Chapter 1 - The Dress
I Came Home to Find My Husband Punishing My Eight-Year-Old for "Ruining" His Mistress's $10,000 Dress—So I Called My Five Brothers
Twenty minutes later, I went back downstairs alone.
Sabrina had changed into one of my silk robes. That nearly made me laugh out loud.
Grant pointed toward two suitcases already pulled out of the closet. "You have until midnight."
"Fine."
His expression flickered. He'd expected me to beg.
Sabrina smiled. "See? This can be civilized."
I poured myself a glass of water. "Where did you buy the dress?"
She blinked. "What?"
"The ten-thousand-dollar dress."
"Bellerose Atelier."
"Receipt?"
Grant slammed his palm against the counter. "Why does that even matter?"
"Because you're demanding ten thousand dollars from me."
Sabrina pulled a receipt from her handbag and tossed it toward me. I photographed it. Then I photographed the torn seam. Her smile faded, just slightly.
Grant scoffed. "Playing detective now?"
"No." I sent both photos to my brother Owen.
Then I walked to the living room camera mounted above the bookshelf. Grant followed. "That camera hasn't worked in months."
"I know."
He grinned. What he didn't know was that Owen had replaced our entire security system after someone tried breaking into our garage six weeks earlier. The visible camera was dead. The hidden backup wasn't.
At 8:14 p.m., the doorbell rang.
All five of my brothers stood on the porch.
Grant laughed when he saw them. "You called your brothers? Seriously?"
Marshall walked in first, dark suit, leather folder in hand. Preston followed with another folder. Owen carried a laptop. Cole's expression shifted the moment he spotted Maddie watching from the stairs. Tobias looked at the bruise forming on her wrist and asked quietly, "Who touched her?"
Nobody answered him.
Sabrina rolled her eyes. "This is ridiculous."
Marshall sat down at the dining table. "Actually, it's about to become very serious."
Grant's confidence cracked. "Why are you here, Marshall?"
"Because Renee asked me to come." He opened the folder. "And because three weeks ago, she retained me to prepare divorce documents."
Silence.
Grant stared at me. "You planned this?"
"I planned for the possibility that you were cheating."
Sabrina stepped backward. Grant recovered fast. "Fine. Divorce me. You'll get half the debt."
Preston nearly smiled. "That depends on which debt you mean." He slid several documents across the table.
For months, Grant had been moving money into a private account to fund Sabrina's apartment, jewelry, vacations, designer clothes. Including the dress.
Grant went pale.
"Your company loan requires disclosure of material withdrawals," Preston said. "These weren't disclosed."
"You accessed my bank records?"
"No," Preston said calmly. "Renee gave us records from your joint business correspondence, which she legally possessed. My compliance team handles the rest through proper channels."
Grant turned on me. "You little—"
Tobias stepped between us. "Finish that sentence carefully."
Then Owen turned his laptop around. The hidden security footage began playing.
Sabrina appeared on screen, walking into the kitchen in the silver dress, studying herself in the mirror. Then she pulled scissors from her handbag. Cut the seam. Waited.
Seconds later, Maddie entered. Sabrina grabbed her wrist. Even without audio, the threat on her face was unmistakable.
The room went dead silent.
"Turn it off," Sabrina whispered.
Owen didn't.
The footage kept rolling until Grant walked in and Sabrina immediately started pointing at Maddie.
Cole stared at Grant with open disgust. "You punished a child without even asking what happened."
"She lied to me!"
"No," I said, my voice staying quiet. "That's what you needed to believe."
Sabrina suddenly grabbed her purse. "I'm leaving."
Marshall looked up. "I wouldn't."
May you like
She froze.
He raised his phone. "The police are already on their way."
