Chapter 2

A few days later, Ethan announced he was going on a business trip.

"Just a quick one," he said, packing a small bag. "Geneva. Back in three days."

Geneva.

Where Olivia often worked.

Sarah felt a cold dread, but her face remained calm.

"Okay, honey. Be safe," she said, kissing him goodbye.

The moment the front door closed, Sarah moved.

Her dormant cybersecurity skills, the ones she'd honed before meeting Ethan, before becoming his glamorous wife, surged back to life.

Ethan' s personal server was in his home office.

Heavily encrypted, of course.

He thought it was impenetrable.

He didn't know her full capabilities. He'd only seen the wife, not the analyst.

It took her six hours.

Six hours of focused, meticulous work, her fingers flying across the keyboard, bypassing layers of security.

Finally, she was in.

She found his private digital journal.

Her heart pounded as she opened the first file.

Entry after entry, filled with declarations of love for Olivia.

Passionate, yearning, desperate.

"Olivia, my star, my only true north. Everything I do, I do to keep you safe, to let you shine."

Then, the entries about her.

Sarah.

"Found the perfect candidate today. Sarah Jenkins. Intelligent, beautiful, but with a vulnerability I can exploit. She'll be a convincing decoy."

"The kidnapping was a success. The trauma bonding is taking hold. She's more dependent now, more trusting. It's working."

Her blood ran cold.

The kidnapping, the terror she' d felt, he had orchestrated it.

To make her love him more. To make her cling to him.

Then, the entry that broke her.

"Sarah miscarried. A pity, in a way. But perhaps for the best. A child would complicate things with Olivia. My focus must remain clear."

He was indifferent.

Indifferent to the child they had lost, the child she had mourned so deeply.

The pain was a physical blow. She gasped, clutching her chest, tears streaming down her face.

She doubled over, the agony overwhelming.

It wasn't just a charade; it was a cruel, calculated manipulation of her deepest emotions, her greatest losses.

She cried until she was empty, until a chilling calm settled over her.

The love she felt for Ethan died in that moment, replaced by a cold, hard resolve.

She kept digging.

She found records of a shell corporation.

Vast sums of money, funneled regularly to an account linked to Olivia.

Far more than any legitimate professional income for a human rights lawyer, no matter how high-profile.

This was the life he was protecting.

This was the woman he truly valued.

Sarah saved copies of everything. The journal, the financial records.

She had the proof.

Now, she needed a plan.