Chapter 2 - The Double Game
The front door opened with a sudden rattle, and the click of designer high heels clicked aggressively against our hardwood floor. Heather Jenkins strode into the foyer, swinging her oversized sunglasses in one hand and holding an iced latte in the other.
"Bennett, babe, what is taking so long?" she called out in a sing-song, patronizing tone. "The car is burning gas, and we need to drop my luggage off before the eleven o'clock client meeting."
She stopped dead in her tracks the moment her gaze landed on Naomi Gable and the neatly organized stacks of banker boxes lining the hallway. Her rehearsed, seductive expression tightened instantly.
"What is this?" Heather sneered, glaring at me with undisguised contempt. "Clara, are you throwing a dramatic tantrum because Bennett finally chose a woman who actually takes care of herself?"
Bennett didn't defend her. He slowly turned his head toward her, his bloodshot eyes filled with a terrifying mixture of confusion and boiling fury.
"Heather," Bennett choked out, his voice shaking like an autumn leaf. "Who is Corey Vance?"
The iced latte slipped from Heather's manicured fingers, hitting the floor and splashing milky coffee across the baseboards. The color vanished from her cheeks, leaving her face an ashen, ghost-like gray.
"Where... where did you hear that name?" she whispered, taking an instinctive step backward toward the open front door.
"He's the man who shares your home address in Reno," Naomi stated smoothly, sliding a certified marriage certificate across the table next to the puddle of coffee. "And according to the legal registration filed six weeks ago, he is the sole executive officer authorized to withdraw funds from the Apex Horizon account."
I stood up from my chair and looked directly at Heather, watching the pathetic panic consume her. "Bennett thought you were running away to Lake Tahoe to start a new life together once he drained our life savings. He thought you loved him."
"Heather, tell me she's lying!" Bennett roared, lunging toward her with his hands raised. "I wired thirty-eight thousand five hundred dollars into that routing number! You told me it was a clean blind trust set up by your cousin's tax attorney!"
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Heather backed into the doorframe, her sweet persona peeling away like cheap wallpaper to reveal a venomous, cornered predator. "You think I wanted you, Bennett? A balding, insecure middle manager who cries after two drinks and constantly complains about his wife?"
She let out a harsh, mocking laugh that echoed through our silent home. "You were an easy mark. You wanted to play the big, powerful alpha male who could ruin his loyal wife, and Corey and I gave you the exact rope to hang yourself with."
