Chapter 2 - The Papers for TomorrowCeline stared at Mara.
“What did you just say?”
Bryce moved first.
He crossed the room and grabbed Mara by the wrist.
“Enough.”
Celine’s shock disappeared beneath a flash of anger.
“Take your hand off her.”
Bryce looked at his wife.
Celine had never used that tone with him.
He released Mara.
Mara rubbed her wrist.
“What papers?” Celine asked.
“There aren’t any papers,” Bryce said.
Mara looked at him.
“There are.”
“Mara.”
“You said tomorrow night.”
Bryce’s face tightened.
Celine stepped between them.
“What happens tomorrow night?”
Mara breathed through her nose.
“He said you were signing some financial documents after dinner.”
Bryce gave a short, disbelieving laugh.
“This is insane.”
“You told me they were already prepared.”
“Mara is terrified and trying to save herself.”
Mara flinched.
Bryce turned to Celine.
“She knows she destroyed our marriage. Now she’s saying anything she can.”
Celine almost laughed.
“Our marriage?”
Bryce’s expression softened instantly.
“Celine—”
“No. You don’t get to say our marriage like I helped you do this.”
He lowered his voice.
“I’m not blaming you.”
“You just blamed her.”
“Because she’s lying.”
Mara’s face flushed.
“You showed me the folder.”
Bryce stared at her.
“What folder?” Celine asked.
Mara pointed toward the hall.
“Blue. In his study.”
Bryce stepped closer.
“There is no blue folder.”
“I cleaned your study yesterday.”
“You’re confused.”
“You told me not to touch it.”
“I tell you not to touch business documents because they’re private.”
Mara’s lips trembled.
“You said once she signed, the house couldn’t be taken away from you.”
Silence.
Celine felt something cold move through her chest.
“What does that mean?”
Bryce’s eyes stayed on Mara.
“Nothing.”
Celine stepped toward him.
“Look at me.”
He did.
“What does that mean?”
“It means she misunderstood a conversation.”
“With whom?”
He hesitated.
Celine saw it.
A half second.
Maybe less.
But she had just watched him lie about a woman standing inside a wardrobe.
Now every pause had meaning.
“With whom, Bryce?”
“My business partner.”
“Nolan?”
“Yes.”
“What were you talking about?”
“An investment.”
“Connected to my house?”
“No.”
“Then why did Mara hear you say the house couldn’t be taken away from you?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Mara whispered, “Yes, you did.”
Bryce spun toward her.
“Stop talking.”
Celine moved beside Biscuit.
The dog had stopped barking. He sat near her now, watching the room with calm golden eyes.
She placed one hand on his head.
It steadied her.
“I want you out,” she told Bryce.
His expression changed.
“What?”
“Leave.”
“This is my house too.”
“No.”
The word came automatically.
Because legally, it wasn’t.
The mansion had belonged to Celine’s mother.
When her mother died four years earlier, the house passed directly to Celine through her estate.
Before marrying Bryce, Celine’s attorney had insisted on a prenuptial agreement preserving inherited property as separate property.
Bryce had complained.
Not loudly.
Not enough to stop the wedding.
But he had complained.
Celine suddenly remembered every conversation differently.
“This house is mine,” she said.
Bryce’s eyes hardened.
“So that’s what we’re doing now?”
“What are we doing?”
“Turning a marriage into a property argument?”
“You hid my employee in my wardrobe.”
“I said I made a mistake.”
“A five-month mistake?”
He ran both hands through his hair.
“I’m not leaving while you’re emotional.”
Celine almost smiled.
“I’m emotional?”
“You just discovered—”
“I know what I discovered.”
“Then give yourself a night before you start making decisions you’ll regret.”
She looked at Mara.
“Where is the blue folder?”
Mara hesitated.
“His study.”
Bryce walked toward the bedroom door.
Celine blocked him.
“Move.”
“No.”
“I’m going to show you there’s nothing there.”
“No. You’re going to stand right here.”
“What do you think I’m going to do?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
That landed harder than shouting would have.
Bryce’s mouth closed.
Celine took out her phone.
He frowned.
“Who are you calling?”
“Hannah.”
Bryce’s face changed again.
Hannah Cole had handled Celine’s mother’s estate and later drafted the prenup.
She was not just an attorney.
She was one of the few people Bryce had never been able to charm.
“At seven at night?”
“She’ll answer.”
“This is between us.”
“No.”
Celine looked toward Mara.
“This stopped being between us when you brought her into it.”
Mara lowered her eyes.
Celine dialed.
Hannah answered on the third ring.
“Celine?”
“I need you.”
Something in Celine’s voice changed Hannah’s tone immediately.
“Are you safe?”
“Yes.”
“Is Bryce there?”
Celine looked at him.
“Yes.”
“Do you want him removed?”
Bryce heard.
His jaw flexed.
Celine said, “I want him out of the house.”
Hannah responded without hesitation.
“If he refuses, don’t physically confront him. Call the police non-emergency line unless you feel threatened, then call 911. Also, do not sign anything, move money, destroy documents, or let anyone remove records.”
Celine looked at Mara.
“Why did you say not to sign anything tomorrow?”
Mara took a long breath.
“Because Bryce said someone was coming here.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What kind of someone?”
“A notary.”
Bryce closed his eyes.
Celine saw it.
This time there was no hiding the reaction.
Mara continued.
“I heard him on the phone yesterday. He said the documents had to be completed before Friday.”
“What documents?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“You said something about the house.”
Mara nodded.
“He told Nolan that once the paperwork was recorded, it would be too late for anyone to interfere.”
Celine’s hand tightened around the phone.
Hannah heard every word.
“Celine,” she said carefully, “do you have a mortgage on the mansion?”
“No.”
“Any home-equity line?”
“No.”
“Any pending refinance?”
“No.”
“Have you agreed to pledge the house as collateral for anything?”
Celine stared at Bryce.
“No.”
Bryce spoke.
“This is getting ridiculous.”
Hannah’s voice came through the phone.
“Bryce, I strongly recommend you stop talking.”
He laughed bitterly.
“You’re her lawyer.”
“Correct.”
“She’s my wife.”
“That does not give you authority over her separate property.”
Celine watched Bryce’s face become strangely still.
Not angry.
Calculating.
Hannah said, “Celine, secure the study. Photograph everything before touching it. If you have a monitored alarm system, change the access code. Tomorrow morning we’ll contact the county recorder and any financial institution named in those papers.”
Bryce stepped forward.
“There are no papers.”
Mara looked directly at Celine.
“Yes, there are.”
“Where?”
Mara’s voice dropped.
“In the locked drawer behind his desk.”
Bryce went pale.
Celine noticed.
So did Hannah.
“Do you have a key?” Celine asked.
Mara nodded slowly.
“Bryce gave me one.”
Celine’s stomach turned.
“Why?”
Mara wiped her cheek.
“To copy things.”
Bryce exploded.
“That is a lie.”
Mara flinched but kept looking at Celine.
“I didn’t understand what he was doing at first.”
“What did you copy?”
“Insurance papers. Tax documents. Your mother’s estate file.”
Celine stopped breathing.
Bryce shook his head.
“She’s making this up.”
Mara whispered, “And the appraisal.”
Celine’s eyes moved toward him.
“What appraisal?”
Mara’s next words came barely above a whisper.
“The one that says this house is worth six-point-four million dollars.”
Bryce said nothing.
Celine’s mother had bought the property twenty-two years earlier.
Celine had never ordered an appraisal.
Never needed one.
Hannah’s voice came firmly through the phone.
“Celine, do not let Bryce enter that study.”
Celine looked toward the hallway.
Then back at her husband.
The man she had trusted with her life.
The man who had just been caught with another woman.
And somehow, impossibly, the most frightening part was no longer the affair.
“Bryce,” she said quietly, “what were you planning to do with my house?”
He stared at her for several seconds.
Then smiled.
Not warmly.
Not apologetically.
A small, exhausted smile that made Celine’s skin crawl.
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
He looked toward Mara.
May you like
Then back at his wife.
“You should ask her why she already knew where the appraisal was.”
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