My Fiancé Went Back to His First Love—So I Married Her Billionaire Fiancé Instead
Chapter 9
Emily confronted Richard through a video call.
He appeared relaxed.
Almost amused.
“Hello, Emily.”
She stared at him.
“You’re alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about my father’s money.”
“Yes.”
“You used Jacob.”
Richard smiled.
“Jacob was useful.”
“You destroyed my life.”
“I redirected it.”
Emily’s anger rose.
“You made me think I wasn’t loved.”
Richard shrugged.
“Love makes people predictable.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“You’ve made one mistake.”
Richard looked at him.
“What?”
“You assumed Emily needed someone to save her.”
Richard smiled.
“She does.”
Emily stepped forward.
“No.”
Richard’s expression changed.
“I need information.”
“About what?”
“The blue ledger.”
Alexander stiffened.
Richard continued.
“Your father kept records of every transaction.”
“We don’t have it.”
“I believe you don’t.”
“Then why are you still after me?”
“Because the ledger isn’t the only thing your father hid.”
Emily looked at him.
“What else?”
Richard smiled.
“A key.”
“To what?”
He ended the call.
Emily turned to Alexander.
“What key?”
They searched the family records.
The answer came from an unexpected place.
Her mother’s old piano.
Emily had not seen it since childhood.
It had been stored in a warehouse.
Inside one of the piano’s wooden panels, they found a brass key.
The same symbol as the silver necklace Emily had inherited.
Alexander stared.
“That’s not a house key.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know.”
They took it to a specialist.
The key matched a private vault in New York.
A vault registered under Emily’s father’s name.
The vault opened.
Inside was the blue ledger.
Emily stared.
“That’s it.”
But the ledger wasn’t about money alone.
It contained names.
Payments.
Meetings.
Codes.
And one page marked:
PROJECT HORIZON.
Alexander read it.
“This is bigger than the merger.”
“How much bigger?”
“International.”
Emily felt overwhelmed.
“What did my father get involved in?”
“Something powerful.”
Then they found a photograph.
Emily’s mother.
Richard.
Alexander’s father.
And another man.
Daniel Ross.
All standing together twenty years earlier.
Emily stared.
“Daniel was part of this too.”
Alexander nodded.
“The same man working for Victoria.”
They finally understood the connection.
Daniel Ross had been an intermediary.
Richard had recruited him.
Victoria had later inherited the network.
Jacob had been brought in as a tool.
And Emily’s father had tried to expose it.
But before he could, he disappeared.
The official story was illness.
The truth was more complicated.
He had gone into hiding.
To protect Emily.
Emily sat down.
“My father was alive?”
Alexander frowned.
“Maybe.”
A hidden page inside the ledger revealed a location.
A private clinic in Switzerland.
Patient name:
Thomas Carter.
Emily’s heart stopped.
“My father.”
They arranged travel immediately.
For the first time, Alexander saw Emily completely break down.
“What if he’s alive?”
“Then you’ll see him.”
“What if he’s not?”
“Then we’ll find the truth.”
She looked at him.
“Why do you keep saying we?”
“Because you’re my wife.”
The words were simple.
But something changed inside Emily.
This time, there was no contract behind them.
No business arrangement.
It felt real.
They flew overnight.
At the clinic, the staff confirmed the patient.
Thomas Carter.
Alive.
Weak.
Old.
But alive.
Emily entered the room.
Her father turned.
For several seconds, he didn’t recognize her.
Then his eyes widened.
“Emily?”
She cried.
“Dad.”
He reached for her.
She ran to him.
For the first time in twelve years, she was in her father’s arms.
And the first thing he said was:
“You married Alexander.”
Emily looked at him.
“How do you know?”
Thomas’s expression became serious.
“Because I planned for you to.”
