“Yes, that exact investment,” I confirmed.
Hunter’s boutique financial consulting company, Apex Strategic Partners, had been aggressively pitching my father for months. Hunter called it an expansion opportunity, but my father had called it a simple test. Ten million dollars was meant for equity, advisory rights, and a partnership that would put Hunter in elite boardrooms he had spent years trying to enter. Now I finally understood the missing piece of the puzzle, because I was not his beloved wife at all. I was merely the bridge to his wealth.
“Tomorrow morning, you will come straight to my office,” my father ordered calmly. “Bring your laptop, your phone, any shared account access, and every single document related to his firm. Tonight you will change nothing obvious, so do not spook him under any circumstances.”
“You sound like you have planned this type of strategy before,” I said with a bitter, quiet laugh.
“No, I haven’t,” he replied coldly. “But I have survived plenty of deceitful men like him.”
When the front door opened twenty minutes later, I was standing at the stainless steel sink pretending to rinse a clean glass. Hunter came walking into the foyer, whistling a light tune. He looked handsome in the expensive, effortless way that had once made strangers turn their heads in restaurants. He wore a sharp navy suit with a loosened tie, his dark hair was slightly damp from the night air, and a charming smile was ready on his face before he even looked at me.
