Chapter 4 - The Price of a Peaceful Wedding
Arthur reached the staircase before Anthony could climb it.
They stared at each other across seventeen years.
Anthony had aged.
Arthur had not forgotten his eyes.
“You have thirty seconds,” Arthur said.
Anthony looked toward Chloe.
“You must be David's daughter.”
Chloe stiffened.
“You knew my father?”
“I owed him my life.”
Arthur stepped closer.
“Twenty-five seconds.”
Anthony almost smiled.
“You sound like Vincent.”
“Don't use his name.”
“I loved your father.”
“You disappeared after he died.”
“I disappeared because Malcolm believed I knew where Vincent put the evidence.”
“You did.”
“No.”
Anthony looked at Chloe.
“David did.”
Arthur's anger shifted.
“Why come back now?”
“Because the wedding happened.”
“It didn't.”
“I know. That's why you're both still alive.”
Chloe folded her arms over her stomach.
“Explain.”
Anthony did.
Vincent had discovered years earlier that Malcolm was using shell companies and forged agreements to siphon money from joint ventures.
When Vincent prepared to expose him, Malcolm threatened everyone involved.
Anthony panicked.
He gave Malcolm information.
Not enough to reveal the evidence.
Enough to make Vincent vulnerable.
“I betrayed my brother,” Anthony said.
Arthur's hands curled.
“And he died.”
“Yes.”
Arthur crossed the space between them.
Chloe said his name.
“Arthur.”
One word stopped him.
Anthony didn't move.
“I've lived with that for seventeen years.”
“Congratulations.”
“I can help you finish what Vincent started.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn't.”
Anthony reached into his coat slowly.
He produced a flash drive.
“But you can trust numbers.”
It contained financial records.
Years of them.
Payments linking Croft-controlled entities to false companies.
Records connected to Vincent's death.
David's death.
And recent payments related to Arthur's wedding.
Chloe saw one name repeated.
“Meridian Holdings.”
Arthur nodded.
The same company connected to 7-14-19.
“What does the number mean?” Chloe asked.
Anthony looked surprised.
“You found it?”
“Tell us.”
“July 14, 2019.”
Arthur frowned.
“That was six years ago.”
“The date Malcolm moved the Romano trust's dormant voting rights into a shell structure.”
“That isn't possible.”
“It was temporary. Vincent designed a safeguard. The transfer automatically reverses unless a Romano heir legally marries someone connected to the holding entity.”
Arthur understood.
“Vivien.”
Anthony nodded.
“The marriage was the final key.”
“And if I died afterward?”
“Vivien would inherit enough authority for Malcolm to challenge the trust.”
Chloe felt cold.
The wedding had never been peace.
It was paperwork.
Arthur's phone rang.
Vivien.
He answered.
She was crying.
“Arthur.”
“Where are you?”
“I got out.”
“Where?”
“The cathedral.”
Arthur looked at Chloe.
“Why would you go back there?”
“Because my father is here.”
“Leave.”
“I can't.”
“Vivien.”
“He has Leo.”
Arthur's head snapped up.
Anthony whispered, “No.”
Arthur put the call on speaker.
Vivien continued.
“My father says bring the documents from the lake house.”
“How does he know?”
Anthony closed his eyes.
Arthur understood.
“You led him here.”
“No,” Anthony said.
Vivien heard him.
“Anthony?”
Arthur stared at his uncle.
Vivien whispered, “Oh God.”
“What?” Chloe asked.
Vivien's breathing became ragged.
“My father told me Anthony Romano was dead.”
Arthur looked at Anthony.
Anthony's face had lost its color.
Then Vivien said, “Arthur, there's someone else here.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
A man's voice sounded faintly behind her.
Vivien gasped.
The phone dropped.
Arthur heard footsteps.
Then Malcolm's voice.
“Bring me what belongs to me.”
The call ended.
Arthur immediately called police through an attorney he trusted, sending copies of the evidence to multiple secure locations.
“No more private solutions,” Chloe said.
Arthur looked at her.
She held his gaze.
“This ends with evidence, witnesses, and people who can't make records disappear.”
Arthur nodded.
It was a different choice than his father might have made.
Maybe that was the point.
They returned toward Chicago.
Halfway there, Leo called.
“I got out.”
Arthur nearly shouted.
“Vivien said Malcolm had you.”
“He did.”
“Where are you?”
“Three blocks from the cathedral.”
“Vivien?”
“Still inside.”
Arthur's jaw tightened.
“We're coming.”
Police were already moving.
So were federal investigators contacted through Arthur's legal team after receiving the financial records.
For the first time, Malcolm Croft wasn't facing another family.
He was facing documentation.
Arthur parked two blocks away.
“You stay here,” he told Chloe.
“No.”
“Chloe.”
“I spent seven months carrying your child and seven weeks wondering why you vanished. I found the records that brought us here. Stop telling me to stay behind.”
Arthur stared at her.
Then, unexpectedly, smiled.
“I missed you.”
“Terrible timing.”
“Historically, that's our specialty.”
Leo met them outside.
He looked bruised but standing.
Arthur embraced him once.
Quickly.
Nothing needed saying.
Police entered first.
The cathedral was empty except for Malcolm and Vivien.
The silver cup still sat near the altar.
Vivien stood several feet from her father.
Malcolm looked almost calm.
“You've made a spectacle of this,” he told Arthur.
“No,” Arthur replied. “You did.”
Malcolm's eyes went to Chloe.
“You should have stayed out of this.”
Arthur stepped between them.
Chloe touched his arm.
She didn't need him to hide her.
She needed him beside her.
Malcolm looked toward the investigators entering behind Arthur.
His confidence finally changed.
Arthur handed over copies of the records.
Leo surrendered the laboratory report.
Vivien stepped forward.
“I'll testify.”
Malcolm stared at his daughter.
“You have no idea what you're doing.”
“For the first time,” Vivien said, “I think I do.”
Investigators approached Malcolm.
Then Anthony entered the cathedral.
Malcolm laughed.
“There's your witness?”
Anthony stopped.
“No.”
He pointed toward the rear doors.
“There's yours.”
Everyone turned.
Samuel Reed entered carrying an old archive case.
He set it down.
“Original documents,” he said.
Malcolm's face changed.
Samuel opened the case.
Inside were Vincent Romano's original records.
David Henderson's sworn statement.
And an audio recording.
Samuel looked at Arthur.
“Your father recorded his final meeting with Malcolm.”
Arthur stared at the recorder.
Seventeen years.
All the questions.
All the anger.
He reached toward PLAY.
But Malcolm suddenly smiled.
“Before you listen,” he said, “ask Chloe why her father never gave that recording to police.”
Chloe froze.
Malcolm looked directly at her.
“Go ahead.”
Arthur turned toward Chloe.
May you like
Malcolm's next words silenced the cathedral.
“Tell him what David Henderson did.”
