Married to the Billionaire Who Betrayed Me novel Chapter 136

Chapter 136 The Secret Wife Returns

Elias was asleep in my arms, his small body heavy with the kind of exhaustion only a child can feel after a night of terror. I sat in the high-backed chair at the end of the long boardroom table. Across from me, Tristan sat slumped, his elbows on the table and his head in his hands.

The federal marshals had cleared the room, taking Harriet and Thomas into separate holding areas for questioning. The board members had fled to their offices, desperate to distance themselves from the arrest of their chairman.

Only Ricardo Salazar remained, standing by the door with a thick legal file.

“The disclosure was inevitable, Minerva, Salazar said. His voice was quiet, respectful of the sleeping boy. “Once the bearer shares were registered, the internal audit triggered a search of all associated legal filings. The system does not just find assets. It finds connections.”

I looked down at the leather folder. Beneath the shares, there was a second document. Salazar had pulled it from the confidential marriage registry of the southern district.

I reached out and touched the paper. It was white and crisp. It bore my signature and Tristan’s. The date was three and a half years ago.

“Is it public?” I asked.

“It is in the federal database, Salazar replied. “And because it predates the Whitmore financing contract, it has become the primary piece of evidence for the fraud investigation against Harriet Montgomery. She knowingly suppressed a legal marriage to secure a loan under false pretenses. The press syndicates have had access to the registry for the last twenty minutes.”

As if on cue, the muted television on the wall flashed a bright red banner.

BREAKING NEWS: THE SECRET WIFE OF THE JOHNSTON EMPIRE.

I watched the screen as a grainy photo of our courthouse wedding appeared. It was a shot I didn’t even know existed. We were laughing. I was wearing a simple white sundress, and Tristan had his arm around my waist, looking at me with a warmth that I had forgotten he was capable of.

The ticker at the bottom of the screen began to scroll with a speed that made my head spin.

“The injunction against Aegis is being lifted,” Diego said, stepping back into the room. He held a tablet, his face lit by the glow of a hundred incoming messages. “Since the marriage is legal, your interest in the Johnston Group is recognized as primary. The

Whitmore patents claim is falling apart because our research logs were verified against your marital move-in dates. They can’t claim you stole secrets you already had a legal right to access as a spouse.

I sat there, holding my son, I felt nothing like joy.

“Minerva, Tristan said, standing up. He walked toward me, his steps hesitant. “The press is waiting downstairs. The board is demanding a statement. We need to tell them we are a united front. For Elias. For the stock price.”

I looked up at him. The man who had just saved our son. The man who had bled for us tonight.

A united front?” I asked. I felt a bitter laugh bubble in my throat. “You want me to stand beside you and pretend we are a happy family for the sake of the market?”