Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN IN THE MIDDLE
Raina didn't sleep.
By six in the morning, she had memorized the gala seating chart.
Table twelve.
Raina Mercer.
Damon Cole.
Lacey Vaughn.
Three names in a row.
Yet Raina had no memory of Lacey being there.
“She changed her hair,” Elaine said.
They had pulled old charity photographs.
In 2021, Lacey had dark brown hair and wore thick black glasses.
Raina stared at the photo.
“Oh my God.”
“You recognize her?”
“She bumped into me near the bar.”
Orson leaned forward.
“And?”
“She told me there was a guy staring at me.”
Elaine and Orson exchanged looks.
Raina continued.
“I laughed. She said I should make him nervous.”
“Damon,” Elaine said.
“Yes.”
Lacey had staged the beginning.
Maybe not all of it.
But enough.
“Why?”
Orson paced the room.
“Money.”
Elaine shook her head.
“Too simple.”
“People have done worse for less.”
“True. But look at the structure.”
She pulled up the royalty agreement.
“Bryce gives Damon contingent rights. Eighteen months later, Lacey places Damon next to Raina. Damon marries her. Then he starts moving money and forging proxy documents.”
Raina spoke quietly.
“You think they were working together before he met me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why is she stealing his laptop now?”
Elaine's expression sharpened.
“Because partnerships end.”
Raina's doctor entered before they could say more.
After another exam, she was cleared to leave with strict instructions.
Rest.
Hydration.
No stress.
Raina actually laughed.
The doctor looked confused.
“Sorry,” Raina said. “Long week.”
“It is Tuesday.”
“That makes it worse.”
Orson wanted her at his house.
Raina refused.
“I want my home.”
“Damon is still there.”
“No, he's not.”
“Raina.”
“You said the trust gives me occupancy control.”
“It does.”
“Then remove him.”
Elaine nodded.
“We can.”
Two hours later, they returned to the mansion with police supervision and a private security team.
Damon stood in the foyer beside three suitcases.
He looked exhausted.
For the first time in years, he also looked small.
Raina entered slowly.
His eyes went to her stomach.
“You okay?”
“Don't.”
“I was asking.”
“You lost the right.”
He nodded.
“Fair.”
Orson muttered, “Nothing about this is fair.”
Damon ignored him.
“I need ten minutes with my wife.”
“She's not your—”
“Dad.”
Orson stopped.
Raina looked at Damon.
“Five.”
They stepped into the library.
The door remained open.
Security stood outside.
Damon looked around.
“I really did love you.”
Raina stared at him.
“That sentence is somehow worse than if you said you never did.”
“I'm serious.”
“You targeted me.”
“At first.”
Her breath caught.
Damon looked down.
“I was broke. Bryce approached me.”
“Why you?”
“My father worked for Claire.”
Raina frowned.
“What?”
“He was an accountant at your mother's company.”
“What's his name?”
“Peter Cole.”
The name meant nothing to her.
Damon continued.
“My father said your family destroyed him.”
“How?”
“He claimed Orson forced him to take the blame for missing funds.”
Orson called from the hall.
“That's a lie.”
Damon shouted back.
“Stay out of this!”
Then he looked at Raina.
“Bryce told me Claire's company had hidden intellectual property rights that your father stole.”
“So you married me?”
“I met you because I wanted access.”
Raina felt tears burn behind her eyes.
“But after that…”
“Don't.”
“I fell in love with you.”
“While stealing from me?”
“I was trying to pay people off.”
“With my money.”
“Yes.”
“While sleeping with Lacey?”
Damon closed his eyes.
“That was a mistake.”
Raina laughed once.
“No. Spilling coffee is a mistake. Sleeping with the woman who helped you target your wife is a decision.”
Damon flinched.
Then he stepped closer.
“Lacey is dangerous.”
“You seemed pretty comfortable letting her wear my robe yesterday.”
“She has leverage on me.”
“What leverage?”
Damon looked toward the door.
Then back at Raina.
“She knows what happened the night Bryce died.”
Raina froze.
“You said he died in Florida.”
“He did.”
“Were you there?”
Damon said nothing.
Raina whispered:
“Damon.”
His eyes filled with fear.
“I didn't kill him.”
Raina's blood went cold.
“I didn't ask if you did.”
And somewhere upstairs—
glass shattered.
Security moved instantly.
A shout followed.
Then footsteps.
Someone was inside the house.
A bodyguard yelled:
“Stop!”
Raina turned toward the hallway.
Damon grabbed her wrist.
“Don't go out there.”
“Let go.”
“Raina, listen to me.”
A shadow moved across the upper landing.
Then a woman appeared at the railing.
Dark glasses.
Baseball cap.
Gun-shaped object in one hand.
Lacey.
She looked down at them.
And smiled.
May you like
“You people really should change your security codes.”
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