Married to the Billionaire Who Betrayed Me novel Chapter 102

Chapter 102 A Dynasty Built on Blood

“Who was on the bench?” I demanded.

Diego scrolled down. “Judge Ricardo Salazar.”

“Track his finances,” I ordered. “Track everything from September 1996.”

Diego opened a new window. He pulled property tax records and bank transfers related to Ricardo Salazar. He filtered the dates Five

minutes later, he found the transaction.

“October 1996,” Diego read. “One month after Salazar dismissed your mother’s case. He sold a barren piece of land outside the city

limits. A holding company bought the dirt for ten times the market value. It funded his early retirement.”

“Trace the holding company,” I said. My heart hammered against my ribs.

Diego traced the shell corporation. He jumped through three different dummy accounts. He followed the money. He broke through

the final layer.

“The holding company belongs to the Whitmore Foundation,” Diego said. He looked up, at me. His dark eyes were wide with shock

The truth settled over the dining table. Arthur Vance told the truth. The alliance between the Johnstons and the Whitmores began

in the dark. Celeste’s father, Thomas Whitmore, provided the bribe money to pay off the corrupt judge. Thomas Whitmore helped

Harriet steal three billion dollars from my mother.

The silver key on the glass desk seemed to mock me. Thomas Whitmore knew the off-site vault number. He held the other half of

the secret.

I stood up. I walked over to the wide windows. I looked down at the streets of the capital.

The pain hit me.

She counted pennies on our small kitchen table. She wrapped me in three blankets during the winter because we lacked the cash to

run the heater. She told me to study hard. She told me education was the only escape from the cold.

She owned three billion dollars.

Harriet Montgomery and Thomas Whitmore forced her into the dirt. They stole her safety. They stole her future. When the lung

infection took hold of her, we sat in a crowded public clinic. I watched her die on a plastic chair in a hallway because a private

hospital bed cost too much.

They murdered her. They used a corrupt judge and a forged ledger, and they sentenced my mother to a death.

A sob tore from my throat. I pressed my hand over my mouth. I refused to break. I refused to give them my tears.

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Chapter 102 A Dynasty Built on Blood

I turned back to Diego. I dropped my hand from my mouth.

“Print the property records,” I commanded. “Print the intake receipt. Compile a dossier on Thomas Whitmore. I want every business he owns. I want every charity he funds. I want his daily schedule.”

Diego nodded, his hands moving fast over the keyboard. “You are going after the Whitmore patriarch. He is dangerous, Minerva, He operates the media syndicates in this city.”

“I am going to corner him,” I said. “I am going to put these documents on his desk, and I am going to rip the vault number from hi throat. If he refuses, I leak the bribe to the federal prosecutors. I destroy his foundation.”

The printer on the table hummed. Sheets of paper slid onto the tray, capturing the crimes of the legacy families in black ink.

I walked into the master bedroom. I changed into a sharp navy suit. I pulled my hair back tight. I fastened my watch around/my wrist. I prepared for war. I prepared to burn the Whitmore empire to the ground.

I walked back into the living room.

Diego stood near the table. He held his phone in his hand. He stared at the screen. The color drained from his face.

“Diego,” I said. “Gather the files. We are leaving.”

He did not move. He looked up at me. His hands shook.

“Minerva, Diego said. His voice cracked.

“What is it?” I asked. I stopped walking. The raw anger in my blood turned cold.

“Celeste, Diego breathed. He swallowed hard. “She did not wait for her father to handle you. She went to the press.”

“Let her, I dismissed. “Her charity lines are dead. I own Ashcroft Holdings. I hold the leverage.”

“This is not about Aegis, Diego said. He stepped forward. He turned his phone screen toward me.

My eyes focused on the glowing display. It was the homepage of the capital’s largest gossip network. A massive headline dominated

the screen.

The Whitmore heiress aimed for the one target I bled to protect.

THE BASTARD OF PORT STERLING: AEGIS CEO MINERVA HAYES HIDES ILLEGITIMATE CHILD CONCEIVED AFTER BILLIONAIRE ABANDONMENT. The article featured a blurred, long-lens photograph. It showed me standing in the park. I held a small boy in my

arms.

“She leaked the story,” Diego whispered, reading the text below the photo. “She claims you slept with a dockworker out of spite after Tristan left you. She claims you are an unstable, immoral woman hiding a dirty secret from your investors.”

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