CHAPTER 3 THE SECRET I HID FOR FOUR YEARS
Damian Cross had spent his entire life believing there was nothing he couldn't fix.
A bad investment?
He could buy his way out.
A business rival?
He could destroy them.
A scandal?
He could pay someone to bury it.
That was how the Cross family survived.
Money.
Influence.
Fear.
But there was one thing money couldn't control.
The truth.
And now...
The truth was coming for him.
By noon, every major business channel was talking about the Cross empire.
"Cross Holdings Faces Unexpected Financial Freeze."
"Major Investors Question Leadership After Internal Crisis."
"Who Is Isabella Montrose?"
That last question bothered Damian the most.
Because suddenly...
Everyone wanted to know who his wife really was.
The woman he had spent four years introducing as a nobody.
At Cross Tower, Damian threw a newspaper onto the conference table.
"Fix this."
His executives looked uncomfortable.
"Mr. Cross..."
"I said fix it."
One of them cleared his throat.
"There is a problem."
Damian turned.
"What problem?"
"The investors aren't responding to us."
"Why?"
The executive hesitated.
"Because they aren't actually our investors anymore."
Silence.
Damian stared.
"What did you say?"
"The majority ownership transferred months ago."
"Transferred to who?"
Nobody answered.
Damian already knew.
"Montrose Global."
The name felt like a punch.
His family had spent decades building the illusion of being untouchable.
But behind the scenes...
The real foundation was Isabella's family.
"Impossible."
Damian shook his head.
"My father negotiated those deals."
"Yes."
"And he owned the company."
"Not completely."
The executive opened a folder.
"The original contracts show that Montrose Global provided emergency funding twenty years ago."
"Without that money, Cross Holdings would have collapsed."
Damian's face went pale.
"So we're..."
The executive lowered his eyes.
"Technically?"
"Your family has been operating under Montrose protection."
Meanwhile...
I sat across from my father.
The same man who had spent years watching me stay silent.
"You knew this would happen."
I looked at him.
"Yes."
"Then why did you let her marry him?"
His question was calm.
But I knew what he meant.
Why did you let them hurt you?
Why did you allow yourself to be humiliated?
Why did you pretend to be powerless?
Because I had a reason.
Four years ago...
When I first met Damian Cross, I wasn't looking for love.
I was looking for answers.
My father had warned me about the Cross family.
Not because they were poor businessmen.
Because they were dangerous.
"They smile while they take everything from you."
That was what he told me.
I didn't believe him.
Until I found the documents.
Before I married Damian...
I discovered something hidden in the Cross family's financial records.
Millions of dollars were missing.
Not stolen.
Moved.
Hidden.
And the person approving every transaction...
Was Evelyn Cross.
Damian's mother.
I thought I could expose them immediately.
But then I realized something.
If I attacked too soon...
They would destroy the evidence.
So I did something different.
I entered their world.
I became Damian's wife.
I let them underestimate me.
I let them think I was harmless.
And for four years...
I watched.
"Did you love him?"
My father asked.
The question hurt.
Because the answer wasn't simple.
I looked down.
"Yes."
A pause.
"I really did."
My father softened.
"That's why this hurts."
I nodded.
"The worst part wasn't the slap."
"What was it?"
"Knowing he was capable of believing the worst about me."
That evening...
Damian came to Montrose Tower.
Security tried to stop him.
I allowed him in.
When he entered my office...
He looked different.
Not powerful.
Not arrogant.
Just angry.
And afraid.
"Isabella."
I looked up.
"Damian."
He stared around the office.
The office he never knew existed.
The place where billions of dollars moved every day.
"So this was you."
I said nothing.
"You lied to me."
I smiled slightly.
"That's interesting coming from you."
His jaw tightened.
"I thought you were just..."
He stopped.
Because saying it out loud would make him look worse.
"Just what?"
He looked away.
"Nothing."
"No."
I stood.
"Say it."
"You thought I was beneath you."
Silence.
Because it was true.
"I loved you."
His voice changed.
For a moment...
The old Damian appeared.
The man I married.
The man who held my hand when my father was sick.
The man who promised he would protect me.
Then I remembered the mansion.
The slap.
The command.
"Kneel."
And the feeling disappeared.
"I spent four years protecting you."
I walked toward him.
"I saved your company three times."
"I stopped investors from leaving."
"I covered your mistakes."
"I protected your mother's reputation."
"And what did you do?"
Damian looked down.
Nothing.
Because he knew.
Then I placed a folder on the table.
His expression changed.
"What is that?"
"The reason I married you."
He opened it.
Inside were financial records.
Old contracts.
Bank transfers.
And one name highlighted.
Evelyn Cross.
His mother's name.
Damian looked confused.
"What is this?"
"The truth."
"What truth?"
I looked at him.
"Your mother didn't just steal from the company."
"She built a secret account using your father's name."
"She moved money."
"Millions."
"Enough to destroy Cross Holdings."
Damian shook his head.
"No."
"My mother would never..."
"Wouldn't she?"
I opened another document.
A signature.
A transfer approval.
A hidden recording.
His mother's voice.
"I don't care what happens to the company."
"Damian will inherit everything."
"By the time anyone notices..."
"It will already belong to us."
Damian stopped breathing.
Because the person who had always claimed to protect him...
Was the person who had been destroying his future.
But before he could say anything...
My assistant rushed into the room.
"Ms. Montrose."
I turned.
"What happened?"
Her face was pale.
"It's Vanessa."
I froze.
"What about her?"
"She just held a press conference."
Damian looked confused.
"Vanessa?"
My assistant handed me the tablet.
The headline appeared.
"VANESSA HALE CLAIMS ISABELLA MONTROSE TRAPPED DAMIAN CROSS IN A FALSE MARRIAGE."
Then the video started.
Vanessa looked directly into the camera.
And smiled.
"Everyone thinks Isabella is the victim."
She paused.
"But they don't know the truth."
Her next sentence changed everything.
"Because I have proof that Isabella planned this entire marriage from the beginning."
Damian looked at me.
For the first time...
Doubt appeared in his eyes.
And I realized something.
The war had just started.
Because Vanessa wasn't trying to save Damian.
She was trying to destroy me.
And she had found the one weapon I never expected.
May you like
My own past.
TO BE CONTINUED...
