"Drop the files on the table, Gallagher," I said.
My pre-marriage apartment smelled of dust and lemon polish. I hadn't lived in this penthouse for six years. I kept it as an investment property, never imagining it would become my war room.
Gallagher tossed a thick manila folder onto the glass coffee table. The heavy thud echoed in the empty living room.
"You're not going to like this, Elowen," he warned. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and took a seat on the leather sofa opposite me.
"I didn't hire you to make me happy. Tell me how much he stole."
Gallagher flipped the folder open, adjusting his glasses. "Over the last twelve months, Killian transferred roughly two point four million dollars into a private offshore trust."
"And the beneficiary?"
"Blair."
I stared at the black ink on the bank statements. A phantom weight pressed against my ribs.
"I paid off her student loans," I whispered, my voice sharp and hollow. "I pulled her out of bankruptcy two years ago. I handed Killian thirty percent of my family’s core equity so his board would take him seriously."
"They used your money to build a very comfortable life," Gallagher replied. He slid a stack of glossy photographs across the glass. "A luxury villa in the hills. Paid in full. A customized Porsche. Also paid in full. All registered under Blair's name."
I picked up the top photo. It showed Blair posing next to a white sports car, wearing a diamond necklace I had insured under my own name last year.
"Wait," I said, pointing to a property deed buried in the stack. "This address is in Denver. Blair doesn't go to Colorado."
"No, but her deadbeat younger brother does," Gallagher said. "She bought him a four-hundred-thousand-dollar townhouse. Fully paid, using the cash Killian wired her last November."
I dropped the paper back onto the table. "She secured a backup plan with my money."
"She's a parasite, Elowen. But that’s just the financial side." Gallagher reached into his briefcase and pulled out his laptop. "My investigator pulled this from Leo's preschool security cameras."
He hit the spacebar.
The screen brightened, showing the sunny courtyard of the kindergarten. Blair knelt in the grass, zipping up Leo’s jacket.
"Mommy Elowen is on another trip, baby," Blair’s voice crackled through the speakers. "She'd rather be with her money than with you."
"Mommy's always gone," Leo mumbled, looking at his shoes.
"I know, sweetie. She doesn't love you like I do. But I'll always be here."
Leo threw his arms around her neck. "I love you, Mommy Blair."
I slammed the laptop shut. The plastic cracked under the force of my hands.
"How long?" I demanded.
"Eight months," Gallagher answered quietly. "She signed up as the primary pickup contact in January. She’s been poisoning his mind every single afternoon."
"She brainwashed my son."
"She alienated him," Gallagher corrected. "It's a calculated move to secure custody for Killian."
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I pulled it out. A new message from Blair lit up the lock screen.
"Speak of the devil," I muttered.
"What does it say?"
I opened the chat. "She’s playing the victim. Listen to this. *El, I am so incredibly sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I was just trying to help Leo, and Killian and I fell in love. Please forgive us.*"
"Do not reply," Gallagher instructed.
"I'm not finished." I tapped the image she attached. "She sent a picture of a handwritten letter. It's from Killian. He promises to finalize our divorce and marry her by Christmas."
Gallagher scoffed. "She's provoking you. Trying to make you act irrationally."
"There's more." Another text popped up on the screen. My stomach twisted as I read the words aloud. "*We think it’s best if Leo takes Killian’s mother’s maiden name. Or mine. He needs a fresh start, El. He needs a mother who is actually around.*"
I tossed the phone onto the table. The screen stayed lit, displaying her vile words.
"Look at the edge of the photo," I said, pointing at the screen. "She's wearing my silk robe. The one I bought in Milan."
"She wants you to lose your temper," Gallagher said. "She wants you to show up at the house and scream so Killian can record it and call you unstable."
"I won't give them the satisfaction." I looked at the lawyer. "Where is your investigator, Gallagher?"
"Waiting in the hall."
"Bring him in."
Gallagher stood, walking to the front door. He opened it, ushering in a tall man in a gray suit.
"Elowen, this is Miller. Best private detective in the state."
"Have a seat, Miller," I said, pulling a pen from my bag. "I want everything."
Miller sat next to Gallagher. "Define everything, ma'am."
"Every hotel receipt. Every flight they took together. I want the surveillance footage from the school downloaded and certified. And I want Killian’s commercial gray operations exposed."
Miller raised an eyebrow. "Gray operations?"
"He took kickbacks from suppliers in Dubai last year," I explained, signing the bottom of Miller's retainer agreement. "He uses a holding company called Apex Solutions. It's registered in the Caymans. Start there. He funneled three million dollars through it to avoid taxes. I have the account numbers memorized."
Miller wrote the name down in a small notepad. "You have a photographic memory for his crimes?"
"I have a photographic memory for my money." I pushed the signed contract toward him. "Find the paper trail. Burn his empire to the ground."
Miller grabbed the paper and stood up. "I'll have the preliminary files by tomorrow morning."
He walked out, leaving Gallagher and me in the quiet apartment.
"You're playing a dangerous game, Elowen," Gallagher said, packing up his briefcase. "If you corner him, Killian will lash out."
"Let him."
Right on cue, my phone rang.
Killian’s name flashed across the screen.
I answered, putting him on speaker.
"Elowen!" he roared. The background noise sounded like a busy street. "My credit cards just declined at the jewelry store! What did you do to the joint accounts?"
"I liquidated the marketing agency, Killian. Just like I promised."
"You psychotic bitch!" he screamed. "I was buying Blair an engagement ring!"
"Use the cash you stole from my family's equity, Killian."
"That money belongs to us! I earned it by putting up with your cold, corporate attitude for ten years!"
"You earned nothing. You lived off my charity."
"You think you can ruin me?" Killian snarled, his tone venomous. "I just got off the phone with my lawyer. I filed an emergency injunction."
"For what?"
"I'm taking full custody of Leo. You will never see our son again."
The line went dead.
