As my new husband thought that I was asleep, I watched him sneak out of our honeymoon suite and slip into my bridesmaid's room down the hall. I smiled coldly, and then sent both families a mass text: 'Special surprise gift inside, come livestream the door opening!' Seconds later, when they flooded the hallway and flung the door wide open, my mother-in-law shrieked in horror, 'What on earth is going on here?!' Little did they know, this was only the beginning." / Chapter 6 / 10

Chapter 6 - The Desperate OfferStripped of their company, their mansion, and their social standing, the Vance family retreated to a cramped, rented two-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of the city. Jessica, meanwhile, had been served with a massive civil lawsuit freezing her bank accounts, forcing her to hide out in a budget motel while her legal team frantically tried to negotiate a plea deal.

On Friday evening, as I was working in my office, my assistant informed me that Ethan was downstairs in the lobby, begging for five minutes of my time. He refused to leave until he spoke to me.

"Send him up," I said calmly.

When Ethan entered my office, he looked like a shadow of the man I had married less than two weeks ago. His expensive designer suit was wrinkled, his eyes were sunken, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.

"Thank you for seeing me, Victoria," he said softly, standing tentatively before my desk.

"You have four minutes, Ethan," I said without looking up from my laptop. "Make it quick."

Ethan took a shaky breath, pulling a thick envelope from his coat pocket and placing it on my desk. "This is everything. All the bank statements, the shell company documents, the email threads between my mother, Jessica, and the foreign buyers."

I paused, looking at the envelope, then raised my eyes to meet his. "Are you selling out your own mother and mistress?"

Ethan fell into the chair opposite me, burying his face in his hands. "They lied to me, Victoria! I didn't know about the patent theft! I swear to God I didn't know! My mother told me Jessica was just helping manage our private investments! I was stupid, I was blind, and I let my ego get the better of me... but I am not a traitor to this country!"

I examined his expression closely. For the first time, I saw genuine, terror-driven honesty in his eyes. Ethan was a spoiled, selfish, unfaithful coward—but he was too ignorant to have masterminded an international corporate espionage ring. He had been a useful idiot used by his mother and Jessica to cover their tracks.

"Why are you giving me this?" I asked quietly.

"Because the FBI visited my apartment this morning," Ethan whimpered, tears spilling over his cheeks. "They told me I'm facing twenty years in federal prison for conspiracy and wire fraud unless I cooperate. Victoria... I can't go to prison. I'll die in there."

He slid forward on his knees, grasping the edge of my desk. "Please... use your influence. Talk to the prosecutors. Tell them I cooperated with you. I'll give up my mother, I'll give up Jessica, I'll sign whatever you want... just save me from prison."

I looked down at the man who had stood beside me at an altar, making vows of eternal love and protection, now reduced to begging on his knees, willing to sacrifice his own family to save his skin.

"Leave the envelope," I said coldly. "I'll give it to federal investigators. Whether they offer you a plea deal depends entirely on how useful your testimony is in putting your mother and Jessica behind bars."