THE WIFE HE UNDERESTIMATED

PART 3 — THE BOARDROOM SECRET

At 8:30 the following morning, Aaron finally came home.

I was sitting in the living room of our Marblehead property when the front door slammed open.

He entered wearing yesterday’s navy suit, his tie loosened, and anger written across his face.

“Have you lost your mind?”

I calmly put down my coffee.

“Good morning, Aaron.”

“Don’t play games with me! Do you have any idea what happened at the office?”

“I imagine five hundred people read my message.”

His jaw tightened.

“Jasmine is an important executive. You’ve humiliated her.”

I stared at him.

“Interesting. You haven’t asked whether you’ve humiliated your wife.”

He rubbed his forehead.

“This is exactly why I didn’t want to come home. Every little thing becomes a drama with you.”

I almost smiled.

“Then you should be happy. You don’t have to come home anymore.”

He looked at the two suitcases still sitting near the staircase.

“You’re seriously divorcing me?”

“Yes.”

He laughed bitterly.

“You think you can walk away from me? Claire, you have no idea how much of your lifestyle depends on my money.”

I slowly stood.

“My lifestyle?”

He gestured toward the house.

“This property. The cars. The vacations. Everything. You wouldn’t have any of this without me.”

I looked around the beautiful living room.

Then I looked back at him.

“The house was mine before we married.”

His expression changed.

“Don’t start.”

“And so were my investments.”

Aaron stepped closer.

“Whatever Nathan Brooks is telling you, listen carefully. My attorneys will make sure you don’t get a single dollar you aren’t entitled to.”

“That’s fine. I never asked for your money.”

He gave me a cold smile.

“Good. Because you’re not getting it.”

His phone rang.

He glanced at the screen.

Eleanor Prescott.

He answered immediately.

“Mother, I’m handling it.”

I could hear her voice through the speaker.

“Bring Claire to the office. Now. The board wants an explanation, and Jasmine is threatening to resign.”

Aaron closed his eyes.

“Fine.”

He ended the call and pointed toward the door.

“Get dressed. You’re coming with me.”

I didn’t move.

“I’m not your employee, Aaron.”

“Claire, don’t make this worse.”

I picked up my handbag.

“Trust me. I haven’t even started.”

An hour later, I entered the Prescott Global boardroom with Nathan beside me.

Aaron was already seated at the head of the table.

His mother sat beside him, looking furious.

Jasmine was there too, dressed in an elegant cream suit. She avoided my eyes.

Aaron’s attorney, Martin Reeves, stood up.

“Mrs. Prescott, we believe your public statement was inappropriate and damaging to our client’s professional reputation.”

Nathan calmly placed a document on the table.

“We’re here to discuss the proposed divorce settlement, not your client’s reputation.”

Eleanor scoffed.

“Claire, surely you don’t intend to destroy three years of marriage over a misunderstanding?”

I turned toward her.

“Would you call five nights away from home a misunderstanding?”

Jasmine finally spoke.

“Aaron and I have a professional relationship. You should be ashamed of yourself for dragging my name into this.”

I looked at her.

“Then you shouldn’t have been spending my husband’s nights with him.”

Her face turned red.

Before anyone could respond, the boardroom doors opened.

Richard Hale entered carrying a thick black folder.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but this meeting concerns something far more serious.”

Aaron frowned.

“Richard, this is a private family matter.”

“Not anymore.”

Richard placed the folder in front of Nathan.

Then he turned toward me.

“Claire, I believe you should see this.”

Nathan opened it.

His eyes moved across the first page.

Then he looked at Aaron.

“Where did you get authorization to use this investment structure?”

Aaron’s face suddenly lost its color.

I leaned forward.

“What investment structure?”

Richard answered before my husband could.

“Three months ago, Aaron proposed a major acquisition using a private investment entity. The paperwork listed an existing beneficiary whose identity was never properly verified.”

Nathan turned another page.

There it was.

My grandfather’s company name.

And beneath it, a reference to my family trust.

For the first time that morning, Aaron looked genuinely frightened.

I slowly turned toward him.

“Aaron…”

He said nothing.

I placed my hands on the table.

“What exactly have you done with my family’s money?”

Nobody spoke.

Then Richard delivered the sentence that changed everything.

“Mrs. Prescott, your husband may have been preparing to acquire control of a company that your family trust already has a substantial interest in.”

I looked at Aaron.

His affair suddenly seemed like the smallest secret in the room.

And judging by the expression on his face, he knew the divorce was about to become the least of his problems.