PART 4: THE MARRIAGE THAT WAS NEVER AN ACCIDENT
I stared at Jasmine’s message until the words blurred in front of me.
“The real reason she wanted you in that family is something Aaron still doesn’t know.”
For three years, I had believed Jasmine Cole was simply the woman who stole my husband’s attention. Now she was claiming that our entire marriage had been connected to a secret arrangement made before I walked down the aisle.
I called Nathan immediately.
“Jasmine wants to meet me.”
“Absolutely not alone,” he replied.
“She says Eleanor arranged something involving my grandfather.”
Nathan was silent for a moment.
“Send me everything. We’ll arrange a meeting somewhere secure, and I’ll be present.”
Two hours later, Jasmine walked into a private conference room at Nathan’s office.
She looked nothing like the confident woman who used to parade through Prescott Global wearing expensive dresses and carrying my husband’s favorite coffee.
Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail. Her eyes were red, and she kept glancing toward the door.
When she saw me, she stopped.
“Claire.”
I folded my arms.
“Start talking.”
Jasmine sat down slowly.
“I know you hate me.”
“You gave me plenty of reasons.”
She lowered her eyes.
“I deserve that.”
Nathan placed a recorder on the table.
“With your permission, we’d like to document this conversation.”
Jasmine nodded.
Then she opened her handbag and removed a thick envelope.
“Three years ago, Eleanor Prescott hired me through a private consulting company. My assignment was to become close to the Prescott family and report anything unusual involving Claire’s grandfather’s investment.”
I stared at her.
“You were investigating me?”
“At first, yes.”
“Why?”
Jasmine took a trembling breath.
“Because Eleanor believed your grandfather had left you something that could eventually threaten her control over Prescott Global.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“Explain.”
Jasmine slid a photocopied document across the table.
It was dated six months before my wedding.
The document described a financial restructuring negotiated between William Bennett and Thomas Prescott.
According to its terms, my grandfather’s investment company had provided emergency financing when Prescott Global faced a serious liquidity crisis.
In exchange, Meridian received substantial protections, including approval rights and an option to acquire additional shares if certain financial conditions were violated.
I read the document twice.
Then I looked up.
“What does this have to do with my marriage?”
Jasmine swallowed.
“Eleanor believed that if you married Aaron, she could persuade you to give up some of those rights.”
My stomach turned.
“That’s ridiculous. I never discussed Meridian with Aaron.”
“Exactly,” Jasmine whispered. “That was the problem.”
Nathan frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Eleanor expected Aaron to learn about your inheritance after the wedding. She thought he could convince you to consolidate your investments with the family’s financial advisers. Once that happened, she hoped to negotiate changes to Meridian’s protections.”
I felt something break inside me.
All those elegant family dinners.
All those compliments about how perfectly I fit into the Prescott family.
Eleanor’s sudden enthusiasm for our engagement.
Had any of it been genuine?
“Did Aaron know?” I asked.
Jasmine shook her head.
“Not about the financial arrangement. Eleanor told him you were a suitable wife from a respectable family. She never explained why she was so determined to have you marry him.”
I closed my eyes.
I remembered Eleanor embracing me at our engagement party.
Welcome to the family, darling. You’re exactly what Aaron needs.
For years, I thought she’d accepted me.
Now I understood why she later became so hostile.
I hadn’t surrendered anything.
I hadn’t handed over control of my investments.
And I hadn’t given her the financial influence she wanted.
Nathan studied Jasmine.
“Then why did you become involved with Aaron?”
Her face flushed.
“That wasn’t part of the original assignment.”
I laughed bitterly.
“How convenient.”
“Claire, I know there’s no excuse. Aaron started inviting me to dinners, then on business trips. He told me his marriage was practically over.”
“And you believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
At least she didn’t pretend otherwise.
But Jasmine wasn’t finished.
“Eventually, Eleanor discovered our relationship. Instead of firing me, she used it.”
My expression hardened.
“How?”
“She said Aaron would become easier to influence if he depended on me emotionally. She wanted me to keep track of his business communications and make sure he didn’t start asking questions about Meridian.”
Nathan exchanged a glance with me.
“And the Westbridge acquisition?”
Jasmine’s hands began shaking.
“That was where everything went wrong.”
She explained that Eleanor had secretly developed a relationship with Richard Westbridge through Harbor Bridge Advisory. According to Jasmine, the consulting arrangement was supposed to reward intermediaries who helped push the acquisition forward.
But when Jasmine reviewed the proposed transaction, she discovered that certain financial projections had been altered.
“Richard wanted Aaron to overvalue Westbridge Technologies,” she said. “He expected Prescott Global to absorb liabilities that weren’t properly disclosed.”
Nathan’s expression darkened.
“Do you have evidence?”
Jasmine opened her envelope again.
“Emails. Draft contracts. Payment records. I kept copies when Eleanor began threatening me.”
“Threatening you with what?”
Jasmine looked directly at me.
“She said if I told anyone, she’d make sure Aaron believed I had orchestrated the entire thing.”
I studied her face.
For the first time, she looked genuinely frightened.
But I wasn’t ready to trust her.
“You helped deceive my husband. You humiliated me. You participated in something you knew was wrong. Why should I believe anything you say now?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Because Eleanor has already started destroying the evidence. And I think she plans to blame Aaron.”
Those final words made the room go silent.
Nathan asked Jasmine to provide every document she possessed to the independent investigators.
Then he turned toward me.
“Claire, we need to speak with Meridian’s counsel immediately.”
I nodded.
But before we left, Jasmine caught my wrist.
“There’s one more thing.”
I pulled my hand away.
“What?”
“Thomas Prescott tried to stop Eleanor.”
I froze.
“Aaron’s father?”
Jasmine nodded.
“He discovered parts of the arrangement shortly before he died. He confronted Eleanor and demanded that she leave your inheritance alone.”
My throat tightened.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know everything. But he prepared a letter for you. Eleanor intercepted it.”
I stared at her.
“A letter?”
Jasmine reached into her bag one final time.
“This is a copy.”
She handed me a folded page bearing Thomas Prescott’s signature.
My hands trembled as I opened it.
Dear Claire,
If you’re reading this, then I failed to tell you something important while I still had the opportunity.
Your grandfather was one of the finest men I ever knew. When Prescott Global was in danger, he helped save this company without asking for recognition.
He also made me promise that his granddaughter would never be pressured into surrendering her independence.
I believed I could protect that promise. I was wrong.
There are people in my family who value control more than loyalty, and I fear their ambition has already damaged your marriage.
Please understand one thing: whatever happens between you and Aaron, you owe this family nothing.
I pressed my hand against my mouth.
Thomas had known.
He had tried to protect me.
And somehow, Eleanor had made sure I never received his warning.
When I finished reading, Jasmine quietly stood.
“I should go.”
I looked at her.
“Why are you really doing this?”
She hesitated.
“Because I made terrible choices. And because Eleanor told me something last week that made me realize how far she’s willing to go.”
“What did she say?”
Jasmine’s eyes filled with tears.
“She said Aaron was expendable.”
I felt my blood run cold.
That evening, Prescott Global’s independent directors called an emergency meeting.
Nathan and Meridian’s outside counsel submitted the documents for formal review. The directors authorized an independent investigation, restricted access to certain transaction records, and temporarily suspended the Westbridge acquisition.
Aaron was furious.
At 9:16 p.m., he arrived at Nathan’s office demanding to speak with me.
When I entered the conference room, he looked exhausted.
“Claire, what have you done?”
I stared at the man I’d once loved more than anyone.
“I haven’t done anything to you, Aaron.”
“The board is investigating my acquisition. They’re questioning my judgment. Do you realize what this could cost?”
“Do you realize what your mother has been doing?”
He went still.
“What?”
I placed copies of the verified corporate records and the investigators’ preliminary findings on the table.
“Harbor Bridge Advisory. The consulting payments. Your mother’s financial interests.”
Aaron flipped through the pages.
His face slowly lost its color.
“This can’t be right.”
“Then help the investigators find out what happened.”
He shook his head.
“My mother would never betray me.”
I looked at him sadly.
“Three days ago, you said the same thing about Jasmine.”
He stopped breathing for a moment.
Then he looked at me.
“Jasmine talked to you?”
“Yes.”
Aaron lowered himself into a chair.
For the first time since we’d met, he looked completely lost.
“I thought she loved me,” he whispered.
I felt the old pain rise, but I refused to let it control me.
“I thought you loved me.”
He closed his eyes.
That single sentence seemed to hurt him more than anything else I’d said.
After a long silence, Aaron asked, “Is there any chance we can fix this?”
I looked at my wedding ring, still resting inside my handbag.
“No, Aaron.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I made a mistake.”
“You made hundreds of decisions that led us here. And every time I asked you to choose our marriage, you chose something else.”
He reached for my hand.
I stepped back.
“I’m not here to punish you. I’m here to make sure the truth comes out.”
Then I left him sitting alone.
I thought that would be the hardest moment of the night.
I was wrong.
At 11:38 p.m., Nathan called.
“Claire, you need to come back.”
Something in his voice frightened me.
“What happened?”
“The investigators found another document in the historical files.”
“About Eleanor?”
“Yes. But there’s something you need to understand.”
I gripped the phone.
“Tell me.”
Nathan paused.
“The original Meridian agreement included an option tied to certain financial covenant violations. Thomas Prescott apparently negotiated a temporary restriction preventing that option from being exercised while he remained chairman.”
My heart began pounding.
“And after his death?”
“The restriction expired.”
I sank onto the edge of my bed.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Meridian may have the contractual right to acquire enough additional shares to become Prescott Global’s largest voting shareholder, but only if the specified financial conditions were breached.”
I could barely breathe.
“Have they been breached?”
“We don’t know yet. The independent auditors are reviewing that now.”
Then Nathan said something that sent a chill through me.
“Claire, the Westbridge transaction wasn’t just about making money. If the acquisition had gone through under the proposed terms, it might have affected Meridian’s ability to exercise those rights.”
I stared at the wall.
Eleanor hadn’t simply been trying to control my inheritance.
She might have been trying to prevent the investment company my grandfather built from gaining control of Prescott Global.
And now the acquisition had been suspended.
But Nathan wasn’t finished.
“There’s another problem.”
“What?”
“The investigators discovered that someone submitted documents two months ago claiming you had authorized a waiver of Meridian’s shareholder protections.”
I stood up.
“That’s impossible.”
“I know.”
“I never signed anything.”
Nathan’s voice became grave.
“That’s exactly why they’re concerned.”
I pressed my free hand against my chest.
“Whose name is on the paperwork?”
“Yours.”
For several seconds, I couldn’t speak.
Then Nathan added the detail that changed everything.
“Claire, the signature appears to have been witnessed by Aaron Prescott.”
My knees nearly gave way.
My husband.
The man who claimed he knew nothing about my grandfather’s investment.
His name appeared on paperwork attempting to surrender rights I had never agreed to give up.
And suddenly, the question was no longer whether Eleanor had betrayed me.
It was whether Aaron had been lying about his involvement from the very beginning………
TO BE CONTINUED IN LAST PART…
