All Chapters of The Wife He Used as a Scapegoat : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

~ Isabella ~The concrete fireplace in my Tribeca industrial loft didn’t make the room feel any warmer. Fire was just hot light, but the unyielding concrete walls and the exposed dark steel beams kept the air perfectly cold. It was exactly how I liked it. This place was my fortress. It was functional, cutting-edge, and completely free of any sentimental memorabilia. I sat in a low leather chair, staring at the orange flames. My hands were slightly trembling. I gripped the arms of the chair until my knuckles turned white, forcing the shake to stop.Nathan had just left.He had bypassed my standard corporate channels. I don't know how he did that. Despite how evil he is, he's still smart. Very smart. I closed my eyes, and the image of him popped right back into my head. He had fallen to his knees right there on my dark steel floor. I had seen real tears filling his eyes. He looked entirely desperate, sleep-deprived, and consumed by a suffocating guilt. He had begged me to listen to him

~ Isabella ~"The European shipping papers are signed, Ms. Hart," Maya said, walking into the bright boardroom. She held a black tablet in her hand and smiled.I leaned back in my heavy chair. The Vanguard boardroom was large and cold. The walls were made of dark steel, and the long table was made of gray concrete. There were no pretty pictures on the walls. There were only giant computer screens showing maps of the world."Show me the map, Maya," I said.Maya tapped her screen. The giant wall monitor lit up. A bright red line stretched across the blue ocean from Europe to New York. That red line was the primary shipping route for Wolfe Enterprises. It was the only way Nathan’s company brought their expensive goods into the country. Then, a thick black line appeared on top of the red one. The red line broke into pieces and disappeared."It is completely done," Maya said, sitting down next to me. "We just bought the exclusive rights to every single cargo boat and dock facility in Europ

~ Isabella ~The smell of a hospital always made my throat tighten. It smelled like sharp soap, rubbing alcohol, and old paper. I sat in a blue plastic chair inside the clinic waiting room, holding a warm paper cup of black coffee. Across from me, my younger brother, Leo, sat on the edge of the examination table. He looked small in his oversized sweater, his thin shoulders hunched forward as he breathed.Thanks to my new Vanguard wealth, we did not have to wait in a crowded public lobby. Alistair Vance had helped me hire the best lung specialist in New York. The room was private, quiet, and clean, but the silence inside it felt heavy.The heavy wooden door opened. Dr. Evans walked in, holding a thick electronic tablet. He had kind, tired eyes and a short gray beard. He did not smile as he looked at the screen."Thank you for coming in today, Isabella, Leo," Dr. Evans said. He set the tablet down on the small desk."How are the lung scans, Doctor?" I asked. I set my coffee cup down on

* Isabella *The air inside the Vanguard Capital headquarters always smelled clean, like brand new carpet and cool air conditioning. My office was huge. The walls were made of hard, grey concrete, and the furniture was made of dark steel. There were no pictures of flowers or happy memories on my desk. There was only a fast computer and stacks of business papers. This place was my fortress. I built it to protect myself, and I built it to destroy the people who hurt me.Maya Lin walked into the room without knocking. Her bright red jacket stood out against my quiet, grey walls. She carried a tablet in her left hand and a thin paper folder in her right. She looked worried."Bella," Maya said, setting the folder down on my steel desk. "We have an issue. Our legal network just flagged an unusual transaction."I did not look up from my computer monitor. I kept typing a message to our European shipping partners. "What kind of transaction, Maya?""An anonymous share transfer," Maya said. She

~ Isabella ~The quiet hum of the encrypted servers filled my private office at Vanguard Capital. It was a sharp contrast to the chaotic noise of Manhattan below. I sat at my dark steel desk, watching the screen. A single, high-priority notification blinked in the center of the monitor.It was a secret executive directive from Wolfe enterprise.I clicked the file, scrolling through the legal text. Unrestricted access to Wolfe Enterprises' historical audit logs. Full entry into their foreign accounts. Total availability of their private servers. It was an unconditional corporate surrender.I leaned back in my chair, staring at the digital signature at the bottom of the page. *Nathan Wolfe.* Three years ago, that same hand had signed the indictment that sent me to prison. He had believed the lies, blindly trusting his family and his best friend over the woman who built his empire beside him. Now, faced with Vanguard’s crushing corporate offensive, he had laid down his weapons without a