Chapter 2 - The Account He Was Never Supposed to Know About
I read the message twice.
Then a third time.
Mark attempted to access the Whitmore trust account.
My eyes slowly lifted.
Mark was watching me.
Too carefully.
General Hayes noticed the change in my expression.
“Problem?”
I handed him the phone.
He read the message.
His face hardened.
“Colonel, do you recognize the attempted access?”
“No.”
Mark shifted toward the door.
“I should go.”
“Stay.”
My voice stopped him.
He turned.
“What?”
I held up my phone.
“How do you know about the Whitmore Family Trust?”
His expression remained blank.
“I don’t.”
“Wrong answer.”
“Anna, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
General Hayes glanced toward Claire.
“Major Dawson.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Would you step outside?”
Claire hesitated.
Then looked at Mark.
Whatever attraction she had felt for him was gone.
“Yes, sir.”
She left.
General Hayes followed, giving me privacy.
Now it was just Mark and me.
I turned the phone toward him.
“Someone tried accessing my trust account this morning.”
He shrugged.
“So?”
“The request used information only someone inside my household could have obtained.”
“That proves nothing.”
“It used my Social Security number.”
His face changed.
Barely.
But I saw it.
Mark had always underestimated how carefully I watched people.
Occupational habit.
“You went through my files.”
“No.”
“My locked files.”
“You’re paranoid.”
“Mark.”
He looked away.
And that told me everything.
I pressed the nurse-call button.
Mark frowned.
“What are you doing?”
“Ending this conversation.”
“Anna—”
“You cheated on me.”
He said nothing.
“You lied to another woman and told her you were divorced.”
Silence.
“You threw me out while I was in labor.”
His jaw tightened.
“And now I discover someone tried accessing an inheritance you supposedly knew nothing about.”
“It’s my money too.”
The words came out before he could stop them.
Silence.
I stared at him.
Mark realized his mistake.
“What did you say?”
He stepped backward.
“I meant if you inherited something while we were married—”
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You just said it was your money too.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“Anna, listen.”
“How long?”
“Stop interrogating me.”
“How long have you known?”
He finally exploded.
“Three months!”
The room went still.
I felt colder than I had when he threw me out.
“How?”
Mark looked toward the window.
“I found a letter.”
“What letter?”
“From your grandfather’s attorney.”
I remembered it.
A preliminary notice.
Sealed.
Stored inside my locked desk.
“You broke into my desk.”
“You’re my wife.”
“That doesn’t give you permission.”
“We’re married!”
“And you were sleeping with Claire.”
He flinched.
I leaned back against the pillow.
Suddenly, another thought struck me.
“Was that why?”
He frowned.
“What?”
“The last few months.”
I watched his face.
“You thought I was about to become rich.”
Mark said nothing.
“You weren’t planning to leave me.”
His silence answered.
“You were planning to stay until the transfer cleared.”
“Anna—”
“And when you thought I was useless…”
My voice became quieter.
“You threw me out.”
A nurse entered.
Behind her stood General Hayes.
Mark pointed at me.
“You’re twisting everything.”
I looked at the nurse.
“I don’t want him in this room again.”
Mark stared at me.
“You can’t keep me from my child.”
“I said nothing about our child.”
I looked directly at him.
“I said you’re no longer welcome near me.”
Security arrived moments later.
As they escorted Mark toward the hallway, he turned.
“You’ll regret humiliating me.”
I almost smiled.
“Mark.”
He stopped.
“You humiliated yourself.”
The door closed.
I thought that was the end of the confrontation.
I was wrong.
Ten minutes later, my attorney called.
“Anna, we have a bigger problem.”
“What happened?”
“There were three access attempts.”
My stomach tightened.
“Three?”
“Yes.”
“And Anna…”
He paused.
“One of them came from a Department of Defense network.”
May you like
I looked toward General Hayes.
Someone inside the military had helped Mark.
