Chapter 3 - The Hidden Truth
Margaret's hands trembled violently as the crushing reality of her financial ruin finally settled in.
She knew Richard Bennett possessed enough power and influence to destroy her entire social empire before sunset.
She reluctantly pulled her cell phone from her pocket and ordered her assistant to bring the children back immediately.
Fifteen agonizing minutes later, my three beautiful girls ran crying into my arms.
I held them incredibly tight, kissing their foreheads and promising them that we were never going back to that horrible laundry room.
Richard immediately escorted us out of the mansion and into his waiting armored limousine.
He drove us directly to his sprawling, heavily guarded penthouse overlooking the city skyline.
For the first time in six years, my daughters were given their own massive bedrooms filled with soft beds and warm sunlight.
After putting the exhausted girls to sleep, I walked softly into Richard's private study to thank him for saving our lives.
He was standing by the massive floor-to-ceiling windows while pouring two glasses of expensive red wine.
He smiled gently and told me that no woman should ever have to endure the cruelty I had faced.
I stepped closer to his beautiful mahogany desk to accept the glass of wine he was offering.
But as I reached across the polished wood, my eyes caught sight of a thick manila folder resting near his computer.
The tab on the folder was clearly labeled with my deceased husband's full legal name.
I froze completely and slowly asked Richard why he had a private investigative file on Michael Whitmore.
Richard's gentle smile instantly faded into a grim and deeply apologetic expression.
He slowly set the wine glasses down and let out a very long, heavy sigh.
He quietly confessed that he had not attended Margaret's charity luncheon simply to make a random donation.
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He pulled the folder open to reveal a stack of terrifying crime scene photos from the night of my husband's fatal car crash.
He looked me dead in the eyes and stated that Michael's death on Interstate 84 was absolutely not an accident.
