The Lies Behind Her Marriage novel Chapter 56

**Terms Were Unspoken by Mark Twain**
**Chapter 56: Passenger Manifest I**

The report in Sterling’s hands felt like a heavy weight pressing down on his chest, causing his entire body to tense up as if he were bracing for an impending storm. After scanning the document one last time, he let out a slow, shuddering breath and turned his gaze toward the window, watching the world outside blur into a haze.

Fate certainly had a twisted sense of humor, didn’t it?

“Sir, are you… going to tell your daughter?” Roland ventured, his voice tentative, as if he were stepping on fragile glass.

Sterling’s silence hung in the air, thick and suffocating. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he swallowed hard, his throat dry. “I have to tell her. I want to be completely honest with her. From that point, we will decide how to move forward.”

“Very well, Sir,” Roland replied, a hint of reluctance in his tone. “And what about Victor? What course of action should I take?”

With a steely resolve, Sterling’s eyes narrowed, his thoughts darkening like a storm cloud. “We need to officially reopen the kidnapping case. Get in touch with the chief of police. And while we’re at it, send someone to rattle Victor’s cage a little.”

Sterling Vander was a man who adhered to the law, yet he felt a simmering rage within him that no legal punishment could ever quench. The pain his daughter had endured at Victor’s hands was something that could not be rectified by mere incarceration.

Victor needed to pay a price far greater than what a prison cell could offer.

“I’ll follow your orders, Sir, but I must inform you—Mr. Kline has been attracting attention in prison,” Roland said cautiously, his brow furrowing. “He’s been involved in several altercations, all of which he insists he didn’t start. They found contraband in his cell, and he’s been placed in solitary confinement more than once.”

“It seems unlikely that this is mere coincidence, Sir. Our contacts suspect that someone is ensuring that prison is just the beginning of Victor’s troubles,” Roland continued, his voice low, as if afraid of being overheard.

“Nathaniel,” Sterling muttered under his breath, his fingers instinctively massaging his jaw in thought. “Who else could harbor such hatred for Victor, at least as much as I do in this moment?”

“I suppose so, Sir, but there’s no concrete evidence,” Roland replied, his voice careful. “If it is Nathaniel, then I suppose you have yet another reason to be grateful to him… once again.”

‘Again.’

The word hung in the air like a bitter aftertaste, and Sterling shot a glare at his assistant, a mixture of frustration and understanding flashing in his eyes.

“I-I—” Roland stammered, his voice trembling slightly. “I apologize, Sir. That was not my intention.”

Yet, deep down, Sterling knew Roland was right. Nathaniel’s actions had inadvertently led him to uncover the truth about Serena, and that realization was a double-edged sword.

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