Chapter 2 - The Woman in the Black Dress
Madison Cole arrived at Mitchell Meridian as a financial consultant.
She was intelligent, polished, and ambitious. She wore perfectly tailored black dresses and carried herself like someone who had spent her entire life preparing to enter powerful rooms.
Jason introduced her during a board meeting.
“Madison will be reviewing our international accounts,” he said. “She has experience locating weaknesses in corporate structures.”
The phrase stayed with me.
Locating weaknesses.
At first, Madison was friendly. She complimented my designs, asked about the company’s history, and told me she admired what I had created.
Then I began seeing her everywhere Jason was.
Business dinners.
Conferences.
Weekend meetings.
Private flights that supposedly required immediate financial discussions.
Whenever I questioned him, Jason acted offended.
“She works for us.”
“She works almost exclusively with you.”
“Are you jealous of an employee?”
“I’m concerned about our marriage.”
“You’re becoming paranoid, Iris.”
Paranoid.
It became his favorite word.
If I asked why he returned home after midnight, I was paranoid.
If I noticed hotel charges on our accounts, I was paranoid.
If I questioned why Madison had access to confidential trust documents, I was paranoid and unstable.
Jason began telling other people the same thing.
At a company dinner, he placed his hand over mine and announced that I had been struggling with exhaustion.
“Iris needs rest,” he said. “She’s been confused lately.”
I stared at him.
“I’m not confused.”
His fingers tightened around my hand beneath the table.
Everyone thought he was comforting me.
He was warning me.
Two weeks later, the board voted to place me on temporary medical leave.
Jason had obtained a letter from a doctor I had never met. It claimed I was suffering from severe anxiety and should avoid making major corporate decisions.
The signature was fake.
I knew it immediately, but Jason had prepared for my objection.
He produced emails that appeared to show me discussing memory loss and emotional instability.
I had never written them.
Still, four board members accepted the evidence.
Three others were unsure.
Only Arthur Bell, the company’s elderly legal adviser and one of my father’s closest friends, openly challenged Jason.
“This is highly irregular,” Arthur said.
Jason smiled.
“This is necessary to protect the company.”
I left the meeting humiliated.
That evening, I searched Jason’s home office while he showered.
Inside a locked desk drawer, I found copies of the trust documents, private medical records, and a folder labeled Corporate Transfer.
Before I could read it, Jason appeared in the doorway.
“What are you doing?”
His voice was quiet.
That frightened me more than shouting would have.
“This is my father’s trust,” I said. “Why do you have copies?”
He stepped into the room and closed the door.
“I manage our legal affairs.”
“You have no authority to change the trust.”
“I know.”
I held up the Corporate Transfer folder.
“What is this?”
He crossed the room and took it from my hand.
His movements were controlled, but anger burned behind his eyes.
“You went through my desk.”
“This concerns my company.”
“Our company.”
“My father’s trust controls it.”
The control disappeared from his face.
He threw the folder onto the desk.
“You think you built everything alone because your father left you a workshop and some drawings?”
“I never said that.”
“You never had to say it.”
Jason moved closer.
“I was the one who turned your little inventions into an empire. Without me, you would still be sitting in that leaking building, begging hospitals to return your calls.”
I stared at the man in front of me and realized I had not truly known him for years.
Perhaps I had never known him at all.
“You need to leave the office,” I said.
He laughed.
“Leave?”
“Yes.”
“From my own office?”
“From my house, if necessary.”
The laugh stopped.
For one terrible moment, I thought he might hurt me.
Instead, he stepped back and smiled.
“Be careful, Iris. People already think you’re unstable.”
May you like
The next morning, the Corporate Transfer folder was gone.
Three days later, I learned Jason and Madison were having an affair.
