."
Henry sighed.
"There was a woman."
My stomach tightened.
"What woman?"
"Ryan's ex."
I frowned.
"Melissa?"
"No."
He shook his head.
"Her name was Natalie."
I stared.
I'd never heard that name.
Henry continued.
"She threatened to sue Ryan."
"For what?"
"I don't know."
He looked genuinely ashamed.
"Your dad asked me to witness the loan paperwork. Diane promised to repay him."
"Did she?"
"No."
My stomach tightened.
"Why didn't Dad tell me?"
Henry looked at me.
"He didn't want to hurt you."
I closed my eyes.
My father had tried to protect me from the truth.
Ryan had used that silence.
For a long time, nobody spoke.
Then Priya asked for the loan documents.
Henry retrieved them.
Diane's signature.
A repayment schedule.
The stated purpose:
PRIVATE FAMILY SETTLEMENT.
I stared at the words.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The following week, Priya's investigator found Natalie.
She lived in Vermont.
Worked as a physical therapist.
And had been married to Ryan for eleven months.
My stomach dropped.
Married.
Ryan had never divorced me from the truth of his past because he'd never told me it existed.
When Natalie agreed to speak with us, I expected bitterness.
Anger.
Maybe jealousy.
Instead, she looked exhausted.
She was thirty-eight, with shoulder-length dark hair and gentle eyes.
We met in a quiet conference room.
She looked at my bandaged hand.
Then at my face.
"Oh, Claire."
I stared.
"You know me?"
She nodded.
"I've seen your picture."
"Ryan showed you?"
"No."
She looked down.
"I've followed your company."
My stomach tightened.
"Why?"
Natalie took a breath.
"Because I recognized what he was doing."
I sat.
"Tell me."
She explained that she married Ryan when she was twenty-six.
He was charming.
Ambitious.
Attentive.
He talked about building a future.
Then he started asking her for money.
Small amounts at first.
Then larger ones.
He convinced her to invest in a business opportunity.
When the investment failed, he blamed her.
She asked questions.
He became cruel.
Eventually, she discovered he'd used her identity to obtain credit.
I stared.
"He did that to you?"
She nodded.
"I left."
"Then what?"
"He threatened me."
My hand began throbbing.
Natalie looked toward Priya.
"I filed a civil case."
I thought about the fifty thousand dollars.
"Diane paid you?"
Natalie shook her head.
"Not directly."
She explained that a settlement resolved certain financial claims.
The funds came through a law firm.
She didn't know where Diane obtained them.
I looked away.
My father.
Ryan had taken money from the man who tried to warn me.
Then married me anyway.
Natalie continued.
"I thought about contacting you."
I looked up.
"Why didn't you?"
"Because Ryan's lawyer told me I'd violate the settlement if I discussed confidential terms."
She paused.
"And because I was afraid."
I nodded.
I understood fear.
Then she looked at my hand.
"Did he hurt you?"
I swallowed.
"Yes."
Her eyes filled.
"I'm sorry."
I shook my head.
"You didn't do it."
Natalie took a breath.
"There's something you need to know."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
"Ryan keeps records."
I frowned.
"What kind?"
"Everything."
She explained that during their marriage, Ryan maintained detailed files on people he wanted to control.
Financial documents.
Photographs.
Personal information.
Old correspondence.
"He liked having something he could use when someone said no."
My stomach tightened.
"Where?"
Natalie thought.
"He kept a storage unit under his mother's name."
I stared.
"Diane?"
She nodded.
"Yes."
Priya leaned forward.
"Do you know the location?"
Natalie wrote down an address.
A storage facility outside Stamford.
I recognized it.
Ryan had visited that area frequently.
He always said he was meeting vendors.
Now I knew why.
Priya explained that we couldn't simply enter someone else's storage unit.
We would pursue lawful avenues to obtain relevant records.
Natalie nodded.
Then looked at me.
"Claire?"
"Yes?"
"You're not crazy."
My eyes filled.
She continued.
"He'll tell everybody you are."
I nodded.
"He already has."
She smiled sadly.
"Then you know what to expect."
That evening, I returned to my hotel and found Marcus waiting in the lobby.
He looked frightened.
"Claire."
I stood.
"What happened?"
He glanced around.
"Can we talk upstairs?"
We went into the private meeting room I'd reserved.
Marcus placed a folder on the table.
"Rebecca found something."
I stared.
"What?"
"Summerfield Events isn't simply receiving money."
He opened the folder.
Inside were property records.
A luxury condominium in Florida.
A small commercial building in Stamford.
And a vacation home in Vermont.
All purchased through entities connected to Summerfield.
I looked at the amounts.
More than one million dollars.
My stomach tightened.
"Who owns them?"
Marcus swallowed.
"Diane."
I closed my eyes.
Then he continued.
"Claire, there's something worse."
I looked up.
"What?"
He showed me a proposed contract.
It was dated two weeks earlier.
The contract would transfer a major company software license to a newly formed entity controlled by Ryan and Diane.
For a fraction of its market value.
I stared.
"That's our core product."
Marcus nodded.
"The software you built."
My breathing changed.
If Ryan succeeded, he wouldn't need to take the whole company.
He could strip out the asset that made it valuable.
Leave employees with an empty business.
And transfer the profitable technology into a company he controlled.
I looked at Marcus.
"Has anything been signed?"
"Not yet."
Relief flooded through me.
Then Marcus hesitated.
"What?"
He looked ashamed.
"Ryan scheduled the transfer for Friday."
I stared.
Friday.
Three days away.
And the proposed agreement bore a signature line for the company chair.
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