## CHAPTER 3 ## THE WOMAN WHO BOUGHT MY HUSBAND'S LOYALTY
The name stayed in my mind.
---
Samantha Vale.
---
The woman who received the message.
The woman who knew my husband was leaving me.
The woman who was waiting for me to disappear.
---
I had seen her before.
---
Everyone had.
---
She was the kind of woman magazines loved.
Beautiful.
Elegant.
Always photographed beside powerful men.
---
But I never imagined she would be the reason my family almost fell apart.
---
---
"Who is she?"
I asked Victoria.
---
The attorney sitting across from me looked serious.
---
"Samantha Vale is the daughter of Richard Vale."
---
I frowned.
---
"The Vale investment group?"
---
Victoria nodded.
---
"The same company that has been trying to merge with Holloway International for the past two years."
---
My stomach tightened.
---
"So this wasn't about love."
---
"No."
Victoria replied.
---
"It was business."
---
---
I looked toward my babies.
---
Three tiny lives sleeping peacefully.
---
While powerful people were moving pieces around a chessboard.
---
And somehow...
We were the pieces.
---
---
"What did she promise him?"
I asked.
---
Victoria opened a file.
---
"According to the investigation..."
---
She stopped.
---
"Tell me."
---
"She promised Grant control."
---
The word hurt.
---
"Control of what?"
---
"Holloway International."
---
---
The pieces finally connected.
---
Grant didn't divorce me because he hated me.
---
He divorced me because he believed leaving me would make him richer.
---
---
My hands clenched.
---
"How much?"
---
Victoria looked at the documents.
---
"Fifty million dollars."
---
I stared at her.
---
"She paid him fifty million dollars to abandon his wife?"
---
"Not exactly."
---
Victoria corrected.
---
"She paid him to activate a specific clause in your marriage agreement."
---
My heart stopped.
---
"What clause?"
---
---
Three years earlier...
Before I married Grant...
My grandmother insisted on creating a prenuptial agreement.
---
At the time, I thought it was unnecessary.
---
I loved him.
---
I believed love was enough.
---
But Eleanor Whitmore had simply smiled and said:
---
"Love is beautiful. But people change when money enters the room."
---
I had laughed.
---
I thought she was being overly cautious.
---
Now...
I understood.
---
---
"What does the clause say?"
I asked.
---
Victoria looked at me.
---
"If your husband files for divorce while you are medically incapacitated or unable to represent yourself..."
---
She paused.
---
"All marital assets are immediately frozen."
---
I nodded.
---
That explained Grant's accounts.
---
"But why?"
---
Victoria continued.
---
"Because your grandmother believed no honorable person would abandon their spouse at their weakest moment."
---
A bitter smile appeared on my face.
---
"She knew him."
---
---
The hospital room became quiet.
---
Then Victoria added:
---
"There's more."
---
I looked up.
---
"What?"
---
"Grant wasn't supposed to receive the divorce settlement."
---
My eyebrows narrowed.
---
"What do you mean?"
---
"The moment he signed those papers..."
---
She opened another document.
---
"The trust transferred ownership of certain assets away from him."
---
I stared.
---
"Which assets?"
---
Victoria answered:
---
"The companies he thought he owned."
---
---
Meanwhile...
---
Across the city...
Grant Holloway was discovering the same truth.
---
His penthouse was filled with lawyers.
---
Executives.
---
People who once feared him.
---
Now everyone looked nervous.
---
"Tell me again."
Grant said.
---
His CFO swallowed.
---
"The board has temporarily suspended your voting rights."
---
Grant slammed his hand onto the table.
---
"Who authorized that?"
---
Nobody answered.
---
Finally, his lawyer spoke.
---
"Your wife."
---
Grant froze.
---
"She doesn't have that authority."
---
The lawyer looked uncomfortable.
---
"Actually..."
---
"She does."
---
---
Grant paced across the room.
---
"This is insane."
---
His lawyer placed a folder down.
---
"There's another problem."
---
Grant stopped.
---
"What now?"
---
"The trust audit found irregular financial transfers."
---
"What transfers?"
---
The lawyer hesitated.
---
"Payments."
---
"To Samantha Vale."
---
Grant's expression changed.
---
"That's impossible."
---
"Mr. Holloway..."
---
The lawyer looked at him.
---
"The money trail shows Samantha wasn't paying you."
---
A pause.
---
"She was paying someone inside your company."
---
---
Grant went silent.
---
"Who?"
---
The lawyer slid a paper across the desk.
---
At the bottom was a signature.
---
Someone Grant trusted.
---
Someone who had helped him for years.
---
His own chief financial officer.
---
---
Grant stared.
---
"Why would he do that?"
---
The lawyer answered:
---
"Because this wasn't just Samantha's plan."
---
"Someone wanted Holloway International destroyed."
---
---
Back at the hospital...
I received another visitor.
---
A man I had never met.
---
He wore a dark suit.
Carried no flowers.
No gifts.
---
Only an envelope.
---
"Mrs. Holloway."
---
"Who are you?"
---
He looked uncomfortable.
---
"My name is Daniel Vale."
---
I froze.
---
"Vale?"
---
He nodded.
---
"Samantha's brother."
---
Victoria immediately stood.
---
"What are you doing here?"
---
Daniel looked at me.
---
"I came because you deserve the truth."
---
I didn't move.
---
"About what?"
---
He placed the envelope on the table.
---
"About why Samantha wanted your marriage destroyed."
---
I opened it.
---
Inside were photographs.
---
Documents.
---
And one picture that made my blood run cold.
---
It showed Grant.
---
Standing with Samantha.
---
But the date shocked me.
---
It wasn't recent.
---
It was taken before my wedding.
---
Years before.
---
I looked at Daniel.
---
"How long?"
---
His face filled with guilt.
---
"Since before you married him."
---
The room went silent.
---
My hands trembled.
---
"You're saying..."
---
Daniel whispered:
---
"Your husband didn't fall in love with Samantha after your marriage."
---
"He knew her before he met you."
---
I stared at the photo.
---
The man I loved.
---
The father of my children.
---
The man who promised forever.
---
Had been living a lie from the beginning.
---
Then Daniel said the sentence that destroyed the last piece of my hope.
---
"Mrs. Holloway..."
---
"Grant didn't marry you because he loved you."
---
May you like
"He married you because of what your grandmother left you."
---
