I left the hospital carrying my daughter’s ashes when my husband finally called from wherever he was with his mistress and coldly said, “The bill has been taken care of. Stop bothering me.” I didn’t argue with him. I didn’t allow him to hear my voice break.

I did not manufacture any false evidence against his firm.

I simply refused to hide what the independent auditors found.

That decision brought another powerful member of the Fairchild family into the conflict.

Gideon Fairchild, Brendan’s stern grandfather and the family patriarch who had controlled the family business for decades, requested a private meeting with me at his estate.

When I arrived at his library, the old man skipped all pleasantries.

“What do you want from us, Nora?” Gideon asked, looking over his spectacles.