My First Revenge

The transfer document was identical to the one that had begun my family’s destruction in my first life.

I remembered the date because Father had blamed himself for years. Five million dollars had vanished from a Mercer development fund, forcing the company to borrow at punishing interest rates. The loss had been dismissed as an accounting error.

It was not an error.

It was the first cut.

Dozens followed until Mercer Holdings bled to death.

I carried the photograph to Caelan’s study. He sat behind his desk, reviewing files as though acquiring a wife had made no difference to his evening.

He looked up when I entered.

“You’re supposed to knock.”

“You’re supposed to protect Mercer Holdings.”

I placed my phone before him.

He examined the image without visible surprise.

“Where did you get this?”

“An unknown number.”

“And how do you know the receiving company belongs to Lucien?”

I had not told him that.

I silently cursed myself.

“The company name resembles one associated with the Vale Group.”

“It does not appear in any public record connected to Vale.”

“Then perhaps you should investigate instead of questioning me.”

Caelan leaned back, studying my face.

“The transfer occurs in three hours. Your father’s signature has already authorised it.”

“It’s forged.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

In my first life, I discovered that Selene had copied Father’s signature after gaining access to his private safe. She had claimed she needed her birth certificate. Father had trusted her.

Caelan picked up his phone and called the head of Mercer Bank.

Within minutes, the transfer was suspended pending verification.

Relief flooded through me, but I was not satisfied.

Stopping the theft would save the money. It would not expose the thieves.

“Can we allow them to believe it succeeded?” I asked.

Caelan’s gaze sharpened. “Explain.”

“Move the money into a protected holding account. Send confirmation to whoever submitted the instruction. When they try to access the receiving account, trace them.”

“You want to set a trap.”

“I want proof.”

A slow, dangerous smile touched his mouth.

“There you are.”

“What does that mean?”

“The woman who proposed to me yesterday finally looks like herself.”

The remark disturbed me, but there was no time to examine it.

Caelan arranged the false confirmation. At 12:17 a.m., someone attempted to move the money from the receiving account into three offshore companies.

His security team traced the login to a private office inside the Vale Group headquarters.

Lucien’s office.

I expected satisfaction. Instead, rage burned through me.

Even after returning to the past, part of me had feared my memories might be distorted. Perhaps grief had rearranged events. Perhaps Lucien had been weak rather than deliberately cruel.

Now I had proof that he had intended to rob my family before our marriage began.

“What do you want to do with it?” Caelan asked.

“Freeze the account and send the evidence to the Mercer board.”

“That alerts Lucien.”

“I want him alerted.”

“He’ll destroy anything connecting him to the transaction.”

“Not before the board sees what he attempted.”

Caelan considered this.

“You’re not seeking justice.”

“No.”

“What are you seeking?”

I looked at the forged signature on the screen.

“A warning.”

By morning, every Mercer director had received the transaction records. Father summoned the company’s financial officers, and an internal investigation began.

Lucien called me twelve times.

I answered the thirteenth.

“What have you done?” he demanded.

“I stopped you.”

“You don’t understand that transaction.”

“Then explain it to the police.”

His breathing changed.

“Elara, someone is manipulating you. Voss arranged this to turn you against me.”

“Did Caelan make you steal my father’s signature?”

“I didn’t steal anything.”

“The login came from your office.”

“My assistant uses that computer.”

He always had someone ready to sacrifice.

“Then your assistant should hire a lawyer.”

I ended the call.

Minutes later, Selene entered the Voss estate without permission. One of the housekeepers tried to stop her, but she pushed past and found me in the main hall.

“You vindictive little fool,” she hissed.

Her tears and innocence were gone.

I smiled. “There you are.”

“You have no idea what you’ve started.”

“I know exactly what I stopped.”

“The transfer wasn’t meant to hurt Uncle Gideon.”

“So you admit you knew about it.”

She realised her mistake too late.

I lifted my phone, showing her that the call was being recorded.

Selene lunged for it.

Caelan caught her wrist before she reached me.

His expression became terrifyingly calm.

“Touch my wife,” he said, “and you will leave this house in handcuffs.”

Selene stared at him, then at me.

For the first time in either of my lives, she looked afraid of me.

Security escorted her outside.

I sent the recording to Father and watched through the window as Selene’s car disappeared through the gates.

My first revenge had not restored what she and Lucien took from me.

But it had prevented the first theft.

That night, I went upstairs and discovered that my belongings were no longer in the guest room.

A housekeeper stood nervously beside the empty wardrobe.

“Where are my clothes?”

“Mr. Voss ordered them moved.”

“To which room?”

She pointed toward the double doors at the end of the corridor.

Caelan’s bedroom.

The doors opened.

My husband stood inside without his jacket, his shirt partly unbuttoned.

“We need to discuss the sleeping arrangements,” he said.