Marry My Ex-husband's Rival

I ended the call, my hands trembling as I dropped the phone onto the carpet. The room spun around me, Nathaniel's threats playing on repeat in my mind. A sob caught in my throat, but I forced it down. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of breaking me.

The mattress creaked as Leo sat beside me on the floor. His hand found my shoulder, steady and warm. The simple touch cut through the chaos in my head, grounding me back to reality.

"You handled that well," Leo said, his voice barely above a whisper. His dark eyes studied my face, concern etched in the lines around his mouth. "But he won't stop there."

I drew in a shaky breath and nodded. The weight of everything - my father's murder, Nathaniel's betrayal, the lies that had shaped my marriage - pressed down on my chest. "What do I do now?"

Leo's fingers tightened on my shoulder. The warmth of his touch spread through me, chasing away some of the cold dread Nathaniel had left behind. When I looked up at him, his expression had changed. Gone was the polished businessman I'd first met. In his place sat someone harder, dangerous - someone who knew exactly how to handle men like my husband.

His eyes darkened as he spoke. "We fight."

I followed Leo through the dimly lit hallway, my heart still racing from Nathaniel's call. He stopped at a bookshelf and pressed something - I couldn't see what - and the entire unit swung inward with a soft click.

The room behind it took my breath away. Screens covered the walls, each displaying different camera feeds - street corners, building entrances, parking lots. A massive desk dominated the center, its surface buried under stacks of manila folders marked with bold red stamps.

"Sit." Leo pulled out a leather chair.

I sank into it, taking in the maps pinned to corkboards, the strings connecting locations, the photos of people I recognized from charity galas and newspaper headlines. This wasn't just an office - it was a command center.

"Nathaniel's empire is built on three pillars," Leo said, spreading documents across the desk. "His real estate holdings, his political connections, and his ability to manipulate the media. To dismantle him, we need to target all three."

My eyes caught on a list of numbers - account transfers to banks in the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, Dubai. I ran my finger down the column. "How?"

Leo perched on the edge of the desk beside me. His rolled sleeves revealed intricate tattoos I hadn't noticed before - a serpent wrapped around a blood-red rose, its scales catching the blue light from the monitors. "First, we expose the fraud in his property acquisitions. Your father's records could help."

The mention of my father sent ice through my veins. "He destroyed them."

"Not all." Leo crossed to a wall safe hidden behind a painting. The door swung open with a soft hiss. He pulled out a worn leather ledger and placed it in front of me.

My throat tightened as I recognized the neat columns of numbers in my father's precise handwriting. Every transaction, every deal, documented in perfect detail.

"How did you—?" The words caught in my throat as I stared at my father's handwriting, each careful stroke a ghost of his presence.

"Your father trusted me," Leo said quietly. "Years ago, he suspected Nathaniel. He gave me copies before..." He trailed off, but the unspoken before he died hung between us.

Tears blurred the pages as I traced the familiar curves of his numbers. Even in death, my father had tried to protect me. The thought pierced my heart like a blade.

Leo's hand covered mine, warm and steady against my trembling fingers. "We'll make this right."

I wiped my eyes and focused on the ledger. Page after page detailed properties, transactions, shell companies - a web of corruption that stretched back years. My stomach twisted as I recognized addresses of buildings where families had been evicted, businesses forced to close. All part of Nathaniel's grand plan.

"There's more." Leo pulled another folder from the safe. Inside were photos - Nathaniel shaking hands with people I'd seen in the news. Politicians. Judges. Each image dated and timestamped.

"Your father was thorough," Leo said. "He documented everything."

A metallic taste filled my mouth as anger replaced grief. "We can destroy him with this."

"Yes." Leo's expression hardened.