THE MILLIONAIRE CAME HOME EARLY… AND SAW HIS STEPDAUGHTER’S STEPMOTHER TRYING TO THROW HIS LITTLE GIRL OFF THE BALCONY — BUT HIS ICE-COLD REACTION LEFT EVERYONE IN SHOCK

The investigation into Valerie’s past did not take long to yield rot.

Two days after the incident at the balcony, Clara Vance sat across from Daniel in his office at Whitaker Enterprises. The high-rise office looked out over the gray, windswept expanse of Lake Michigan, but the blinds were drawn, turning the large room into a dim, quiet cave.

"It's worse than we thought, Daniel," Clara said, opening a thick manila folder on the desk between them. "Valerie wasn't just a fortune hunter. She was a professional."

Daniel didn't look up from the small wooden carving of a bird he was holding—one of Lily's toys he had taken to carrying in his pocket. "Explain."

"Her real name is Valerie Dubois," Clara said, tapping a copy of a mugshot from ten years ago. "She was arrested in Boston in 2016 for grand larceny under an alias. She targeted wealthy widowers with young children. She has a pattern, Daniel. She finds men who are too drowned in grief to pay attention, marries them, and then slowly systematically drains their estates before filing for divorce or, in one case..."

Clara hesitated, her voice faltering.

Daniel’s hand froze on the wooden bird. "In one case, what, Clara?"

"In 2019, she was married to a real estate developer in Philadelphia," Clara said quietly. "His five-year-old son died after falling from a playground structure. The death was ruled an accident. Three months later, Valerie divorced the father, walking away with a four-million-dollar settlement. The father committed suicide a year later."

The silence in the office was so absolute that the hum of the computer server in the corner sounded like a chainsaw.

Daniel’s fingers tightened around the wooden carving until the wood groaned, the sharp edges digging deep into his palm until a thin line of red appeared. He didn't flinch.

"She did it before," he whispered, the realization hitting him like an icy wave. "She killed a child. And she walked away with the money."

"Yes," Clara said. "But this time, she had help. We traced the two hundred thousand dollars she wired to Panama. It didn't go into an investment account. It went to a man named Arthur Crane."

"Her ex-husband?"

"Her brother," Clara corrected. "Arthur Crane is a high-stakes gambler with ties to some very unpleasant people in Chicago's underground. He owes over a million dollars to a loansharking syndicate run by a man named Victor Vance—no relation to me, thank God. Arthur was using Valerie to access your wealth to pay off his debts. But last week, Victor Vance gave them an ultimatum: pay the full amount by Friday, or Arthur dies."

"So they needed a lump sum," Daniel said, his mind working with cold, mechanical precision. "A divorce takes months. But if Lily died..."

"If Lily died," Clara said, her voice trembling slightly, "she was the sole beneficiary of Marissa’s three-million-dollar life insurance trust. A trust that you set up to be managed by Valerie in the event of your death or incapacity. With Lily gone, that trust would have defaulted to you, but because you had signed those estate planning documents giving Valerie power of attorney during your overseas trips, she could have accessed those funds within days."

Daniel stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. He looked out at the city below, the tiny cars moving like ants along the highway, the people going about their lives, completely unaware of the monsters that walked among them.

He had let a monster into his house. He had let her cook his child's soup. He had let her kiss his daughter goodnight.

"Where is Arthur Crane?" Daniel asked.

"He’s in hiding," Clara said. "But our sources say he’s still in the city, trying to find a way to get Valerie out of jail before she talks to the DA."

Daniel turned back to her. His face was no longer pale; it was flushed with a dark, terrifying resolve.

"Tell the police to let her out," he said.

Clara stared at him, her eyes wide with shock. "What? Daniel, are you insane? She tried to kill your daughter!"

"She won't escape," Daniel said, his voice flat. "But as long as she is in a cell, Arthur is in the shadows. I want them both. I want the entire tree torn out by the roots. Tell the DA we are dropping the attempted murder charges due to 'insufficient evidence' from our side. Let her walk out of that precinct."