Congratulations, Daniel

Part 2: The Secret Behind His Marriage

At exactly 9:55 a.m., I arrived at a quiet café in downtown Chicago.

I had barely slept. The stranger’s message had played in my mind all night, making me question everything I thought I knew about my marriage.

At ten o’clock, a woman wearing a beige coat entered the café. She looked around nervously before approaching my table.

“Claire Bennett Blackwood?”

I nodded. “Who are you?”

“My name is Vanessa Reed. I used to work in Daniel’s private financial office.”

She placed a thick envelope on the table.

“Before you married him, Daniel made an agreement with your father.”

My heart stopped.

“My father died six years ago. What agreement?”

Vanessa lowered her voice.

“Your father’s architectural firm was drowning in debt. Daniel offered to rescue it in exchange for your marriage. But there was another condition.”

She pushed a document toward me.

I stared at the familiar signature at the bottom of the page.

My father’s.

According to the agreement, Daniel would receive control of several properties belonging to my family after three years of marriage.

Three years.

Exactly how long I had been married to him.

I shook my head in disbelief. “Are you saying he married me for my inheritance?”

“Not exactly. Your father’s properties contain something far more valuable than the buildings themselves. The land beneath them is connected to a major redevelopment project. Daniel wanted those properties, but he needed your signature to finalize the transfer.”

My stomach twisted.

“Did my father know?”

“He knew Daniel wanted the land. But he believed Daniel would protect you. He made Daniel promise that you would always have the right to refuse any transfer.”

I looked down at the document again.

There was one more page.

A clause stated that if our marriage ended before the transfer was completed, ownership would remain with me.

Daniel hadn’t simply lost his wife.

He might have lost the entire deal.

“Why are you telling me this now?” I asked.

Vanessa hesitated.

“Because Olivia isn’t just his assistant. She was hired to persuade you to sign those documents. When you refused to attend the final meeting last week, she told Daniel she could get the signature herself.”

I felt sick.

Olivia’s pregnancy might be real, but her arrival in Daniel’s life had been far too convenient.

“Is the baby really his?”

Vanessa looked away.

“I don’t know. But I do know that Olivia has been secretly meeting with Daniel’s business rival, Marcus Vale.”

Before I could ask another question, my phone began vibrating.

Daniel.

I declined the call.

A message appeared immediately.

Daniel: Where are you?

I didn’t respond.

Another message followed.

Daniel: Claire, we need to talk about the properties your father left you.

I stared at the screen, a bitter smile forming on my lips.

So he already knew I had discovered something.

Vanessa stood up quickly.

“You need to be careful. Daniel won’t accept losing control easily.”

“Neither will I.”

After she left, I contacted a lawyer and arranged to have every document reviewed.

For three years, I had allowed Daniel to convince me that I was merely his sheltered wife, someone who needed his protection.

He had forgotten that before I met him, I was an architect who knew how to read contracts, examine property records, and recognize a dishonest foundation.

And I was about to examine his very carefully.

That afternoon, I received a photograph from an unknown number.

It showed Daniel and Olivia standing outside a private clinic.

Beneath it was a short message.

Ask your husband why he paid for a paternity test before you discovered the pregnancy.

I enlarged the photograph.

Daniel looked furious.

Olivia was crying.

And suddenly, I wondered whether the secret Vanessa had uncovered was only the beginning.