Chapter 3 - What Bennett Thought He Owned
The ride home was silent because Bennett took his own car.
I rode with Gabriel.
By the time we reached the gates of the Halloway estate, three black SUVs were parked outside.
My stomach tightened.
Gabriel noticed.
“You expecting someone?”
“No.”
He pulled through the gates anyway.
Two men in suits stood near the front entrance.
One was Bennett’s attorney, Nolan Pierce.
The other was the chief financial officer of Halloway Capital.
This was not a family meeting.
This was damage control.
Bennett’s Bentley arrived thirty seconds behind us.
He stepped out before his driver fully stopped.
“Tessa.”
I kept walking.
Nolan moved toward me.
“Mrs. Halloway, perhaps we could sit down.”
“No.”
“This situation affects multiple companies.”
“So does adultery when corporate funds are involved.”
The CFO looked uncomfortable.
Bennett’s expression sharpened.
“Nobody used corporate funds.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about.”
I reached the front door.
My access code failed.
I tried again.
Red light.
Bennett came up behind me.
“That code was changed this morning.”
Gabriel slowly turned.
“You locked her out?”
Bennett looked irritated.
“It’s temporary.”
I faced him.
“You changed the locks on my home while I was at the hospital?”
“The home is owned through a family entity.”
Nolan cleared his throat.
“Actually.”
Bennett looked at him.
Nolan hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
“Actually what?”
Nolan opened his folder.
“The primary residence entity was amended during the 2024 refinancing.”
Bennett stared at him.
“I know.”
“I don’t believe you do.”
Nolan looked toward me.
“Mrs. Halloway contributed approximately six point eight million dollars from separate property to retire part of the mortgage.”
I remembered.
Bennett had needed liquidity for an acquisition.
He had asked me to help.
He called it temporary.
He promised to replace the money within six months.
He never did.
Nolan continued.
“The amendment provided Mrs. Halloway a fifty-one percent beneficial interest in the residence entity.”
Bennett went absolutely still.
“That’s impossible.”
“You signed it.”
“I signed hundreds of refinancing documents.”
Nolan’s voice lowered.
“Yes.”
Gabriel made a sound that was almost a laugh.
Bennett ignored him.
He looked at me.
“You knew?”
“Not until yesterday.”
“You called a lawyer before confronting me.”
“I confronted you repeatedly.”
“No.”
“You mean I didn’t confront you in a way you respected.”
I stepped closer.
“I asked about Margot.”
“You lied.”
“I asked why my cards stopped working.”
“You blamed accounting.”
“I asked why your mother told people I would be leaving Phoenix after the baby was born.”
His expression changed.
That was new.
I saw it.
So did Gabriel.
“What?” I asked.
Bennett said nothing.
Nolan closed his folder.
“I think this conversation should stop.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because everyone is upset.”
“No.”
I pointed toward Bennett.
“He reacted when I mentioned his mother.”
Nolan glanced toward him.
Bennett’s jaw clenched.
“Tessa.”
“What is your mother planning?”
“Nothing.”
“Bennett.”
“Nothing.”
I knew that tone.
It meant everything.
I turned toward the front entrance.
“Open the door.”
“This isn’t the time.”
“It’s my house.”
Gabriel stepped beside me.
“You heard her.”
Bennett glared at him.
“You are not part of this marriage.”
“No.”
Gabriel nodded.
“I’m the person making sure she survives the end of it.”
Nolan looked suddenly exhausted.
Bennett typed a code.
The door unlocked.
I walked inside.
Nothing looked different.
Cream stone floors.
Twelve-foot ceilings.
Fresh white roses.
The enormous painting Bennett bought because a magazine said the artist was important.
Then I saw the suitcases.
Three of them.
Mine.
They were lined up beside the staircase.
I stopped.
Bennett came in behind me.
“Tessa.”
My hands became cold.
“You packed my belongings?”
“Staff did.”
“Why?”
He said nothing.
I walked to the nearest suitcase and opened it.
Maternity clothes.
Shoes.
Toiletries.
My passport.
I looked at him.
“You packed my passport?”
Bennett’s face tightened.
Nolan whispered something under his breath.
Gabriel moved toward the suitcase.
“Where was she supposed to go?”
“No one was throwing her out.”
I held up the passport.
“Then why is this here?”
Bennett rubbed his forehead.
“You were going to stay at the guest property.”
“What guest property?”
“Sedona.”
My heart thudded.
The Halloway family owned a house outside Sedona.
Remote.
Private.
Two hours from Phoenix.
His mother loved it because there were no neighboring houses.
“How long?”
“Until things calmed down.”
“What things?”
“You.”
I almost laughed.
“Me?”
“You’ve been emotional.”
“I’m eight months pregnant and discovered my husband is sleeping with another woman.”
“You see?”
His voice rose.
“This.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“This what?”
Bennett pointed at me.
“She interprets everything as an attack.”
I stared at him.
It was extraordinary.
He genuinely believed he could narrate reality until everyone accepted his version.
Then footsteps sounded from upstairs.
A woman appeared on the landing.
Elegant silver hair.
Cream trousers.
Pearls.
Victoria Halloway.
My mother-in-law.
She looked at me without surprise.
“You came back.”
I glanced at the suitcases.
“You expected me not to?”
Victoria descended slowly.
“I thought Bennett had arranged something more peaceful.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“You mean isolation.”
Victoria stopped.
“Dr. Mercer.”
“Mrs. Halloway.”
She smiled politely.
“I didn’t realize Tessa was still speaking to that side of her family.”
My blood went cold.
Bennett looked at his mother.
“What does that mean?”
Victoria said nothing.
Bennett’s eyes narrowed.
“Mother.”
She glanced at me.
Then back at her son.
“You truly didn’t know?”
May you like
And that was the moment I understood something worse than Bennett’s affair.
His mother had known exactly who I was from the beginning.
