He didn’t know that for the past fourteen months I’d used my status as the invisible, disrespected wife. I’d spent countless nights inside the networks of his father’s company, copying encrypted ledgers, recording closed-door board meetings, tracing offshore shell accounts to the Cayman Islands — and handing every piece of it to a federal task force.

He didn’t know a coordinated, multi-agency raid was scheduled to hit this hotel, the corporate headquarters, and the family estate at the same time.

I checked the shattered face of my Rolex, the glass spider-webbed from the fall. The second hand ticked forward with a click.

It was 1:59.

I looked up at my husband and whispered, “You really should have checked who you married, Daniel.”

Chapter 2 — The Illusion of Control

Daniel crouched beside me, his tailored suit pulling tight across his shoulders. He smelled of expensive cologne, aged scotch, and betrayal.