I Made My Husband Don,Then Took Him DownChapter 2

That evening, the investigator sent his first report.

Brooke's mother, Vanessa Ellis, had been Damian's first love.

Public photos, old addresses, and years of social media posts revealed a life I had known nothing about.

He had started seeing Vanessa again in the second year of our marriage.

Brooke was only a month younger than Elena.

I stared at their birth dates, my fingertips going cold.

In one old photo, Vanessa held her newborn daughter. Behind her was a hospital logo I recognized.

I had given birth to Elena there, too.

The girls had later attended the same private school. Now they went to the same university.

All those years, he'd taken care of every detail of another family's life, then come home to me each night and asked about my day.

Elena studied my face and gently took my hand.

“Mom, what did you find?”

I handed her the report.

“Brooke is his daughter, too.”

She stared at the screen for a long time, until her tears fell onto it.

“So today wasn't about me doing something wrong.”

I pulled her into my arms.

“This wasn't your fault.”

I said it twice.

Back in my study, I took out the ownership documents my father had left me, along with the agreement Damian had signed when he took over family operations.

The corporate documents determined who controlled the assets. His standing within the family depended on the men who had backed him and the promises he had made to them.

I had let him manage the assets and run family affairs. I had never let him take my place.

Elena looked up from the papers.

“So you've actually controlled the waterfront businesses all along?”

“I control eighty percent of the voting rights in the core companies. Your father runs them, and he gets paid for it. He doesn't get to give away my shares.”

“Does he know?”

“He knows how the ownership is structured. He just doesn't think I'll use the power it gives me.”

I wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

“I always intended to leave these businesses to you. That's why you need to learn how they work from the ground up. But you don't have to earn his affection to deserve that chance.”

At last, she managed a small smile.

“So I don't have to go to that warehouse?”

“We'll work out a new plan for where you go and what you learn.”

But the smile disappeared as soon as she picked up her phone.

An edited clip from the port office had been posted on an anonymous campus account.

It showed only Damian accusing her of using her name to get a position and not knowing her place. The caption implied that the so-called Bellandi heiress was no longer in her father's good graces and that an older man was funding her lavish lifestyle.

Some commenters called her a fake heiress whose family had thrown her out. Others asked how much she charged a night.

Brooke's latest photos were worse.

She was sitting in the port office, the rotation schedule meant for Elena laid out in front of her.

The caption read: What's mine always finds its way back to me.

Then came a direct message.

“You thought running to Conti would make me back down?”

“Bring your mom to the anniversary dinner and apologize to me in front of everyone. Otherwise, neither of you will ever be able to show your face around these people again.”

I replied for Elena. “All right. See you there.”

My daughter grabbed my hand.

“Mom, I don't want you begging her because of me.”

“I won't be begging.”

I looked at the smug face on the screen.

“She wants everyone to watch you bow down. I'll make sure they see whose place she's trying to take.”

I sent evidence of the campus harassment to my attorney, Daniel Reed. I asked him to contact the university, report the posts to the platform, and notify the people running the account to preserve the relevant records.

The university opened an investigation. After receiving formal notice, the people running the account deleted the video.

I asked Salvatore to save everything circulating within the family.

“Don't clean up their mess just yet,” I told him. “When the time comes, the people who shared those posts can explain themselves.”

Then I sent Daniel our marriage and financial records.

“I want a divorce. Find out how much Damian has sent Vanessa, and whether he's used any of the family companies' assets.”

Daniel replied almost immediately.

“I'll coordinate with a family law attorney. We'll investigate the company finances at the same time.”

Damian came home that night.

He was carrying two jewelry boxes, ready to spend a little money and sweet-talk us back into line, as usual.