Chapter 5 - The Bride Who Wanted Her Dead
The city awoke to the largest corruption scandal in its history.
Judges resigned before breakfast. Police commanders disappeared from their offices. Executives denied signatures printed in their own ledgers. News stations displayed photographs of Saint Aurelia’s Cathedral while reporters spoke of organized crime, political bribery, and decades of hidden murders.
Carlo Valenti was charged with conspiracy, racketeering, kidnapping, and multiple homicides.
Susie faced charges for Theo’s abduction, attempted murder, and directing attacks against Hale properties.
Jasper’s name appeared on every screen.
Some called him a whistleblower.
Others called him a criminal who had sacrificed his allies to save himself.
The truth was more complicated.
He gave prosecutors access to the Hale organization’s illegal records, including crimes committed under his leadership. In exchange for protection for employees who cooperated and immunity for people coerced into minor roles, Jasper agreed to testify.
He did not ask for immunity for himself.
When Ivy learned this, she stormed into his study at the Hale mansion.
“You could go to prison.”
Jasper stood behind his desk, signing documents.
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“I am telling you now.”
“After you made the decision.”
“You would have tried to stop me.”
“Of course I would.”
“That is why I waited.”
Ivy stared at him. “That may be the worst logic I have ever heard.”
“It was effective.”
She crossed the room and pulled the pen from his hand.
“Stop behaving as though sacrificing yourself is noble.”
“I committed crimes.”
“You also spent years dismantling your father’s worst operations.”
“That does not erase what I did.”
“No. But punishment and destruction are not always the same thing.”
Jasper looked at her steadily. “Your father died because of my family.”
“My father died helping your mother expose both families. Do not use his death as an excuse to throw away the chance he tried to create.”
The words struck him into silence.
Ivy’s anger softened.
“You think pain is a debt,” she said. “You think if enough bad things happen to you, the people you lost will somehow be repaid.”
His gaze dropped.
“They won’t,” she continued. “Your mother did not leave that letter so you could bury yourself beside her.”
“What would you have me do?”
“Tell the truth. Accept responsibility. Then live differently.”
Jasper looked toward the windows.
“I do not know how.”
“Neither does anyone. We do it badly until we learn.”
A faint breath of laughter escaped him.
Ivy placed the pen back on the desk.
“I’m still furious with you.”
“I assumed.”
“And this does not mean everything between us is suddenly simple.”
“Nothing about you has been simple.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“It was a compliment.”
“You need practice.”
“I have been told.”
For three weeks, Jasper testified behind closed doors.
During that time, the Hale empire began to transform. Illegal shipping routes were surrendered. Shell companies were dissolved. Properties used for criminal operations were transferred to legitimate trusts. The Hale Foundation expanded its funding for victims of organized crime.
Owen became the public director of the family’s remaining legal businesses.
Theo enrolled in a financial recovery program and began working part-time at the museum, cataloging restoration records. He still carried guilt, but he no longer hid it behind lies.
Ivy returned to the cathedral.
The fresco had survived the attack with only minor damage. She spent hours repairing cracks made by bullets and falling metal. Jasper visited whenever legal meetings allowed, usually standing quietly beneath the scaffolding.
One evening, Ivy climbed down to find him waiting with two cups of coffee.
“Is this an attempt at romance?” she asked.
“I was told flowers would be ineffective.”
“Correct.”
“And you drink coffee.”
“Also correct.”
“So far, I’m succeeding.”
She accepted the cup.
They sat on a wooden bench beneath the restored angels.
“What happens after your testimony?” Ivy asked.
“The prosecutor recommends sentencing. My attorneys believe I may avoid prison because I exposed the network and provided evidence.”
“But?”
“There are people who want me punished regardless.”
“Do you?”
Jasper stared into his coffee.
“A part of me does.”
“And the rest?”
“The rest wants something I have never allowed myself to want.”
Ivy’s heartbeat changed.
“What?”
He turned toward her.
“You.”
There was no performance in the word. No seduction. Only a frightening degree of honesty.
Ivy set down her coffee.
“You’re still surrounded by danger.”
“Less than before.”
“You make decisions for everyone.”
“I am attempting to improve.”
“You investigate women after meeting them.”
“That was necessary.”
“It was disturbing.”
“I can admit both.”
Despite herself, she smiled.
Jasper leaned closer but stopped before touching her.
“I will not ask you to enter my life while you believe you owe me gratitude for saving Theo.”
“I don’t.”
“Good.”
“I am grateful,” she said. “But that isn’t why I’m here.”
“Why are you?”
Ivy looked at the face of the angel above them. Her father had once stood in the same chapel, choosing danger because he believed the truth mattered. Jasper’s mother had trusted him.
Perhaps their children had met by chance.
Perhaps some accidents carried the weight of unfinished promises.
“I’m here because beneath all the terrifying silence and terrible communication, I think you’re trying to become a good man.”
Jasper’s gaze darkened with emotion.
“And if I fail?”
“Then try again.”
He touched her cheek.
This time, Ivy closed the distance.
Their first kiss was quiet.
No dramatic music. No declarations. Only Jasper’s hand trembling almost imperceptibly against her face and Ivy realizing that the most controlled man she had ever known was afraid she might pull away.
She did not.
The kiss deepened slowly, carrying all the tension that had begun beneath subway lights. When they separated, Jasper rested his forehead against hers.
“I have thought about doing that since the restaurant,” he said.
“You were engaged at the restaurant.”
“I said thought. Not acted.”
“An important distinction.”
He almost smiled.
Then the cathedral lights went out.
Ivy froze.
Jasper stood immediately, moving her behind him.
A phone began ringing on the restoration table.
Not Ivy’s.
Not Jasper’s.
A burner phone had been placed beneath a cloth.
Jasper answered on speaker.
Susie’s voice filled the chapel.
“Did you really think prison walls could keep me from finishing this?”
Jasper’s face went cold.
“You’re in federal custody.”
“Was.”
Ivy’s stomach tightened.
“How?” Jasper asked.
“My father had friends whose names never appeared in your precious ledger.”
A live video appeared on the phone.
Theo sat bound inside a moving vehicle.
Ivy gripped Jasper’s arm.
Susie continued, “You destroyed my family, Jasper. Now I’m going to take hers apart one person at a time.”
“Tell me what you want.”
“You.”
A location appeared on the screen.
An unfinished tower owned by Hale Development.
“Come alone before midnight,” Susie said. “Or Theo falls thirty floors.”
The call ended.
Ivy looked at the time.
They had forty-three minutes.
“You’re not going alone,” she said.
“I am.”
“No.”
“She wants me.”
“She wants to hurt you. Killing Theo is only part of it.”
“I will not risk his life.”
“And I will not let you walk into a trap without a plan.”
Jasper started to protest.
Ivy took his face between her hands.
“You said you’re trying to improve.”
“This is different.”
“It is always different when you’re frightened.”
His eyes held hers.
Then he nodded once.
They called Owen.
A tracking specialist traced the live video’s metadata while Jasper and Ivy drove toward the tower. Federal agents were notified, but Susie had warned she would kill Theo if she saw police.
The unfinished skyscraper rose above the city like a skeleton of glass and steel. Wind screamed through its open floors.
Jasper entered visibly alone.
Ivy and Owen used a service tunnel connected to the adjacent building.
On the thirtieth floor, Theo knelt near the open edge, a rope around his chest attached to a construction crane. Susie stood behind him holding a remote trigger.
Jasper approached with empty hands.
“Release him.”
“You chose her,” Susie said.
“Yes.”
The answer struck her harder than denial.
“You were supposed to marry me.”
“I was supposed to sign an agreement. You turned it into ownership.”
“I gave you years.”
“You gave me strategy.”
Her hand tightened around the remote.
“And she gave you what? A nap on a train?”
“She gave me a reason to stop living like a weapon.”
Susie laughed, but tears filled her eyes.
“You humiliated me.”
“I ended an arrangement.”
“You made everyone see that I was not enough.”
“This was never about your worth.”
“It is now.”
She pressed a button.
The crane mechanism activated.
Theo’s rope tightened, dragging him toward the edge.
Jasper lunged.
Susie raised her gun.
A shot cracked across the open floor.
Jasper staggered.
Blood spread across his chest.
Hidden behind a concrete column, Ivy covered her mouth to keep from screaming.
Theo slid closer to the edge.
Owen moved toward the crane controls.
Susie saw him and fired again.
Ivy stepped into view.
“Susie!”
Susie turned.
Ivy held the metal box that had once contained the ledger.
“You want what he chose?” Ivy called. “Then take it.”
She threw the box across the floor.
Susie instinctively looked toward it.
Jasper struck her wrist, knocking away the gun. Owen stopped the crane, but Theo’s momentum carried him over the edge.
The rope snapped tight.
Jasper, wounded, dropped to the floor and caught the line with both hands.
Ivy and Owen grabbed it beside him.
Together, they pulled Theo back onto the platform.
Susie crawled toward the fallen gun.
Theo kicked it away.
Federal agents stormed the floor seconds later.
Susie was restrained, screaming Jasper’s name as medics rushed toward him.
Ivy knelt beside Jasper.
Blood covered her hands.
“Stay with me.”
His face had gone pale.
“Ivy.”
“I’m here.”
“If this ends badly—”
“It won’t.”
“You cannot restore everything.”
Tears blurred her vision.
“No,” she whispered. “But I can stay while it heals.”
May you like
His fingers closed weakly around hers.
Then his eyes shut.
