Chapter 4 - THE MISTRESS WHO WANTED MORE THAN A MARRIED MAN|
Chloe Harrington had never considered herself a mistress.
To her, the word suggested a woman who waited in hotel rooms and accepted whatever scraps a married man was willing to offer.
She considered herself a future wife.
Daniel had spent eighteen months promising that his marriage was effectively over, that Sarah was emotionally distant, and that the pregnancy had complicated a separation he was desperate to complete.
He had told Chloe that the house was already being transferred into a new holding company and that Sarah would soon receive a settlement.
He had not told her that Sarah had independent assets.
He had not told her that his lawyers had warned him against making unauthorized transfers.
Most importantly, he had not told her that he had used money from one of his companies to finance the luxury apartment where Chloe lived.
The morning after the gala, Chloe arrived at Daniel's office wearing sunglasses and carrying a designer handbag.
She found him pacing beside his desk.
"Tell me what happened."
"Sarah is trying to make me look abusive."
Chloe removed her sunglasses.
"She pressed a button. That's hardly a criminal conspiracy."
"You don't understand. She has an attorney investigating the company's finances."
Chloe's face tightened.
"Which finances?"
"All of them."
She sat down slowly.
Daniel stopped pacing.
"Why are you asking that?"
"Because you told me the company was perfectly healthy."
"It is."
"Then why are you worried?"
He stared at her.
Chloe looked away.
She had discovered several weeks earlier that the company Daniel used to pay her expenses was also connected to a property acquisition under federal review. She had asked him about it, and he had assured her that the paperwork was routine.
Now she wondered whether she had been given the same carefully edited version of the truth that he had given his wife.
"Daniel," she said, "you told me Sarah had agreed to a financial settlement."
"She will."
"Did she sign it?"
"Not yet."
"Then why did you tell me the money was available?"
His expression became dangerous.
"Because I said it was."
Chloe stood.
"I won't go down with you if you've been lying to me."
Daniel laughed without humor.
"You think you can walk away? Your apartment, your car, your jewelry—who do you think pays for all of it?"
Her face went pale.
"You said those were gifts."
"They were."
"Then they're mine."
"Nothing is yours if the company decides it was an improper payment."
For the first time, Chloe saw the man she had been dating without the expensive restaurants and flattering promises.
He was not simply a wealthy husband unhappy in his marriage.
He was a man who treated every relationship like a transaction and every person like a liability.
She picked up her handbag.
"You're unbelievable."
"And you're replaceable."
Chloe left without answering.
In the elevator, she took out her phone and opened a folder of photographs she had secretly collected during the previous year.
One showed Daniel signing documents at a private club.
Another showed him meeting a man whose name had appeared in a news report about corporate fraud.
A third showed a bank statement displayed on a laptop.
Chloe had kept the photographs because she had once believed they might help her negotiate a better future.
Now they might be the only things protecting her from Daniel.
She sent a message to an attorney whose number she'd saved months earlier.
I need to discuss information about Daniel Bennett. I may have evidence of financial misconduct.
Then she deleted the message from her screen.
She didn't know whether she wanted revenge or protection.
May you like
But she knew one thing.
If Daniel Bennett was going to fall, she would not be the only person standing beneath the wreckage.
