Chapter 1 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE FOUNDATION
The ballroom remained silent long after Selena disappeared through the doors.
Nobody knew what to say.
The music had stopped.
The orchestra stood frozen near the stage.
Hundreds of guests stared at me.
Some looked embarrassed.
Some looked curious.
Others were already whispering into their phones.
I stood beneath the chandeliers wearing Arthur's coat over my torn blue dress.
Five minutes earlier, I had been the woman everyone thought was an outsider.
Now they knew my name.
Aria Monroe.
Founder.
Majority owner.
The person whose signature could decide the future of the foundation they had come to celebrate.
Arthur stood beside me.
His expression was calm.
But I could feel the tension in his shoulders.
He leaned closer.
“Are you sure you're all right?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“You're shaking.”
“Not anymore.”
He looked at me for a moment.
Then he smiled.
“That is my girl.”
I looked toward the crowd.
“I don't want this to become about me.”
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
“Someone tore your dress in front of five hundred people.”
“I know.”
“And you still don't want attention?”
“No.”
“Why?”
I looked toward the stage.
“Because the children we're helping are more important.”
Arthur's expression softened.
That was why he had helped me build the foundation.
Not for publicity.
Not for business.
Not for the family name.
Because of my mother.
She had spent years visiting doctors who couldn't explain why she kept getting weaker.
By the time someone finally understood what was happening, it was too late.
She died in a hospital hallway while I was twenty-three.
I never forgot the look on her face.
Not fear.
Disappointment.
She had believed medicine would save her.
It hadn't.
So I created the Monroe Children's Foundation.
I wanted children to receive answers before it was too late.
The gala was supposed to raise enough money to open three rural pediatric diagnostic centers.
Tonight's humiliation had almost made me forget why I was there.
I stepped toward the stage.
The orchestra looked at Arthur.
He nodded.
The music began again.
I took the microphone.
The room gradually quieted.
“I know everyone has questions.”
A few guests exchanged looks.
“I also know tonight did not go as planned.”
A nervous laugh moved through the room.
I smiled.
“But before anything else, I want to thank everyone who came here for the children.”
The large screen behind me lit up.
Photographs appeared.
Children in hospital beds.
Parents holding their hands.
Doctors working late.
Families receiving diagnoses.
The room changed.
People stopped looking at my dress.
They started looking at the screen.
I continued.
“My mother spent the final year of her life searching for an answer no doctor could give her.”
I paused.
“She didn't get one.”
The room was completely silent.
“So I promised her something.”
I looked at the photographs.
“No child should have to wait until it is too late.”
Applause began.
Then more people joined.
Within seconds, the entire ballroom was clapping.
Arthur stood near the stage.
His eyes were wet.
I had never seen him cry.
Not once.
But he looked away.
After the speech, donations increased dramatically.
Several guests pledged millions.
One doctor promised to work at the new diagnostic center.
A hospital director offered equipment.
The night that had started with humiliation ended with the largest fundraising total in foundation history.
But I knew something was wrong.
Arthur noticed it too.
As guests began leaving, he walked toward me.
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“My office.”
“Why?”
He didn't answer.
That worried me.
We entered a private room upstairs.
Arthur closed the door.
His security chief, Marcus, was waiting.
Marcus placed a tablet on the desk.
“We found this.”
I looked at the screen.
It showed Selena.
She was sitting inside a black SUV outside the hotel.
She was on the phone.
Her face was furious.
I watched the recording.
“You promised me she would be removed.”
A man's voice answered.
“That was before we knew she was the owner.”
Selena slammed her hand against the seat.
“I don't care who she is.”
“You should.”
“She embarrassed me.”
“Selena, listen to me.”
The voice became colder.
“She owns more than the foundation.”
Selena went quiet.
“What do you mean?”
The man answered:
“She controls the Monroe family trust.”
My heart stopped.
Arthur looked at me.
The recording continued.
“If she discovers what her father did, she won't just remove you.”
“She'll destroy us.”
Selena whispered:
“Then we make sure she never discovers it.”
The recording ended.
I stared at Arthur.
“What did my father do?”
Arthur didn't answer.
“Arthur.”
He took a slow breath.
“There are things your father hid from you.”
“What things?”
“Financial agreements.”
“With whom?”
Arthur looked at Marcus.
Marcus placed another folder on the desk.
I opened it.
The first document was dated twenty-seven years earlier.
The signature at the bottom belonged to my father.
The other signature belonged to a man named Victor Voss.
Selena's father.
I looked up.
“My father knew Selena's family?”
Arthur nodded.
“They were business partners.”
I turned the page.
My stomach tightened.
The agreement wasn't about the foundation.
It was about my inheritance.
And according to the document, Victor Voss had been given temporary control of several Monroe family assets.
Temporary.
But the agreement had never been canceled.
Arthur looked at me.
“That document could give Selena's father a claim against your estate.”
I stared at the page.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because your father died before he could explain.”
I looked at Arthur.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
He didn't answer.
“Arthur.”
“Twenty years.”
My heart sank.
“You knew for twenty years?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
He stepped closer.
“Aria—”
“No.”
I closed the folder.
“If someone has been trying to take my family's assets for twenty years, I want the truth.”
Arthur nodded.
“You deserve it.”
Then Marcus's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Sir.”
Arthur looked at him.
“What?”
“They found Victor.”
Arthur went completely still.
“Where?”
Marcus looked at me.
“He's downstairs.”
I froze.
“Victor Voss is here?”
Marcus nodded.
“He requested a meeting.”
Arthur looked toward the door.
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“He didn't come here to negotiate.”
“What did he come for?”
May you like
Arthur looked at me.
“You.”
