Chapter 2: The Numbers He Hid
The first thing I did when I got home was sit in my driveway and stare at the front door.
Not because I didn't know how to walk inside.
Because I wasn't sure I recognized the life waiting behind it.
For two years, that house had been my safe place. The place where I built my company from a tiny laptop on the kitchen counter into a digital marketing agency with employees, contracts, and clients across three countries.
It was where Weston and I had painted the nursery walls together.
Where he had held my hand and cried the night we found out we were having a baby.
Where he told me, "I don't care if it's a boy or girl. I just want to be the kind of father you deserve.""
I believed him.
That was the part that hurt.
Not that he needed help.
Everyone needs help sometimes.
It was that he turned my kindness into a business plan.
I walked inside, dropped my purse on the table, and immediately opened my laptop.
My attorney's message stayed open on my phone.
*AVA, I FOUND SOMETHING STRANGE IN WESTON'S RECENT FINANCIAL RECORDS. CALL ME ASAP.*
My hands hovered over the keyboard.
I wanted to call.
I needed answers.
But a small, stubborn part of me was afraid of what those answers would be.
Because sometimes the truth doesn't hurt because it's unexpected.
It hurts because you've been ignoring it.
My phone rang before I could decide.
"Hello?""
"Ava?""
It was Daniel, my attorney and one of the few people who had helped me build my company from the beginning.
His voice was serious.
"Are you alone?""
I looked around the quiet living room.
"Yes.""
"Good. I reviewed the documents you sent me.""
"What documents?""
"The ones related to Weston’s startup expenses, the wedding payments, and the money transfers between your accounts.""
I sat down.
"What money transfers?""
There was a pause.
A pause that made my stomach tighten.
"Ava, did Weston ever ask you to sign anything related to his company?""
"No.""
"Did he ever ask you to authorize payments?""
"No.""
"Did he ever tell you he listed you as a financial supporter or investor?""
I frowned.
"No. He told me he was looking for investors.""
Daniel exhaled slowly.
"That's what I thought.""
I gripped the phone.
"Daniel, just tell me what you found.""
"Weston's company records show several deposits over the last eighteen months labeled as private investment.""
My heart started beating faster.
"And?""
"And the money came from accounts connected to you.""
The room felt colder.
"No.""
"I'm looking at the records right now.""
"No. That doesn't make sense.""
"Ava.""
His voice softened.
"I know this is difficult.""
I closed my eyes.
I hated that sentence.
Because it meant the next words were going to hurt.
"How much?""
Another pause.
"Approximately two hundred and forty thousand dollars.""
I stopped breathing.
Two hundred and forty thousand.
Money I thought had disappeared because of emergencies.
Money I thought was just part of supporting someone I loved.
Money I thought we were building a future with.
"Are you sure?""
"Yes.""
"How?""
"Transfers were made from your joint household account.""
I opened my eyes.
"Our household account?""
"Yes.""
"Weston had access to that?""
"According to the paperwork, yes.""
I stood up so quickly the chair scraped against the floor.
"No.""
I remembered.
The day we opened that account.
Weston had smiled and said, "This is us officially becoming a team.""
I had loved that word.
Team.
I had thought it meant two people carrying the same weight.
I never imagined one person would carry everything while the other learned where the money was stored.
"Daniel," I whispered.
"Yes?""
"Can he legally do that?""
"I need to review everything carefully. But right now, my concern is not just the money.""
"What else?""
"The company documents.""
My stomach dropped.
"What about them?""
"Weston appears to have represented your financial support differently depending on who he was talking to.""
I stared at the wall.
"What does that mean?""
"It means he may have told investors one story and told you another.""
The silence afterward felt unbearable.
I ended the call twenty minutes later with a promise to send him every financial record I could find.
Then I walked upstairs.
Straight to Weston's office.
I had never searched through his things before.
Not once.
Trust had always been my excuse.
Now it felt like my biggest mistake.
His office smelled like his cologne and the coffee he always made in the morning.
Normal.
That was what terrified me.
Everything looked normal.
His jacket was hanging over the chair.
His notebook was beside his computer.
A framed picture of us sat on the shelf.
The picture was from our first vacation together.
Weston had his arm around me.
Both of us smiling.
I almost turned around.
Almost convinced myself I was being paranoid.
Then I saw the envelope.
Hidden behind a stack of old business reports.
My name wasn't on it.
But the logo was from his company.
I opened it.
Inside were printed emails.
Investor communications.
Financial summaries.
And one sentence highlighted in yellow.
*"Our strongest financial backing comes from my future wife's assets.""*
My fingers went numb.
Future wife.
My assets.
Not our future.
Not our family.
My assets.
I kept reading.
One email from an investor asked:
*"Is Ava officially involved with the company?""*
Weston's response was simple.
*"She prefers to stay behind the scenes, but she fully supports the vision.""*
I laughed.
A small, broken sound.
Because technically, he wasn't lying.
I did support the vision.
I supported it with my money.
My time.
My home.
My entire life.
But he had never asked me to become a partner.
He had quietly made me collateral.
I heard the front door downstairs open.
My body froze.
Weston.
I quickly put the papers back exactly where I found them.
A few seconds later, his footsteps moved through the hallway.
"Ava?""
I didn't answer.
"Ava, are you here?""
I walked downstairs slowly.
He stood in the kitchen.
His anger from earlier was gone.
Now he looked exhausted.
Almost wounded.
For a moment, the old Weston appeared.
The man I fell in love with.
Then I remembered the locked door.
"I thought you needed time to calm down," he said.
I stared at him.
"You followed me here?""
"It's our house.""
"No.""
My voice was calm.
Too calm.
"It's my house.""
His expression changed.
"Ava, don't do this.""
"Do what?""
"Act like I'm some stranger.""
I looked at him.
"That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out.""
He stepped closer.
"I was wrong about my mother.""
I almost smiled.
"Only your mother?""
He looked away.
"Ava...""
"How long were you going to keep using my money?""
His face went still.
That was all the answer I needed.
"You know about that?""
The question escaped his mouth before he could stop it.
I felt something inside me collapse.
Not suspicion.
Not fear.
Certainty.
"You didn't even deny it.""
He rubbed his forehead.
"You're misunderstanding.""
"No.""
I shook my head.
"I found the documents.""
His eyes narrowed.
"What documents?""
"The ones where you tell investors I'm financially supporting your company.""
Weston's face changed.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Panic.
"Ava, listen—"
"Did you tell them I was an investor?""
"It was complicated.""
"That wasn't my question.""
He said nothing.
I stepped closer.
"Did you tell people I invested in your company?""
His silence was louder than any confession.
I nodded slowly.
"Wow.""
"Ava, I was protecting our future.""
"No.""
I looked him straight in the eyes.
"You were protecting yourself.""
He clenched his jaw.
"You don't understand the pressure I've been under.""
"And you don't understand what you did.""
"I was going to pay you back.""
"When?""
He didn't answer.
"After the company succeeded?""
"Yes.""
"And if it failed?""
Another silence.
The kind that destroys whatever is left.
I placed my hand over my stomach.
Our baby was growing inside me.
A baby who deserved a father who understood responsibility.
Not one who treated love like unlimited credit.
Weston lowered his voice.
"Please don't let one mistake ruin everything.""
I looked at him.
"One mistake?""
I walked toward the table and placed the investor papers between us.
"This isn't one mistake, Weston.""
He stared at the papers.
"It's a pattern.""
His phone suddenly rang.
He looked down.
The name on the screen made him freeze.
I saw it before he could hide it.
*Corinne.*
He ignored the call.
Then it rang again.
And again.
Finally, he answered.
"What?""
I watched his face change as he listened.
"What do you mean she knows?""
My heart stopped.
He turned away from me.
"Mom, calm down.""
A cold feeling spread through my chest.
Because he wasn't asking what happened.
He was asking what she knew.
Then Corinne's voice came through the speaker before he lowered it.
And I heard one sentence.
"Weston, you need to get back here. Your father found the old account records.""
Weston's face went pale.
He looked at me.
And for the first time since I met him, he looked afraid.
Not of losing the wedding.
Not of losing the money.
Of losing the secret.
Because apparently, Weston wasn't the only one who had been hiding things.
May you like
His family had been doing it too.
And now I was about to find out exactly what they were trying to bury.
