Chapter 2: The Woman They Tried to Buy
For several seconds, Nia couldn't hear anything except the sound of traffic passing beyond the Bennett estate's iron gates.
Her phone felt unnaturally heavy in her hand.
“I'm sorry,” she said finally.
“Did you just tell me that Evelyn Bennett tried to pay my grandmother to disinherit me?””
“That's exactly what I'm telling you,” Rebecca Shaw replied.
“But there's more. Your grandmother refused the offer. She also instructed me to preserve every communication related to it.””
Nia closed her eyes.
She could still see Evelyn's perfectly manicured fingers pushing the pen across the coffee table. She could still hear Marcus telling her to sign as though the last three years of her life had been an inconvenient appointment he wanted to cancel.
And all the while, Evelyn had apparently been trying to ensure that Nia would never have money of her own.
“Why would she do that?”” Nia whispered.
“Because Catherine believed your mother-in-law was attempting to isolate you financially.””
“Evelyn doesn't even know my grandmother.””
“Your grandmother knew quite a lot about Evelyn.””
Nia leaned against the side of her car.
“Can you explain that?””
“Not over the phone. There's a driver waiting for you at the coffee shop across from the estate entrance. He'll take you to my office if you're willing to come. I also have a letter Catherine wrote specifically for you.””
Nia looked back at the mansion.
Through one of the enormous windows, she could just make out two figures moving around the living room.
Marcus and his mother.
For three years, she had imagined that if she could only explain herself better, work harder, or become the kind of wife Evelyn approved of, things might change.
Now she wondered whether they had ever wanted her to succeed at all.
“I'm coming,” she said.
She ended the call and got into her car.
Her hands shook so badly that she had to try twice before inserting the key. When the engine finally started, she sat motionless behind the wheel, staring at the gold ring on the passenger seat.
She had taken it off before leaving the mansion.
She could have thrown it into the bushes.
Instead, she had carried it with her.
A foolish little part of her still wanted to remember the man she had married rather than the stranger who had watched his mother destroy their marriage.
She picked up the ring.
Then she placed it inside the glove compartment and shut it.
“Not anymore,” she whispered.
Twenty minutes later, she pulled into a small coffee shop on the other side of the highway. A black sedan was parked near the curb. A tall man in a gray suit stood beside it, holding a plain white envelope.
“Ms. Bennett?””
“Yes.””
“My name is Daniel. Ms. Shaw asked me to bring you to her office.””
Nia glanced at the car.
“Is this about the inheritance?””
“Partly, ma'am.””
“What does that mean?””
Daniel hesitated.
“It means Ms. Shaw believes your safety and privacy should be taken seriously.””
The words sent a chill down Nia's spine.
She had spent the past three years in a mansion protected by security cameras, electronic gates, and guards who answered to Evelyn.
She had never once thought about whether any of those people would protect her.
“Is someone looking for me?”” she asked.
Daniel opened the rear passenger door.
“Your former husband has already called our office twice.””
Nia felt her stomach tighten.
“Twice?””
“The first call came before we reached you. The second came eleven minutes later. He demanded to know where you were and threatened to involve his family's attorneys if we refused to answer.””
Despite everything, a bitter laugh escaped her.
“Three years of marriage, and he never once asked where I wanted to go. Now he suddenly wants to know where I am.””
Daniel didn't smile.
“Shall we leave?””
Nia climbed into the car.
As they pulled away, her phone began vibrating again.
Marcus.
She watched his name flash across the screen until the call ended.
Then a message appeared.
Where are you? We need to talk.
Another followed immediately.
Nia, please answer. Something has happened.
She almost laughed again.
Something had happened.
For the first time, the woman he had treated like a financial burden was no longer financially dependent on him.
And suddenly, he had discovered the importance of communication.
She turned the phone face down.
The ride to Rebecca's office took thirty-five minutes. The building stood in downtown Atlanta, a sleek tower of glass and steel surrounded by restaurants, law firms, and busy sidewalks.
Nia stepped out of the elevator into a quiet reception area.
Rebecca Shaw was waiting beside a conference-room door.
She was in her early fifties, with dark hair cut just below her jaw and a pair of reading glasses hanging from a silver chain. Unlike Evelyn, she wore no visible jewelry except a plain wedding band.
“Ms. Bennett,” she said warmly.
“I'm glad you came.””
“Please,” Nia replied.
“I need someone to tell me what's happening.””
“That's what we're going to do.””
Rebecca led her into the conference room.
A thick file sat on the table beside a sealed cream envelope. Next to it lay a photograph of an elderly woman with bright eyes, silver hair, and a smile that made Nia's throat close.
She recognized her immediately.
“Grandma Catherine.””
She hadn't seen her grandmother in person for nearly seven years.
After Nia's mother died when she was a teenager, Catherine had become her closest family. She was a private woman who lived on a sprawling property outside Savannah and rarely discussed money. She sent birthday cards, called on holidays, and sometimes mailed Nia books with handwritten notes tucked between the pages.
Then, shortly before Nia's wedding, Catherine had stopped returning calls.
Nia had assumed her grandmother was ill or upset about the marriage. Evelyn had repeatedly suggested that Catherine was old-fashioned and disapproved of Marcus.
Eventually, Marcus convinced Nia that pursuing the relationship would only create tension.
“You have your own family now,” he had told her.
“You don't need to keep chasing someone who doesn't want to be involved.””
Nia had believed him.
Now she stared at the photograph, unable to breathe normally.
“Why didn't she tell me she was sick?””
Rebecca pulled out a chair.
“Catherine wasn't sick when she stopped communicating with you. She was investigating something.””
“Investigating what?””
Rebecca opened the file.
Inside were printed emails, financial records, legal documents, and several photographs of Evelyn entering a restaurant with a man Nia had never seen before.
“Your grandmother had concerns about your husband's family,” Rebecca explained.
“Specifically, she believed the Bennetts were using a series of shell companies to conceal debts and move assets out of reach of their creditors.””
Nia blinked.
“Marcus's family owns Bennett Development. They build commercial properties all over Georgia.””
“They do. But the company has been under significant financial pressure for some time. Several of its developments have failed, and its creditors have begun asking difficult questions.””
Nia remembered the late-night calls Marcus took in the study. The business dinners that left him tense and irritable. The way Evelyn had recently begun insisting that he spend more time with investors.
She had thought he was stressed.
She had never considered that the family fortune might be in danger.
Rebecca continued.
“Catherine had substantial investments in commercial real estate herself. She recognized some of the names appearing in Bennett Development's financial records. When she began asking questions, she discovered that your mother-in-law had been attempting to secure private funding from people connected to your grandmother.””
“Why would Evelyn want money from her?””
“Because Catherine's investments were worth considerably more than Evelyn expected.””
Nia looked down at the photograph of Evelyn.
“What did she offer my grandmother?””
Rebecca slid a printed email across the table.
The subject line read: *A Private Arrangement Regarding Nia Bennett.*
Nia read the first paragraph.
Then the second.
By the third, her fingers had gone cold.
Evelyn had described Nia as emotionally unstable, financially inexperienced, and easily manipulated. She had claimed that Nia's marriage to Marcus was a calculated attempt to gain access to the Bennett fortune.
The email ended with an offer to arrange a payment in exchange for Catherine changing her will and cutting Nia out of the estate.
Nia stared at the signature.
Evelyn Bennett.
“She lied about me.””
“Yes,” Rebecca said.
“And she was remarkably specific about what she wanted your grandmother to believe.””
“But why would she think Grandma would listen to her?””
“Because Evelyn claimed she had evidence that you were planning to divorce Marcus and pursue a financial settlement.””
Nia's mouth fell open.
“I never wanted a financial settlement. I wanted my marriage to work.””
“I believe you.””
The simple words nearly broke her.
For three years, every disagreement had ended the same way. Evelyn accused her of being ungrateful. Marcus told her to stop making things difficult. Eventually, Nia began questioning her own memories, wondering whether she had become too sensitive or too demanding.
She had spent so much time defending her intentions that she had forgotten she deserved to be believed.
Rebecca pushed the cream envelope toward her.
“Catherine left instructions that you should read this privately. She also asked me to explain something before you open it.””
Nia looked up.
“What?””
“Your grandmother did not leave you four hundred and eighty million dollars because she expected you to spend it. She left you control of an investment trust that holds real estate, shares in several private companies, and other assets. The trust has existed for decades.””
“Control?””
“Yes. You're the sole beneficiary and, subject to the trust's governance requirements, the person entitled to appoint its next managing director.””
Nia stared at her.
“I don't know anything about managing hundreds of millions of dollars.””
“You don't have to know everything today. There are experienced professionals who can advise you. But you should understand one thing: Catherine trusted your judgment more than she trusted anyone else's.””
Nia looked at the envelope.
Her name was written across the front in her grandmother's familiar handwriting.
She carefully broke the seal.
Inside was a handwritten letter, folded twice.
My darling Nia,
If you are reading this, then I have finally run out of time to protect you from a truth I should have told you years ago.
Nia's vision blurred.
She pressed her lips together and kept reading.
I know you loved Marcus. I know you believed that love would be enough to build a life together. I wanted to believe it, too.
But I saw something in that family that reminded me of a mistake I made when I was young.
Money makes some people generous. It makes others dangerous. And the most dangerous people are those who believe they are entitled to everything you possess simply because they have decided you don't deserve it.
I investigated Evelyn Bennett because I feared she was using you.
What I discovered was worse.
Nia stopped reading.
Rebecca remained silent.
After a moment, Nia continued.
There is a reason Evelyn wants you out of that marriage. It has nothing to do with your background, your education, or your suitability for her family.
She wants you gone because your husband has been hiding something from you.
Nia's breath caught.
She looked at Rebecca.
“Do you know what this means?””
“I know what Catherine found. But I don't know how much of it she intended to tell you today.””
Nia looked back at the letter.
The final lines were written in darker ink, as if her grandmother had pressed the pen harder against the paper.
Before you trust anyone in that family again, ask yourself why Marcus insisted that you sign a particular document last December.
Ask him what happened to the money.
And, Nia, whatever you do, do not let Evelyn know that you have read the blue folder.
Nia lowered the letter.
“Blue folder?””
Rebecca's expression changed.
For the first time since Nia had entered the office, the attorney looked genuinely unsettled.
She turned toward the stack of documents on the table and pulled out a sheet containing an inventory of Catherine's personal effects.
Her eyes moved down the page.
Then she stopped.
“The blue folder was supposed to be delivered with the rest of the estate records,” she murmured.
“What does that mean?””
Rebecca looked up.
“It means someone removed it before the inventory was completed.””
Nia felt the room grow cold.
“Who had access?””
Rebecca didn't answer immediately.
She picked up another document, scanned the last page, and slowly set it down.
“According to the security log, the person who collected the folder was authorized by Catherine herself.””
“Who?””
Rebecca turned the paper around.
Nia read the name.
May you like
Her heart seemed to stop.
*Marcus Bennett.*
