He Needed a Wife to Claim His Inheritance—So He Paid a Poor Widow to Pretend
Chapter 7
Ethan confronted his father’s former secretary.
The woman was eighty years old.
She lived alone outside the city.
When Ethan showed her the photograph, she immediately recognized the coat.
“That belongs to your father.”
“Are you sure?”
“I bought it for him.”
“When?”
“The week Daniel died.”
Ethan felt sick.
“What was my father doing at the warehouse?”
The woman looked away.
“He was meeting someone.”
“Who?”
“Your grandfather.”
Ethan stared.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tell me.”
She hesitated.
“Your grandfather had discovered money was disappearing from the company.”
“The theft.”
“Yes.”
“Daniel found it too.”
“Yes.”
“And my father?”
“Your father wanted to confess.”
Ethan’s voice dropped.
“Then why was he there?”
The secretary’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because he was trying to stop your grandfather from confronting the wrong person.”
“Who?”
She whispered:
“Nathan.”
Ethan froze.
“Nathan?”
“Yes.”
“He wasn’t even running the company then.”
“He was involved with the finance department.”
Ethan’s mind raced.
The theft.
Daniel.
His father.
His grandfather.
Nathan.
Everything was connected.
Then the secretary revealed something worse.
“Your father was the one who tampered with Daniel’s truck.”
Ethan’s heart stopped.
“What?”
“He thought Daniel was working with Nathan.”
“So he wanted to scare him.”
“He intended to disable the truck, not kill him.”
Ethan couldn’t speak.
But then the secretary added:
“Someone changed the brakes completely.”
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“Your father didn’t do that.”
Ethan finally understood.
His father had tampered with the truck to stop Daniel.
Someone else had finished the job.
That meant murder had happened inside his family.
And Nathan had a motive.
Ethan returned home.
Clara was waiting.
“What happened?”
He sat down.
“My father was involved.”
Her face fell.
“He tampered with Daniel’s truck.”
She closed her eyes.
“Then he killed my husband?”
“No.”
Ethan shook his head.
“He wanted to stop him. Someone else made sure Daniel died.”
“Who?”
“I think Nathan.”
Clara sat beside him.
“Why didn’t your family tell anyone?”
“Because they were trying to protect the company.”
She looked at him.
“And now?”
“Now I don’t care about the company.”
He took a breath.
“I care about the truth.”
She touched his arm.
“You’re not like them.”
He looked at her.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
She paused.
“Because you’re telling me the truth even when it hurts.”
Their eyes met.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Clara kissed him.
It lasted only a second.
She pulled away.
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
Ethan didn’t move.
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
The room became silent.
Then Ethan said:
“I wanted you to.”
Clara looked at him.
That changed everything.
Their marriage had begun as an arrangement.
Now there was a feeling neither had planned for.
And neither knew what to do with it.
