For Aria, coming back from their honeymoon felt like coming back from a well-calibrated performance. Marcus carried her bags, opened doors, and presented a show of their domestic bliss for everyone who might be observing, acting the committed newlywed husband with perfect accuracy.
"We should start combining our households and business operations," he suddenly suggested a few days later after they settled into her family's mansion, which was now their shared home. "It makes sense for married couples to streamline everything."
Aria agreed with the enthusiasm expected of a trusting new wife, even as every instinct screamed warnings about giving him deeper access to her affairs. "That sounds wonderfully practical, darling. Though you know I'll need time to sort through all of father's business documents and business documents after the funeral."
"Of course," Marcus replied, his smile carrying just a hint of impatience. "Take all the time you need. I have several meetings this week anyway—gives you space to organize everything properly."
Aria moved toward her father's study as Marcus left for his first corporate conference. Since his death, the room felt like a shrine to the empire he had created from nothing. Under soft lighting, dark mahogany furniture shone, and certificates, pictures, and honors covering Richard Chen's incredible success lined the walls.
Aria settled behind the massive desk where her father had made decisions that shaped industries and began the systematic review of documents she should have undertaken months ago. As an only child who had been more interested in charity work than corporate strategy, she had left the business operations to trusted managers and even to Marcus while she grieved her parents' loss for months while focusing on charity.
That trust now seemed like devastating naivety.
The first discrepancies appeared in the banking records. Transfers that she didn't remember authorizing, moving substantial sums from primary accounts to various subsidiaries and investments. The amounts were large enough to fund entire business ventures but small enough relative to her total wealth that they hadn't immediately attracted attention.
What made her stomach clench with growing dread was the timing. The earliest unauthorized transfer was dated just three weeks after her parents' funeral—just when she was letting Marcus get comfortable in her life after he had first appeared at the funeral to comfort her with his charming condolences.
As she studied the financial records, a pattern of systematic theft emerged with terrifying clarity. Marcus hadn't simply been opportunistic about taking her money; he had been methodically dismantling her father's empire piece by piece.
Shell companies registered in Marcus's name using her assets as collateral. Investment properties that should have been generating income but had mysteriously been sold at below-market prices to entities Marcus controlled. Business partnerships that had been restructured to benefit him while disadvantaging her companies.
Most damaging of all were the documents bearing her forged signature. Contracts, agreements, and authorizations for financial transactions that she had never seen, let alone approved. The signature was masterfully done—close enough to fool casual inspection, but with subtle differences that became apparent under careful scrutiny.
Aria photographed each piece of evidence with her phone, building a digital archive of Marcus's crimes. The scope of the theft was staggering—millions of dollars that had been systematically siphoned from accounts, properties, and investments that should have been generating wealth for her father's legacy.
But the financial theft was only part of the picture. Marcus had also been representing himself as her business partner in dealings with other companies, using her reputation and assets to secure deals that primarily benefited him. He had negotiated contracts in her name, established credit lines using her company as collateral, and even applied for business licenses listing himself as a principal owner of her inherited companies.
Ignoring the timeline correlation was impossible. Every significant theft, every falsified document, and every illegal transaction corresponded only to the period Marcus had been in her life, building her trust and progressively gaining access to her corporate records.
Aria's understanding of her circumstances changed from simple betrayal to something far more sinister as the afternoon progressed. This wasn't a crime of opportunity or even straightforward greed.
The evidence suggested that Marcus had researched her family extensively before their "chance" meeting at the funeral. He had known exactly which vulnerabilities to exploit, which legal gaps existed in the protections her father had established, and how to position himself as the solution to problems she didn't even know she had.
Other names appeared throughout the documents—business associates, lawyers, and financial advisors who seemed to be facilitating Marcus's access to her empire. The conspiracy clearly extended beyond just Marcus and Bella; it was a network of professionals who had been systematically betraying her trust while enriching themselves.
By the time late afternoon shadows began stretching across the study, Aria had calculated that Marcus had already stolen approximately forty percent of her liquid assets and had positioned himself to acquire much more. If his timeline proceeded as planned, she would be left with nothing but debt and empty companies within another year.
A business plan in a folder marked "Future Acquisitions" was the most terrifying to find. It presented a plan for acquiring total control of the Chen empire combining legal maneuvering, strategic alliances, and what was metaphorically labeled "obstacle removal."
She was the obstacle.
As she prepared to photograph the final documents in the main safe, Aria noticed something unusual about her father's portrait hanging behind the desk. The frame seemed slightly askew. On closer inspection, she discovered that the portrait concealed a hidden safe built into the wall.
Her father's birthday was the combination—a code she had applied for several security systems since infancy. A little collection of documents, a velvet jewelry box, and an envelope bearing her father's unique handwriting were revealed when the safe clicked softly and opened.
The envelope's date—that of the day before her parents' car accident.
She opened the envelope and unfolded the letter with shaky fingers. The familiar script of her father filled the page, but the words stopped her blood in her veins.
"My dearest Aria,
Should you be reading this, your mother and I are dead; this is not an accident. We found out that a certain Marcus Stone had been organizing this for years. Put no one in your trust. Particularly not—"
The letter was ripped, the bottom half missing totally. The vital information—the name of who couldn't be trusted—had been purposefully removed.