All Chapters of The Second Wife's Revenge : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Sienna called the next morning. Voice strange. Tight."Can I come over? I need to talk to you. Alone.""Is everything okay?""I don't know. Can I just come?""Of course."She arrived thirty minutes later. Sofia with Dante's mother. Just Sienna. Looking pale. Shaking.Marcus saw her face and disappeared into the bedroom. Giving us privacy.We sat on the couch. Sienna's hands trembling in her lap."What's wrong?" I asked."I'm pregnant."The words hung there. Heavy. Complicated."Oh.""I found out yesterday. Took three tests. All positive. About six weeks.""Does Dante know?""Not yet. You're the first person I've told." She looked at me. Eyes wet. "I don't know how I feel. Happy? Terrified? Guilty?""Guilty?""Because of Daniel. This is Dante's baby. Not Daniel's. And I'm happy about it. Which feels like I'm betraying Daniel's memory. Like I'm replacing him."I took her hand. "You're not replacing anyone. You're living.""But Daniel should be here. This should be his baby. Sofia's sibl

After forensics cleared the box, Santos brought it to the loft."There's more inside. Under the veil. We photographed everything, but you should see it."My hands shook lifting the tissue paper. Under the bloody veil: photographs. Dozens of them.A woman. Beautiful. Dark hair. Warm smile. Holding a little girl.Me. And my mother.Catherine Ashford. My biological mother. Alive. Happy. Before everything fell apart.I couldn't breathe. I'd never seen these photos. Never seen her face clearly. Just the one formal portrait Victor had shown me.These were different. Candid. Real. Mother and daughter at the park. At the beach. In the garden.My mother laughing. Me on her shoulders. Both of us covered in paint.A life I didn't remember. A mother I'd lost.Marcus sat beside me. Silent. Letting me process."There's more," Santos said quietly. "At the bottom."I lifted the photos. Found an envelope. Yellowed. Old. My mother's handwriting on the front.*To whoever finds this.*My hands trembled o

Elena called back two hours later. During the wedding dinner. Small Italian restaurant. Just the six of us.I stepped outside to take it. Marcus followed."I have a name," Elena said. "The man your mother was dating. Robert Mitchell was an alias. His real name was Gregory Sterling."The ground shifted. "Sterling? As in Thomas Sterling?""His brother. Thomas ran the law firm. Gregory was the silent partner. Handled investments. Corporate acquisitions. Very wealthy. Very connected.""Emily's uncle.""Yes. Emily Sterling's uncle. Though she was young when he died. Probably doesn't remember him well."My mind raced. Gregory Sterling. Thomas's brother. Covenant member. Dating my mother."How did they meet?""Social circles. Your parents moved in wealthy Manhattan society. Gregory was part of that world. After your father died, Gregory started showing up. Dinners. Events. Became close to your mother.""Did Victor know?""Yes. Multiple witnesses confirm Gregory attended Ashford family gather

Santos met us at FBI headquarters. We brought everything from Gregory Sterling's storage unit.Three boxes. Twenty-two years of secrets."You found this in Boston?" Santos asked."His daughter gave it to us. Emma Sterling. She wanted nothing to do with her father's legacy.""Smart woman."We spread everything on the conference table. Photos. Documents. Letters. The journal.Santos called in a forensic team. Analysts. Document specialists. This was evidence in a kidnapping case. Had to be handled properly.But I couldn't wait. Started reading immediately.The journal came first. Gregory Sterling's handwriting. Dates starting six months before my kidnapping.*March 15, 2003: Met with Cross. Discussed the Ashford opportunity. Victor is wealthy but weak. Catherine is vulnerable. Recent widow. Raising daughter alone. Perfect target.**Cross's plan: infiltrate family, gain trust, create opening for acquisition. Timeline: six months.*My hands shook. Acquisition. He called kidnapping me an a

Santos called the next morning with news."James Sterling is Covenant. Low-level operative. We confirmed it through wire taps."My chest tightened. "You're sure?""Yes. He reports to Robert Hartley. Handles financial transactions. Money laundering mostly. Small operations. Nothing major yet.""So he lied. When he called me. Said he wasn't involved.""Yes. But here's the interesting part. James doesn't know about you. About his father's connection to your kidnapping. We listened to all his conversations. He's never mentioned it. Never discussed the Ashford case.""How is that possible? Catherine knows. Hartley probably knows.""Compartmentalization. The Covenant keeps information siloed. James handles money. He doesn't need to know operational history. So they don't tell him."Marcus leaned forward. "What does that mean for us?""It means James is vulnerable. He doesn't know the whole truth. If we approach him correctly, we might flip him.""Flip him?" I asked."Get him to cooperate. T