Chapter 2 - THE LIE THAT GREW LEGS
My mother reached us before anyone else could speak.
“Jessica.”
Her voice had that special tone mothers use when they are trying not to create a public scene.
I knew it well.
“Mom.”
She looked at Giovanni.
Then at our hands.
Then back at me.
“You got married?”
It was difficult to lie to the woman who had held my hair while I vomited through morning sickness.
It became slightly easier when Tyler interrupted.
“She obviously didn’t.”
My mother turned toward him.
Nobody had invited Tyler into the conversation.
Tyler had never considered invitations necessary.
He pointed toward me.
“She would have told Sophia.”
“Tyler,” Vanessa whispered.
“No.”
He stared at Giovanni.
“This is some kind of joke.”
Giovanni’s expression remained pleasant.
“You seem unusually invested in my marriage.”
Tyler flushed.
“I was married to her.”
“Past tense is useful.”
Vanessa put a hand on Tyler’s arm.
Giovanni noticed.
So did I.
Tyler pulled slightly away from her without appearing to realize he had done it.
That small movement hurt Vanessa more than any insult could have.
My mother was still waiting.
I touched her arm.
“Can we talk privately?”
“Yes.”
She gave Giovanni a look that would have frightened most men.
“Now.”
Giovanni inclined his head.
“Of course.”
We walked toward an empty hallway near the coat check.
My mother waited until the ballroom doors closed behind us.
Then she spun around.
“Jessica Marie Hale.”
I winced.
“Full name.”
“You told two hundred people that you are married.”
“Technically, Giovanni told them.”
“And you confirmed it.”
“Technically—”
“Jessica.”
“Fine.”
I exhaled.
“It’s fake.”
My mother stared.
Then she looked at Giovanni.
“Excuse me?”
“A temporary misunderstanding,” he said.
Her eyes widened.
“You are Giovanni Fierro.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You’re that Fierro?”
I looked between them.
“Why does everyone keep doing that?”
My mother ignored me.
“My husband worked on the Lakeshore redevelopment project.”
“I remember David.”
My mother blinked.
“You remember my husband?”
“His engineering firm prevented a structural mistake that would have cost my company several million dollars.”
She folded her arms.
“Apparently our family has been accidentally helping yours for years.”
“It appears so.”
I stared.
“Mom, what does ‘that Fierro’ mean?”
She looked at me.
“Fierro Holdings.”
Nothing.
“The hotels.”
Still nothing.
“The hospitals.”
I frowned.
“What hospitals?”
“Fierro Foundation donated the pediatric surgical wing where you work.”
I slowly turned toward Giovanni.
“You donated our wing?”
“My foundation did.”
“You have a foundation?”
“My accountant insists.”
My mother almost smiled.
Then she remembered she was angry.
“His family owns hotels, shipping companies, real estate, restaurants, logistics companies, and I don’t know what else.”
“Security,” Giovanni added.
“Thank you,” Mom said dryly.
I stared at him.
“How rich are you?”
“That question causes arguments.”
“That rich?”
He did not answer.
My mother rubbed her forehead.
“So my daughter has publicly pretended to marry one of the most powerful businessmen in Chicago.”
“When you say it that way, it sounds irresponsible,” I muttered.
“It is irresponsible.”
Giovanni looked toward the ballroom doors.
“It may also be useful.”
My mother’s eyes narrowed.
“To whom?”
“Jessica.”
I looked at him.
“What are you not telling me?”
He was silent.
That silence gave me my answer.
“There’s more.”
“Yes.”
“Of course there is.”
“Whitmore Development.”
My mother knew the name.
Her expression changed immediately.
“That’s where Tyler works.”
Giovanni nodded.
“They are under investigation by three lenders for falsified construction projections.”
I froze.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Possibly nothing.”
“I hate sentences that start like that.”
“Whitmore has been trying to secure financing using a redevelopment property they claim will produce certain guaranteed revenues.”
“So?”
“So one document contains your signature.”
Every muscle in my body went still.
“My signature?”
“Yes.”
“On what?”
“A spousal asset acknowledgment.”
My mother stepped closer.
“She hasn’t been married to Tyler for five years.”
“Six,” I corrected automatically.
Giovanni nodded.
“That is why the document caught my attorney’s attention.”
My heartbeat became painfully loud.
“What does it say?”
“That you relinquished any remaining financial claim connected to a private investment Tyler made during your marriage.”
“I didn’t sign anything like that.”
“I assumed you didn’t.”
“Why would my name be connected to his business now?”
“Because Tyler purchased his first interest in the River North project eleven months before your divorce became final.”
I stared.
“I didn’t know he owned anything.”
“According to the records, he used marital funds.”
My mother inhaled sharply.
I shook my head.
“We didn’t have marital funds.”
“You did.”
“No.”
“We were broke.”
“According to Tyler’s disclosures, yes.”
The way Giovanni said it made my stomach turn.
“According to reality?”
“He received two hundred and forty thousand dollars from an early investment sale while you were pregnant.”
The hallway tilted.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“He told me we had nine thousand dollars.”
“I know.”
I looked at my mother.
Her face had lost color.
My mind dragged me back five years.
Rent notices.
Hospital bills.
Used baby clothes.
The night I cried because my debit card was declined while buying prenatal vitamins.
Tyler had sat across from me and said we both needed to make sacrifices.
Three days later, he packed a suitcase.
“I worked until thirty-eight weeks.”
My voice barely sounded like mine.
Giovanni said nothing.
“I went back to work ten weeks after giving birth.”
Still nothing.
“I sold my engagement ring to pay Lily’s hospital deductible.”
My mother reached for me.
I stepped away.
Not because I did not want her.
Because I suddenly could not stand being touched.
Tyler had money.
He had money while I counted quarters for laundry.
He had money while my father repaired my car for free.
He had money when Lily developed pneumonia at eleven months and I begged the hospital billing office for a payment plan.
“He hid it.”
Giovanni’s answer was quiet.
“Yes.”
“Why are you telling me tonight?”
“Because my attorneys found the document yesterday.”
“And you recognized my name.”
“Yes.”
“Then you approached me because of Tyler.”
“Partly.”
The word cut.
I laughed once.
“Of course.”
“Jessica.”
“No.”
I stepped backward.
“This isn’t some romantic rescue.”
“I never said it was.”
“You needed a fake wife.”
“Yes.”
“And you needed access to me because my signature appeared on Tyler’s documents.”
“I already had legal access to the documents.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
Giovanni watched me carefully.
I was angry because he had information.
I was angrier because he had been kind.
Kindness was dangerous when it came with hidden motives.
My mother touched my shoulder.
“Jess.”
The ballroom doors opened.
Sophia appeared in her wedding gown.
“What is happening?”
Behind her stood my new brother-in-law, Marcus.
And behind Marcus stood Tyler.
He had followed us.
Of course he had.
“What document?” Tyler asked.
Nobody answered.
His eyes found mine.
“What did he tell you?”
That was when I knew.
Not suspected.
Knew.
Tyler’s face had changed before anyone explained what we were discussing.
Giovanni noticed too.
“So you know which document,” he said.
Tyler’s jaw tightened.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You just asked what I told her.”
“Because you dragged my ex-wife into one of your business games.”
Giovanni took one step forward.
The temperature in the hallway seemed to drop.
“I did not forge your ex-wife’s signature.”
Tyler went white.
Vanessa appeared at the ballroom doors behind him.
“What?”
Tyler turned.
“Go back inside.”
“What did he just say?”
“Vanessa.”
“What signature?”
Nobody moved.
Then Sophia slowly closed the doors behind her.
My sister looked at Tyler.
“I think you should answer.”
Tyler glanced at all of us.
His gaze finally settled on me.
“Jess, it isn’t what it sounds like.”
For six years, I had imagined hearing him apologize.
I had imagined rage.
Regret.
Maybe shame.
What I had never imagined was hearing fear.
I looked him directly in the eyes.
“Then tell me what it is.”
Tyler swallowed.
May you like
And Vanessa whispered the words that changed the entire night.
“Tyler, you told me Jessica signed those papers herself.”
