All Chapters of Married To My Best Friend's Husband[Plead To God]: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

52 Chapters

The Investigator

[MARCUS STERLING'S POV]I've been a private investigator for fifteen years.Fifteen years of digging through people's lives. Finding secrets they thought were buried. Exposing truths they wanted hidden.I don't judge. Don't take sides. Don't care about right or wrong.I just find facts.And right now, Victoria Chen is paying me fifty thousand dollars to find facts about Alessia Reed Walker.Facts that will destroy her credibility. Make her look like a liar. A manipulator. Someone the jury won't trust.Is Alessia actually guilty of anything?Probably not.But that's not my problem.My problem is finding something—anything—that Victoria can use.And I'm very good at my job.Day one, I start with the basics.Public records. Court documents. Financial history.Alessia Reed Walker, age thirty-seven. Born in Lagos, Nigeria. Moved to Los Angeles at age twelve.Parents deceased. Mother died two years ago. Father died when she was sixteen.No siblings.Married once before Jeffrey Walker. To Ed

The Spin

[VICTORIA'S POV]Sterling's report arrives at 11 PM. I pour myself a glass of wine and open the file on my laptop. Eight pages. That's it?I paid fifty thousand dollars for eight pages? I start reading.Subject: Alessia Reed Walker. Age 37. Clean criminal record. No arrests. No scandals. Employment history stable. Financial records unremarkable.I scroll faster.Interviews conducted with former colleagues, friends, neighbors. Universal consensus: Subject is responsible, hardworking, ethical.This is useless. I keep scrolling then I see it. Photos of Alessia at a bar. Drink in hand. Smiling.The caption underneath: Finally letting loose after the worst week ever. Cheers to forgetting.Date: Eight years ago.I check the timeline Sterling included.Eight years ago, Alessia would have been four months pregnant with Alexander.Pregnant.And drinking.I zoom in on the photo. The drink in her hand looks like whiskey. Or bourbon. Something dark.Not water. Not juice.Alcohol.There are mor

The Exposure

[ALESSIA'S POV].I'm folding laundry when Diana calls.Normal Tuesday morning. Alexander at school. Davison upstairs doing homework. Jeffrey at work.Just me and a basket of clean clothes."Alessia, where are you?"Diana's voice is wrong. High. Panicked."I'm home. Why?""Turn on the TV. Channel 5. Now.""What's going on?""Just turn it on. I'll call you back."She hangs up.I grab the remote. Turn on the TV.Channel 5 is showing a press conference.A woman stands at a podium. Expensive suit. Perfect hair. Confident smile.Victoria Chen.My stomach drops."Thank you all for coming," Victoria says. "I've called this press conference today to share some important information about Alessia Reed Walker. Information the public deserves to know before her testimony influences Sandra Seaman's trial."The camera flashes. Reporters lean forward. Notebooks ready."For weeks, the media has portrayed Alessia Reed as an innocent victim. A dedicated mother. A trustworthy journalist. But I'm her

The Questions

[ALEXANDER'S POV]Something's wrong at school today.I notice it the second I walk into the classroom.Kids stop talking when they see me. They whisper. Point.Emma, who usually sits next to me, moves to a different desk."Emma?" I call. "What's wrong?"She doesn't answer. Just looks down at her book.Mrs. Patterson starts class. "Alright everyone, take out your math homework."I pull out my homework. Try to focus on the problems.But I can hear the whispers behind me."That's him.""His mom is the one from the news.""My dad said she's a bad person."I turn around. "What are you talking about?"Tommy leans forward. The same kid who asked me about the news before."Your mom. The one who drinks. Everyone's talking about it.""Alessia doesn't drink. You're lying.""I'm not lying. It was on TV. My mom showed me. There were pictures.""What pictures?""Pictures of your mom at a bar. Drinking. While she was pregnant."My face gets hot. "That's not true.""Yes it is. They showed it on the n

The Threat

[JEFFREY'S POV]I find the documents by accident. I'm not looking for them. Not digging through Sandra's past trying to find ammunition.I'm looking for something else entirely.Edward mentioned that Sandra handled legal work for the Seaman company. Managed their accounts. Dealt with lawsuits and settlements.He said it casually. During a phone call about Alexander's school suspension."Sandra used to handle all the legal paperwork. She was good at it. Too good, maybe."Something about the way he said it stuck with me.Too good.So I started digging into it. Not into Sandra personally but Into the Seaman company finances.Public records, tax filings and annual reports. And I find it.A pattern. Small transfers. Five thousand here. Ten thousand there. Always from the company operating account to a private LLC.An LLC registered to Sandra Seaman.Over the course of three years, she moved almost four hundred thousand dollars.Embezzlement.Disguised as consulting fees. Legal services. Op

The Breaking

[SANDRA'S POV]The guard lets me use the phone thirty minutes after Jeffrey leaves.One call. Five minutes maximum.I dial Victoria's number from memory.She answers on the first ring."Sandra! I was just about to call you. You won't believe what I'm planning next. There's this journalist from—""Stop."She goes quiet. "What?""Stop whatever you're planning. Stop the press conferences. Stop attacking Alessia. Stop all of it.""Are you serious right now?""Yes.""Sandra, I'm trying to help you. I'm fighting for you when no one else will.""I know. And I appreciate it. But you need to stop.""Why? Because Jeffrey came to visit you? Because he threatened you?"My stomach drops. "How did you even know about that?""I have people watching who visits you. I needed to know if anyone was trying to get to you or trying to make you turn against me.""You're having me watched?""I'm protecting you! And clearly I was right to do it because Jeffrey got to you. What did he threaten you with?"I clo

The Obsession

[VICTORIA'S POV]I throw my phone across the room. It hits the wall. Cracks and falls to the floor. I don't care because sandra just betrayed me. After everything I've done. Every sacrifice I've made. Every dollar I've spent.She told me to stop.Stop fighting for her. Stop defending her. Stop trying to save her life.Because Jeffrey Walker asked her to.Because she's worried about Alexander's feelings.Because she's given up.I pour myself vodka. Straight. No ice.Drink it in one swallow.Pour another.Twenty years.Twenty years of friendship.I was there when Sandra got into law school. When she passed the bar. When she married Edward.I was there when she had the miscarriage. When she was so broken she couldn't get out of bed for weeks.I held her hand. Told her she'd survive. Told her she was strong.And when she took Alexander in. When she became a mother. When she finally had everything she wanted.I celebrated with her.I've been loyal, supportive and unwavering. And now she's

The Unraveling

[ALESSIA'S POV]My phone wakes me up at 6 AM, not the alarm but calls and it's dozens of them.I reach for it with my eyes still closed. Hit decline without looking, It rings again immediately.Again and again. Jeffrey stirs beside me. "What's going on?""I don't know."I finally look at the screen. Forty-three missed calls and sixty-two text messages all from the last two hours.Diana, claire, my mother and people I haven't talked to in years.All saying the same thing:Have you seen the news? Call me ASAPI'm so sorry. This is terribleMy hands start shaking."Jeffrey, something's wrong." He sits up and grabs his own phone and his face goes pale. "What?" I ask. "What is it?"He doesn't answer, he just hands me his phone. The screen shows a tabloid article."News Anchor Alessia Reed Tried to Have Ex-Husband Declared Mentally Unfit: Exclusive Documents Reveal Pattern of Manipulation"I read the headline three times before it sinks in.Then I scroll down.They published the sealed documen

The Video

[DAVISON'S POV]Mom hasn't left her room in two days.She says she's fine. That she just needs rest.But I know better.I can hear her crying at night when she thinks everyone's asleep.I see Jeffrey bringing her food that she doesn't eat.I see the way she flinches every time someone mentions the news.She's not fine, she's breaking and its all because of that woman named Victoria.I'm sitting in the living room with Alexander. We're supposed to be doing homework but neither of us can focus. The TV is on mute in the corner, showing another news story about Mom. About the psychiatric evaluation, about the medical records and about how she's a manipulative person who uses kids as weapons.It's all lies but people believe it anyway. "Do you think Mom is bad?" Alexander asks quietly.He's been asking versions of this question for days."No," I say. "Mom is a good person. She's the best person I know.""Then why are people saying mean things about her?""Because they don't know the truth.

Five Million Views

[VICTORIA'S POV]The video has been viewed five million times in less than twenty-four hours.I watch it again for the twentieth time today.That kid. Davison Walker. Twelve years old,Sitting in his bedroom. Looking directly at the camera with those big, earnest eyes.Telling "his truth."Defending his mother and making me look like a monster."My mom is not a manipulator. She's not a bad person. She's a hero."Hero. The word makes me want to throw my laptop across the room.Alessia Reed is not a hero but a woman who gave up her baby and now wants him back.She's a woman who tried to destroy her ex-husband's reputation.She's a woman who's been playing victim for years while everyone else suffers.But people don't see that anymore.They see this video.This perfectly crafted, emotionally manipulative video.And they're eating it up.The comments section is full of support for Alessia."This poor kid has been through so much.""Alessia Reed saved her son's life. She's a hero.""Victori

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