Hands under my shirt

Serena’s POV:

Charles’s eyes stayed locked on the shape under my shirt.

He stepped in close. One hand gripped my arm. The other slid under the fabric of my top

without asking. His fingers brushed the bare skin of my stomach as he searched for the

folder. The touch was gentle and slow. Heat followed every place his hand moved.

I froze.

His eyes darkened. Something hungry showed in them for the first time since he forced me

into this house. He kept his hand there longer than he needed to. His palm pressed flat

against my skin. His thumb moved once, almost like he couldn’t stop it.

“Stop,

” I said. My voice came out low.

He did not pull away.

“You are my wife. I can touch what belongs to me.

”

“I’m not yours to touch.

”

“You are, for six months.

” His hand finally closed around the folder and pulled it free. Papers

spilled across the floor between us. He still stood close enough that I felt the heat coming off

his body.

“Remember that the next time you hide something under your clothes.

”

I shoved his chest. He barely moved. The hungry look faded but did not fully leave his eyes.

He bent and picked up the papers.

Bank records from three years ago covered the floor. My name sat next to every large transfer

that emptied the company accounts. The signatures next to my name looked close to mine

but the loops were wrong. The S was shaped differently.

Charles went still as he studied the pages.

“This isn’t my writing,

” I said.

“Someone copied my name and used it to move the money.

”

He compared the forged signatures to ones he clearly remembered. His jaw tightened. The

truth sat right in front of him and he could not deny the difference.

“Who had access to the way you signed papers back then?” he asked.

“Daniel and people on the team. A few others at the firm. I don’t remember every name.

”

He gathered every page and stood. The hunger in his eyes was gone now. Only cold focus

remained.

“These stay with me. You will not search this house alone again.

”

He left and locked the door.

I paced the room with my hands still shaking from the way he had touched me. The folder

was gone but the proof was real. Someone had used my name on purpose. Someone who

knew how I wrote my signature. Someone who wanted me to take the full blame.

When the staff unlocked the door for lunch I went downstairs. Charles sat at the long table

with more papers. We ate in silence. The air between us felt charged and heavy. Every time

his eyes met mine, I remembered his hand on my bare skin and the way he had claimed the

right to touch me.

After the plates were cleared he stood.

closed to you.

”

“Stay out of the west wing. That part of the house is

I waited until he left. Then I walked straight toward the west wing. The double doors stood

half open. I slipped through.

The air felt quieter here. I moved past closed rooms until I reached the one at the end. The

door opened under my hand.

Daniel’s private office.

A large desk sat in the center. Shelves of files lined the walls. A heavy safe stood in the

corner. There was a framed photo of Daniel and Charles together on the desk, both smiling,

taken only weeks before everything fell apart.

I opened the top drawer. Loose photos filled it. Daniel at events. Daniel with people I did not

know. Then one photo stopped my breath.

It showed Daniel and me standing outside a building at night. My face was clear. I held a

black folder in my hands exactly like the one that had held the forged bank records. The

photo was taken the same night he disappeared.

I turned it over. A date was written on the back. Under the date were three words in dark ink.

“She knows too much.

”

I slid the photo into my back pocket and closed the drawer.

A soft sound came from the doorway.

I turned.

An older woman stood there. Silver-blonde hair. Icy blue eyes. Perfect clothes. She looked at

me like she had already decided I should not leave this room alive.

“You shouldn’t be in here,

” she said. Her voice was smooth and cold.

I knew her face from old news photos. Evelyn Humphrey. Charles and Daniel’s mother.

She stepped inside and shut the door.

him. He did not listen.

”

“My son brought a problem into this house. I warned

“I found proof my name was forged on the papers that destroyed the company,

” I said.

“Paper can be made to lie.

” She walked closer.

“Daniel is gone because of you. The family

almost lost everything because of you. Now you walk these halls like you have the right.

”

“I did not take your son.

”

“You were the last person with him. That’s all I need to know.

”

Her eyes dropped to my pocket.

“What did you put there?”

“Nothing.

”

“Do not lie in my house.

”

She reached for a button on the wall.

“Security will be here in under a minute. They will

search you. They will find whatever you stole. Then my son will see you for what you are.

”

I had no time left.

I shoved past her with all my strength and she stumbled. I yanked the door open and ran into

the hallway.

Men in dark suits appeared at the far end. I spun the other way and kept running.

A hard hand caught my arm and jerked me around.

Charles stood in front of me. His face was set like stone. His mother stepped into the hall

from behind him.

“She was in Daniel’s office,

” Evelyn said. Her voice never rose.

her now.

”

“She took something. Search

Charles looked down at me. His grip on my arm was tight enough to hurt. The same hand

that had slid under my shirt earlier now held me in place like he owned every part of me.

His eyes burned with anger and something darker.

“Last chance,

” he said.

“Show me what you took or I will take it from you myself.

”