Chapter 3 - The Identity I Buried Before Marriage
The door behind Hunter opened slowly.
Nobody spoke.
For a few seconds, the only sound in the room was the ticking of the grandfather clock.
Then a voice came from the hallway.
"I think it's time we stop pretending."
I turned.
A man in his sixties stood there.
My father.
Richard Morgan.
He had never needed to raise his voice to control a room.
He had built companies with handshakes.
He had negotiated deals worth billions without changing his expression.
And now he was standing inside my husband's mansion, looking at Hunter like a disappointed businessman looking at a failed investment.
"Hunter Blake."
My husband's face changed.
Not confusion.
Not surprise.
Fear.
That told me everything.
"You know my father?"
I looked at Hunter.
He didn't answer.
My father walked into the room and placed a leather folder on the glass table.
The same table where Patricia had placed the rental agreement less than an hour earlier.
The same table where they tried to put a price on my place in their family.
Funny how quickly things changed.
"Actually," my father said, "I know his family."
Patricia stood.
"Richard, this is unnecessary."
My father's eyes moved to her.
"No, Patricia."
His voice was calm.
"Unnecessary was demanding money from my daughter while pretending you didn't know exactly who she was."
The room became silent.
My daughter.
Those words always sounded strange to me when he said them.
Not because I wasn't his daughter.
Because I spent years trying to escape being Richard Morgan's daughter.
Growing up, my name opened every door.
But it also closed many others.
People didn't know me.
They knew my father's reputation.
They knew the Morgan family.
They knew the empire.
They knew the money.
That was why I changed everything.
At twenty-two, I left home.
I stopped using my family's connections.
I moved into a small apartment.
I accepted an entry-level position at a company where nobody knew my last name.
I wanted to know who I was without the protection of wealth.
Without the expectations.
Without people wondering what they could gain from me.
And then I met Hunter.
He was the first person who looked at me and saw only Tess.
Or at least, that was what I believed.
My father looked at Hunter.
"You reviewed her background before proposing."
Hunter's expression hardened.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
My father opened the folder.
"Don't insult my intelligence."
He removed several pages.
"Your mother hired a private investigator six months before the wedding."
Patricia immediately looked away.
I noticed.
Hunter noticed too.
"You knew?"
I asked.
Patricia's face remained cold.
"We needed to protect our family."
I stared at her.
"From me?"
She didn't answer.
My father continued.
"The investigation confirmed Tess's identity."
He placed a document on the table.
"Majority shareholder of Apex Capital Partners."
Another page.
"Owner of multiple properties."
Another.
"Beneficiary of the Morgan family trust."
He looked at Hunter.
"You knew exactly who you were marrying."
Hunter finally spoke.
"I found out later."
My father smiled slightly.
A dangerous smile.
"No."
He tapped the document.
"You found out before the engagement."
My stomach tightened.
I looked at Hunter.
"Before?"
He stepped forward.
"Tess, listen."
I moved back.
That was the first time I had physically stepped away from him.
And he noticed.
Because his expression changed.
"I was going to tell you."
"When?"
My voice was quieter than I expected.
"After we married?"
He didn't respond.
"After I signed something?"
His silence became unbearable.
I looked at Patricia.
The agreement.
The rent.
The pressure.
None of it was random.
It was part of something bigger.
"You were testing me."
Hunter shook his head.
"No."
"Then what was this?"
I pointed at the contract.
"Tell me what this was."
He looked at his mother.
That was the mistake.
Because I saw him searching for permission.
Not an answer.
Permission.
And suddenly, I understood.
Hunter didn't make decisions alone.
He never had.
Patricia controlled everything.
The image.
The reputation.
The family.
And maybe now, my marriage.
My father walked toward me.
"Tess, come home."
I looked at him.
"I don't need you to save me."
His expression softened.
"I know."
That surprised me.
"I know you don't."
He glanced at Hunter.
"But I should have protected you better."
For years, I had been angry at my father.
Not because he was wealthy.
Not because he was powerful.
Because his world had always felt like a cage.
But standing there, watching him defend me, I realized something.
He had never wanted me to hide because he was ashamed of me.
He wanted me to hide because he knew what people would do once they saw what I had.
And Hunter had just proven him right.
"I loved you."
The words came from behind me.
I turned.
Hunter looked broken.
Not angry.
Not arrogant.
Broken.
"I did love you."
I wanted to believe him.
That was the worst part.
A part of me still wanted to.
Because love doesn't disappear just because someone hurts you.
It fights.
It argues.
It searches for explanations.
"Then why?"
I asked.
"Why did you let your mother treat me like I was worthless?"
Hunter looked down.
"I thought..."
He stopped.
"Say it."
He swallowed.
"I thought if you experienced normal life, you would understand what it was like for people who didn't grow up like you."
I stared at him.
Normal life.
That was what he called humiliation.
Being judged.
Being charged rent by your own husband.
"You wanted to teach me a lesson?"
"No."
His voice became desperate.
"I wanted to know if you loved me."
I laughed quietly.
The sound surprised even me.
"You wanted proof?"
He nodded slightly.
"I didn't know if you chose me because I was Hunter Blake."
That sentence hurt.
Because it revealed everything.
He had been afraid I was using him.
So he decided to test me.
He decided to create a situation where I had to prove myself.
But he never considered what I had already sacrificed.
My identity.
My comfort.
My world.
I chose him when I had everything.
And he questioned me because I had hidden it.
"You wanted to know if I loved you."
I looked at him.
"But did you ever ask yourself if you loved me?"
Hunter went quiet.
Nobody defended him.
Not even Patricia.
My father closed the folder.
"Tess."
I looked at him.
"There's something else."
The way he said it made my heart tighten.
"What?"
He looked at Hunter.
Then back at me.
"The wedding wasn't the first time they tried to get close to the Morgan family."
Patricia's face changed.
A small reaction.
But enough.
"What does that mean?"
My father didn't answer immediately.
He pulled out another document.
A financial record.
With Hunter Blake's name on it.
My hands went cold.
"What is that?"
My father placed it in front of me.
"A transfer."
I looked down.
The amount made my breath stop.
Five hundred thousand dollars.
The date was three weeks before Hunter proposed.
I looked at Hunter.
He didn't deny it.
And that scared me more than anything.
"Who sent this money?"
I whispered.
My father looked at Patricia.
Then he said one name.
A name I never expected.
"Your uncle."
The room went completely silent.
Then my phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
Unknown number.
May you like
One sentence.
"Ask Hunter what happened the night your uncle disappeared."
