Chapter 6 - THE FIRST WIFE
Amanda called Willow from a blocked number that night.
Her voice was quiet.
“I saw the video.”
Willow sat on the floor of her childhood bedroom.
“Where are you?”
“Wisconsin.”
“Are you still married to Lucas?”
Silence lasted several seconds.
“Legally, no.”
“The records were sealed in another state.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard paid a judge’s former clerk to hide the filing from ordinary searches.”
Willow closed her eyes.
“Did Lucas hit you?”
“The first time was after our engagement party.”
“The second time happened in front of Marion.”
“What did she do?”
“She told me successful men experience pressure.”
Amanda described a marriage built from the same instructions Willow had received.
Dress correctly.
Smile at investors.
Never contradict Richard.
Produce an heir.
Accept Lucas’s affairs as temporary weaknesses.
When Amanda attempted to leave, Richard threatened her family’s small construction company.
Sterling Mobility controlled its largest contracts.
She signed a settlement and disappeared.
“Why are you telling me now?”
“Because I told myself leaving was enough.”
“Then I watched him strike you while everyone laughed.”
Amanda possessed photographs, medical reports, and recordings.
She also possessed evidence connecting Richard to the forged Donovan assignment.
During her marriage, she overheard Richard arguing with Lucas about Michael.
Lucas said the mechanic deserved the royalties.
Richard answered that men like Michael were useful only until they learned what their work was worth.
Amanda recorded the conversation.
“Will you testify?” Willow asked.
“I’m afraid.”
“So am I.”
That answer changed something.
Amanda agreed to meet Detective Brooks.
The next morning, Sterling Mobility’s board convened without Richard or Lucas.
Lenders demanded proof that the company legally owned its most valuable technology.
Richard produced the forged assignment.
Michael’s attorney produced the original.
A forensic examiner identified differences in paper age, printer ink, and signatures.
The document Richard relied upon had been created two years after the date printed on it.
The board suspended him as chairman pending investigation.
Lucas remained chief executive for less than twenty minutes.
Then the company’s audit committee revealed that he had transferred twelve million dollars into family-controlled entities during the previous year.
One payment had purchased the ballroom anniversary party.
Another had funded a private condo for a woman named Celeste Warren.
Willow had never heard the name.
Amanda had.
“She was Lucas’s girlfriend during our marriage.”
May you like
Celeste had not disappeared.
She had been waiting for another Sterling wife to fall.
