Not the next.
That same afternoon, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
“Mrs. Hayes,” a formal voice said. “We need to discuss certain transactions…”
I looked at Megan.
And smiled.
“I’ve been expecting your call.”
Because Daniel never understood—
it wasn’t just that I signed.
It was that I waited.
Watched.
Collected everything.
And while he thought he bought my silence…
he gave me time.
A week later, everything exploded.
First quietly.
Then publicly.
“Businessman under investigation…”
“Millions missing…”
“Wife key witness…”
Daniel saw his name everywhere.
And felt something real.
Fear.
He called me.
Again.
And again.
I didn’t answer.
Until one night… I did.
“Where are you?” he demanded. “What did you do?”
I listened to my daughters breathing beside me.
“I didn’t do anything,” I said calmly.
Silence.
“I just let the truth catch up to you.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You could’ve stopped me!”
I laughed softly.
“You told me to disappear.”
Two days later, it was over.
Accounts frozen.
Audit ordered.
Court summons issued.
But what destroyed him wasn’t that.
It was this—
Everything was under my name.
And I had already spoken.
The day of the hearing was gray.
Daniel arrived early, polished—but exhausted.
Ashley was gone.
Vanished.
I arrived later.