Part 3The Fake Widowhood

I kicked his hands away, ignoring his pathetic cries as I walked out of the coffee shop and went back to my office.

Gilligan was still sitting in the reception area. When she saw me, she tried to stand, but the icy glare I gave her pinned her to her seat.

"Mrs. Shaw..."

"Don't speak to me."

I walked into my private office and slammed the door shut, locking out the curious eyes of my staff.

My hands were shaking. Not from fear, but from pure, unadulterated rage.

I sat down at my desk, forcing myself to take deep, measured breaths.

Elliott's return meant my peaceful, quiet life was over. If the insurance fraud came to light, I would be the first person the authorities investigated. As the beneficiary, the insurance company would assume I was an accomplice.

And then there was the five million dollars.

Elliott claimed he had used the money to pay off his debts. But that didn't make sense.

That five million was still sitting in my private investment account, untouched. I had never spent a single dime of it because it felt like blood money.

If I hadn't given him the money, how had he paid off his debts?

And where had he gotten the money to support a mistress for three years?

Suddenly, my phone rang.

The screen displayed my mother-in-law's name.

For the past three years, despite my grief, I had taken care of his parents. I paid their monthly bills, took them to their medical appointments, and even organized his father's funeral last winter.

I answered, keeping my voice as steady as possible. "Hello, Mother."

"Audrey!" her voice came through the speaker, breathless with excitement. "You need to come to the house right now! It's a miracle! A complete miracle!"

"What happened?"

"Elliott! My boy is alive!" she sobbed happily. "He's back, Audrey! He's really back! And he brought a beautiful girl with him. She's pregnant with my grandson! I had a specialist look at her belly, it's definitely a boy!"

I gripped the phone so hard my knuckles turned white.

So, they had all been in on it.

Elliott had left the cafe and gone straight to his mother, using her to put pressure on me.

And her words...

"Mother, do you even know who that woman is?"

"Oh, who cares about that?" she snapped, her tone suddenly turning dismissive. "As long as she can carry the family name, she is a blessing! Audrey, don't blame me for being blunt. You were married to my son for five years and never gave us a child. Now that he has survived this ordeal and brought home an heir, it's a gift from above!"

"You need to come over and sign those divorce papers. Don't stand in the way of that poor girl's future."

My heart felt as though it had been submerged in freezing water, then shattered with a hammer.

Three years of devotion.

Three years of caring for them, paying their medical bills, burying her husband.

All of it meant nothing compared to an unborn grandson and her precious, deceitful son.

I let out a soft, humorless laugh into the receiver. "Of course, Mother."

"I'll be right over."

"We have a lot of things to settle."

I hung up, opened my laptop, and pulled up the digital copy of the life insurance policy from three years ago.

Beneficiary: Audrey Shaw.

Insured: Elliott Shaw.

The death certificate, the cremation records, the estate closure documents: everything was filed perfectly.

At the time, my mother-in-law had handed me the documents herself, claiming she was too heartbroken to look at them. I had handled all the paperwork.

But looking at it now, the holes were glaring.

If Elliott was alive, whose remains were in that urn?

And where had he been hiding for three years?

I closed the laptop, retrieved a small digital voice recorder from my desk drawer, and slipped it into my purse.

Then, I sent a quick message to my assistant:

Run a search on all bank accounts associated with Elliott Shaw and his mother over the past three years. Look for large cash withdrawals or overseas transfers. And call the legal department at the insurance company. Tell them I have information regarding a major fraud case.