Chapter 3 – The Woman They Never Understood
Lucas spent the next forty-eight hours desperately trying to freeze Isabella's assets.
Every request failed.
Every bank account he thought belonged to her...
Was empty.
Confused, he ordered a private investigation.
By evening...
The report arrived.
Lucas opened the file.
Then stopped breathing.
Legal Name:
Isabella Evelyn Carter Ashford
Net Worth:
Estimated: $12.8 Billion
Chairwoman—
Ashford International Holdings.
Owner—
Forty-three companies.
Major shareholder—
Three international banks.
Philanthropist.
Harvard graduate.
Former federal economic advisor.
Lucas looked up slowly.
"No..."
His investigator swallowed hard.
"Sir..."
"Your wife never married into wealth."
"You married into hers."
Lucas's mother collapsed into her chair.
Sophie whispered,
"That's impossible..."
The investigator quietly continued.
"Everything Hartwell Global became..."
"...was because of her restructuring strategy."
Lucas suddenly remembered.
Every successful acquisition.
Every billion-dollar deal.
Every impossible financial recovery.
Every one of them...
Had been Isabella's idea.
He had simply taken the credit.
His phone rang.
Caller ID:
May you like
Federal Court.
His face drained of color.
