Chapter 4

Valerie.

“Say something, please,” I begged as he was still silent.

“Daniel transferred everything you inherited to his name. He's the current owner of everything your parents worked for.”

My heart sank like a stone as my brain processed everything Ares just said. Daniel transferred the shares that I haven't even been able to access to himself. It felt like a betrayal, a knife twisting in my gut.

“You're joking, right?” I forced myself to ask but Ares didn't respond or give any facial movement. I felt as though the ground had been ripped out from beneath me, leaving me suspended in a void of disbelief and despair. How could Daniel, the man I had loved and trusted with all my heart, betray me in such a cruel and calculating manner? He knew they were the only things I had to remind me of my late parents and he took them?

Tears welled up in my eyes once more as I struggled to process the magnitude of his betrayal. I felt like a puppet whose strings had been cut, left to flounder in a world that had suddenly turned cold and hostile.

"No, you're lying. He... he can't do that," I stammered, my voice trembling with emotion. "I couldn't even access them because of the conditions attached to it. It's not possible."

Ares nodded sympathetically, his expression mirroring my own sense of outrage. "But unfortunately, Valerie, it seems it is. He has already announced it to the public, with a very convincing excuse at that.”

“How come?” The tears began to drop one by one.

“First, he claimed you were involved in an accident and to avoid losing claim over the properties, he temporarily transferred it to himself. He went to get some work done and by the time he returned, he saw you with another man, running away from him.”

“What?! That son of a!” I cursed. “He dares accuse me of infidelity? After cheating on me? After making me almost die in that building?”

“How did you even get into that building in the first place? Didn't you suspect anything when you noticed it was empty?”

 I began to stammer, remembering who pushed me to go there in the first place. Could it have been a trick? Couldn't my anonymous friend be one of Daniel's puppets? Could that be why all my plans to get him to touch me failed? Could it be because I was chatting with Daniel himself?

“That doesn't matter,” I tried to bury the topic. Ares would only see me as stupid if I told him I was craving my husband's touch, so I stupidly believed every worker was absent for a so-called meeting. “I have to find a way to get my inheritance back. I have to find a way to expose that liar for who he truly is. Can you help me?”

“What makes you think I, Ares Allen, would help you, the wife of my nephew?”

I found myself staring at this man with a raised brow. What was I thinking? Of course, he wanted something in return. If not, he could have dumped me on the road or returned me to the family house where they'd happily end me without anyone knowing. I was going to respond with what I could possibly give someone as powerful as him, but that would be giving him the upper hand and I couldn't afford that. I could not afford to trust an Allen at this point. 

“You desire the downfall of your brother, right? Taking Daniel down would bring you one step closer to your goal.”

He immediately burst into laughter, a laughter that lasted for about ten seconds before he turned to face me. “Daniel is a mere ant I could destroy with a feather-like tap of my finger. I don't need help taking the boy down.”

I was rendered speechless for the first few seconds then I remembered I was speaking to Ares Allen, the first son of Alpha Edward Allen, one of the top Billionaires in the neighborhood packs. Daniel was truly an ant compared to him. Despite my parents' wealth, I was also an ant, a being not even worthy enough to be in his presence and here I am, proposing a useless deal. 

“Then what do you…?” I started but was cut off by a knock on the door. 

“Master, the lawyer is here,” The lady from before said, and with a nod from Ares, the lawyer who was definitely double my age walked in with a suitcase and then gave a bow before finding a place to sit, only after Ares gave him permission to. 

“We'd get back to what's in it for me if I help you,” he said to me before facing the man. “Lawyer, this is Valerie. The lady I told you about. Is there a way to get the properties back?” Ares asked and I gulped, crossing my hands and expecting a positive answer. 

“It's a 50/50 chance, sir. According to the press statement made by Young Mr. Allen Daniel, he only took the properties because he thought he would lose his wife and would not be able to take care of the last things left by his in-laws. The press statement about Young Mrs. Allen having extramarital affairs complicates the matter further sir.”

“But it's not true!” I groaned in frustration. 

“I spoke to my colleagues and if it is confirmed that she is truly in a relationship with another man, it would be almost impossible to get the properties back. That is because the condition of having a child for her actual husband hasn't been met and she was tagged as an unloyal wife. If we suggest taking it to court, no judge would favor a woman with such an image.”

“What if we can prove that the marriage was an unhappy one? Is there still a way to get them back?” Ares asked, and I turned to face the Lawyer hoping for a positive response.

“Then she'd have to bring proof and also meet the condition of having a baby within thirty days of signing the inheritance transfer papers. In my opinion, there's no way she can meet those requirements. Or can you, Miss Valerie?” The lawyer asked and I pursed my lips into a straight line.