Chapter 2 - THE PERFECT WIFE

“You want the truth?” Elena asked.

Arthur crushed the guardianship petition in his fist.

“I want you to start talking.”

Elena walked calmly toward the bar and poured herself wine.

That terrified Arthur more than the shouting had.

She wasn’t panicking.

She was prepared.

“You’ve been working sixteen-hour days,” she said. “You barely see Noah.”

“That doesn’t make me dangerous.”

“No. Your temper does.”

“My temper?”

She lifted her glass.

“You just grabbed my wrist.”

“Because you tried to destroy evidence.”

“Evidence?” Elena laughed. “Listen to yourself.”

Maria stood beside Noah, one protective hand on his shoulder.

Arthur noticed Elena watching her.

Not angrily.

Coldly.

“Maria,” Arthur said, “take Noah upstairs.”

“No,” Elena replied.

Arthur turned.

“I wasn’t asking you.”

“I’m his mother.”

“And I’m his father.”

Noah suddenly shouted, “Stop!”

Every adult froze.

Tears rolled down his face.

“I hate when you yell.”

Arthur’s anger vanished.

He knelt again.

“I’m sorry.”

Elena moved toward Noah, but the boy stepped backward.

That tiny movement hit her harder than any accusation.

“Baby,” she whispered.

Noah looked at Maria.

“Can I go with you?”

Maria nodded.

“Of course.”

As they headed upstairs, Elena’s jaw clenched.

The moment Noah disappeared, she turned on Arthur.

“She has poisoned him against me.”

“You’ve barely been home all month.”

“I run a company.”

“So do I.”

“And that’s exactly why this marriage has been dead for years.”

Arthur stared at her.

“This is about divorce?”

“It became about survival.”

“Whose survival?”

“Mine.”

Arthur spread the documents over the table.

“You tried to steal from our son.”

“I tried to save Vance Meridian.”

Arthur stopped.

The family company had been founded by his grandfather.

It held hotels, commercial property, and several private investments.

“What happened to the company?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

“You tried to take four hundred grand from Noah. I’m worried.”

Elena drank.

Arthur watched her closely.

“How much trouble are we in?”

She said nothing.

“Elena.”

She finally looked at him.

“Six million.”

Arthur’s stomach dropped.

“What?”

“We have short-term obligations.”

“We had nine million in reserves.”

“Had.”

Arthur walked toward her.

“Where did the money go?”

Elena’s silence told him everything.

“There’s more.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Where did the money go?”

She set the glass down.

“Investments.”

“What investments?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

Arthur almost laughed.

“I own half the company.”

“You own the name. I’ve been running the operation.”

Arthur pulled out his phone.

“Then I’ll call Robert.”

Robert Chase was Vance Meridian’s longtime CFO.

Elena’s confidence flickered.

Just once.

But Arthur saw it.

“What?”

“Don’t call him.”

Arthur immediately hit Robert’s number.

It rang twice.

Then someone answered.

Nobody spoke.

“Robert?”

A shaky breath came through the phone.

“Arthur?”

“Where are you?”

Another pause.

Then Robert whispered:

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