Chapter 3: The Truth Comes Out
The investigation exploded across Atlanta within days.
News stations ran the story nonstop.
The golden couple had become the city's biggest scandal.
Reporters uncovered everything.
The affair.
The financial fraud.
The forged signatures.
The attempt to steal Ava's inheritance.
Then investigators found something even worse.
Traffic cameras.
Dozens of them.
Footage showed the black luxury sedan stopping near Exit 38.
It showed the passenger door opening.
It showed Ava falling onto the gravel shoulder.
And it showed the car driving away.
The footage aired nationwide.
Public opinion turned instantly.
Sienna disappeared from social media.
Sponsors dropped her.
Former friends stopped answering her calls.
Meanwhile, Landon faced criminal charges.
Fraud.
Embezzlement.
Forgery.
Reckless endangerment.
Attempted homicide investigations were still underway.
The evidence kept growing.
One afternoon, Ava received a request.
Landon wanted to see her.
Against her lawyers' advice, she agreed.
The meeting took place inside a detention facility.
Landon looked ten years older.
Dark circles hung beneath his eyes.
The confidence was gone.
"Ava," he said softly.
She remained silent.
"I made mistakes."
"Mistakes?" she asked.
"You threw your pregnant wife onto an interstate."
He lowered his head.
"I panicked."
"No."
Ava leaned forward.
"You got greedy."
Tears filled his eyes.
For years he had dreamed of controlling Marlowe Holdings.
And now he owned nothing.
Not even his freedom.
"I loved you once," he whispered.
Ava stood.
"Then you should have acted like it."
Those were the last words she ever spoke to him.
As she walked away, Landon finally understood something.
He had never lost because Ava was stronger.
He lost because he underestimated her.
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And by the time he realized who she really was—
It was too late.
