Chapter 28: Unexpected Allies

The conference room at Elena's place felt like a war room, photos spread all over the table and Lucas's tech humming in the corner. I sat across from Mikel, watching him check out the evidence of our family getting attacked, the same intense look he had at our first business meetings.

"Someone with access to both our companies," he said quietly, touching the financial records Lucas put together. "Someone who knew our security, our schedules, and where we were weak."

"Thomas Romano," I replied, still shocked by what Elena said. "My own great-uncle has been targeting Emma."

Mikel looked up, worried. "Bella, I need to tell you something. I've been looking into this for three years."

My stomach dropped. I didn't know if I could handle any more surprises tonight. "What is it?"

He grabbed a thick folder from his briefcase and put it on the table. "I never really believed what happened that night. Even drunk, something felt off about my memories."

"Mikel—"

"I know how it sounds, the cheating husband saying he was too drunk to remember. But Bella, I've had the same nightmare for five years. Just bits and pieces that didn't make sense."

I stared at the folder, scared to open it. "Like what?"

"Sophia kept bringing me drinks. A lot of them, more than I remember ordering. Then... nothing. I blacked out from around ten PM until I woke up in her bed." He looked upset. "I've blacked out before, back in college. This felt different."

"How so?"

"It made me hire a private investigator two years ago to look into that night."

My hands shook as I grabbed the folder. "What did you find?"

"Open it."

The first thing was a credit card statement from five years ago, showing charges at a pharmacy downtown. The account was in Sophia Chen's name.

"She bought Rohypnol three days before that night," Mikel whispered. "The date rape drug. And something else called GHB."

The room started to spin. "She drugged you?"

"The investigator found the pharmacy's security footage. It took forever and cost a ton, but we got it." He pulled out some screenshots. "Sophia buying drugs made to cause memory loss."

I stared at the pictures of Sophia buying the stuff, acting like it was no big deal.

"It gets better," Mikel said, his voice distant. "She booked a hotel room under a fake name. The same hotel where the pictures were taken. She planned it all."

My head was spinning. "You were unconscious."

"Pretty much. The drug tests say I was barely awake, definitely not able to make any decisions."

It hit me hard. Mikel didn't cheat on me. He was drugged and assaulted, then photographed to make it look like he did.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" I asked quietly.

"Because I didn't think you'd believe me. It sounds like every cheating husband's excuse. And I blamed myself for being stupid enough to drink anything she gave me." He balled his hands into fists. "I was scared you'd think I was lying to get you back."

I looked at the stuff in front of us—pharmacy receipts, hotel records, digital reports, witness statements. Years of investigation that showed a plan of lies and assault.

"Sophia didn't just ruin our marriage," I said slowly. "She ruined you too."

"She ruined our family. Emma grew up without her dad because of what she did."

The anger I felt was like nothing before. Not just being mad about the cheating, but being furious about the violation, the destruction of my family, and the years stolen from my daughter.

"Mikel, this is... this is sexual assault. It's rape."

"I know." His voice was barely there. "I've been seeing a therapist for two years, trying to deal with it. Trying to understand that being a victim doesn't make me weak."

Something in his voice broke my heart. I reached over and took his hands, feeling them shake a little.

"You're not weak. You're the strongest person I know for getting through this and still trying to make things right with Emma and me."

"I should have protected us better. Should have known what she was up to."

"How could you? She was someone you trusted, someone you worked with. These people use that trust against you."

We sat in silence, thinking about what Sophia had done. Not just cheating, but assault. Not just betrayal, but a plan to destroy a family using drugs.

"There's more," Mikel said quietly. "About who was helping her."

He pulled out another set of papers, focusing on financial records.

"The investigator found payments to Sophia's accounts. She didn't do this alone. Someone was paying her, giving her info about our schedules, our habits, our weaknesses."

"Thomas."

"Not just Thomas. Check out these names."

The forms had a bunch of names I knew—board members, executives, people who had access to our lives and companies.

"A conspiracy," I whispered. "A bunch of people working together to take us down."

"To stop us from working together. Your grandma was building something strong, Bella. Our marriage was a possible merger that could have been huge in the Northwest."

"So they stopped it before it could happen."

"They ruined everything. Our marriage, my reputation, your trust, Emma's right to know her dad." He looked angry. "They stole five years from our daughter."

I looked at the documents, seeing things I missed before. The timing of business deals, the placement of stories in the media, and attacks on our companies.

"That's why you've been so careful," I realized. "You knew they might try again."

"I knew if we got back together, we'd be threatening the same people who took us down the first time." He looked me in the eye. "That's why I hired more security for Emma's school, why I had Sophia watched, why I stayed in the guest house where it was safer."

"You've been protecting us this whole time."

"I've been trying. But Bella, what Lucas found changes everything. If Thomas has been inside our systems, if he's been watching us, he knows we're onto him."

That was scary. "Emma."

"Is safe for now. Elena's security is top-notch, and Lucas is in charge. But we have to think Thomas knows everything."

"What do we do?"

Mikel leaned back in his chair, and he looked dangerous. Not just angry, but calculating. Cold.

"We stop defending. We start making our own moves." He pointed to the folder. "We have enough to ruin Sophia, expose the truth, and send people to prison."

"And Thomas?"

"Thomas is Elena's problem. But Sophia..." He smiled like glass. "Sophia is going to learn that some crimes have consequences she never thought of."

I looked at the man I once loved, then hated, and now saw clearly. The careful way he made up with me, the trust he built, the protection he gave—it wasn't fake.

It was love. Worried, careful, terrified love from someone who was hurt and blamed himself.

"Mikel," I said softly, "I owe you an apology."

"You don't owe me anything."

"I owe you five years of believing in who you are instead of what she made up." My voice cracked. "I'm so sorry."

"Bella—"

"No, let me say this. You were assaulted, and then I blamed you. You were drugged and photographed, and I called you a cheater. You spent five years being punished for being a victim."

Tears ran down my face, five years of anger turning into sadness for what we lost.

"And Emma," I said. "She lost her dad because I was too stubborn to look into it. She grew up thinking you didn't want her because I was too angry to think you might not have known."

Mikel stood up and hugged me as I cried. Real tears, not the ones I put on for Emma, but real sadness for the family we should have had.

"We were both victims," he said, rubbing my hair. "We both lost five years we can't get back. But Bella, we still have the future. We still have Emma. We still have each other, if you want that."

I looked at him, seeing the man I fell for. Older, changed by the past, but still the same person who made me laugh, who supported my goals, who wanted to build something great with me.

"I never stopped loving you," I whispered. "Even when I hated you, I never stopped loving you."

"I never stopped fighting for us. Even when it seemed impossible, I never stopped trying to find a way back."

The kiss happened, gentle at first, then stronger as five years of heartbreak washed away.

When we stopped, I rested my head on his, breathing hard.

"So, what now?" I asked.

"Now we finish what they started. We use their tricks against them—media, proof, ruin their reputation." He looked serious. "But first, we protect Emma. Because once we fight back, they're going to get desperate."

"How desperate?"

"Enough to go after a five-year-old."

That scared me. "In danger?"

"I don't know. But Bella, these people ruined our marriage to stop a business deal. They've been watching us, listening to us, invading our daughter's school. They're not going to give up."

I thought about Emma, sleeping safe upstairs, trusting her parents to protect her from the people circling our lives.

"Then we end this fast," I said. "Whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes," Mikel said.

Lucas showed up, looking worried. "Sorry to interrupt, but we have another problem. The equipment we found? It's still transmitting."

My heart dropped. "Transmitting what?"

"Everything. This talk, Mikel's folder, our plans. Someone has been listening to everything tonight."

Mikel and I looked at each other, terrified.

"Thomas knows," I whispered.

"Thomas knows we know," Lucas said. "Which means he's about to do something."

I could see news vans outside the gates, pointed at Elena's place.

But now I wondered if some of those vans belonged to reporters, or to Thomas.

"Lucas," Mikel spoke. "How quickly can you move Emma to a secure location?"

"Elena's already arranging things. There's a safe house in the mountains; Emma can be there soon."

"Do it."

"What about us?" I asked.

Mikel looked ready. "We will stay here and finish this. Thomas wants a fight? He's going to get one."

As Lucas left, I looked at the folder. Proof that our marriage was messed up by assault, that our separation was planned.

"Mikel?"

"Yeah?"

"When it's over, when Emma's safe and Thomas is where he belongs, and Sophia doesn't hurt anyone ever again..." I took his hands. "I want to try again."

He smiled the first real smile I'd seen in a long time. "I want that too."

"Good. Because I'm done letting people control our story."