Chapter 6 - The Wedding That Was Never About Love
Adrian did not shout.
He did not curse.
He handed the phone to Marcus.
“Find them.”
Marcus nodded.
“Roadblocks?”
“No police yet.”
Brooke stared.
“Why not?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Because if Celeste’s father has spent years buying influence, I don’t know which badge belongs to him.”
Beatrice nodded.
“He’s right.”
Brooke hated that.
Yet nothing about the last twenty-four hours resembled a world in which normal rules applied.
Marcus sent teams toward every property connected to Marlowe Strategic Holdings.
Adrian moved Brooke, Evelyn, Beatrice, and Wren to a secure penthouse downtown.
By dawn, no one had slept.
Brooke sat near the windows drinking terrible coffee.
Adrian joined her.
“You okay?”
She laughed.
“No.”
“Fair.”
She looked at him.
“What happens if the DNA is confirmed legally?”
“You become Bianca Vale.”
“I’m Brooke.”
“You can remain Brooke.”
“You called me Bianca twice.”
“I’m adjusting.”
She studied him.
He looked tired.
Human.
“What does a brother do when he finds out his sister has been cleaning his house?”
His jaw tightened.
“Feel ashamed.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have known how Celeste treated staff.”
“That’s different.”
“No.”
He looked toward the window.
“I let convenience become ignorance.”
Brooke took a sip.
“Careful.”
“What?”
“You almost sounded emotionally intelligent.”
He looked at her.
She smiled.
Barely.
He did too.
The moment did not last.
Marcus entered.
“We found Celeste’s car.”
“Where?”
“Airport parking garage.”
“Flight?”
“No record.”
“So decoy.”
“Yes.”
Marcus placed a folder down.
“We also traced the investigator Celeste hired.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Cooperative?”
“Now.”
Brooke raised an eyebrow.
Adrian looked at Marcus.
“What did you do?”
“Explained his legal exposure.”
Brooke was not convinced.
Marcus continued.
“Celeste wasn’t working alone. Her father directed the surveillance.”
Adrian nodded.
“Expected.”
“There’s more.”
There always was.
“Victor Marlowe has been purchasing Vale shares through shell companies.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“How much?”
“Eleven percent.”
“That isn’t enough.”
“It becomes enough if your controlling stake is challenged.”
Brooke understood.
“My existence challenges it.”
“Yes,” Adrian said.
Marcus laid out the structure.
If Bianca was declared alive, the family trust would recalculate.
Adrian’s voting control would decrease.
Brooke’s shares would activate.
If Brooke then signed proxy rights to Victor Marlowe—or if someone forged such an agreement—Victor could force a board fight.
Celeste’s marriage to Adrian would provide a second path.
Brooke stared.
“So she wanted to marry Adrian and control me.”
Marcus nodded.
“If you couldn’t be controlled…”
“She planned to destroy my credibility.”
Adrian said, “Or worse.”
Brooke looked at him.
Nobody needed to finish.
At nine, the private bank opened.
Adrian, Brooke, Beatrice, and two attorneys entered through a secure underground entrance.
The brass key matched deposit box 814.
The manager brought it into a private viewing room.
Brooke stared at the box.
“Who opens it?”
Beatrice looked at her.
“You.”
“Why?”
“It was always yours.”
Brooke inserted the key.
Her hand shook.
Inside were six envelopes.
Three microcassettes.
A ledger.
And a handwritten letter.
To Bianca.
Brooke stopped.
Beatrice closed her eyes.
“I wrote that the night I disappeared.”
Brooke picked it up.
She did not open it.
Not yet.
Adrian examined the ledger.
Pages of dates.
Amounts.
Names.
Companies.
Marcus’s security specialist photographed everything.
Then Adrian found a sealed envelope labeled:
ADRIAN — IF I FAIL.
He looked at his mother.
“You wrote this too?”
She nodded.
He opened it.
Brooke watched his expression.
“What does it say?”
Adrian handed her the page.
Be careful of Victor Marlowe. He helped your father arrange the transfer of Bianca. He knows where every body is buried because he helped bury some of them.
Brooke looked up.
“So Celeste’s father has been involved since 1988.”
“Yes.”
Beatrice nodded.
“He was your father’s lawyer then.”
Adrian stared.
“And he introduced me to Celeste.”
Nobody spoke.
The entire relationship had been manufactured.
Brooke felt strangely sorry for him.
“Did she ever love you?”
Adrian folded the letter.
“That is no longer important.”
“It is to you.”
He looked at her.
“It shouldn’t be.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
His phone rang.
Marcus.
Adrian answered.
“Yes?”
Marcus spoke rapidly.
Adrian’s face changed.
“Where?”
He ended the call.
Brooke stood.
“What?”
“Victor Marlowe is at the mansion.”
“Why?”
“He walked through the front door.”
Beatrice paled.
“Adrian, don’t.”
“He asked for me.”
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t go.”
Adrian looked at Brooke.
“Stay here.”
She laughed.
“You really haven’t learned anything.”
“Brooke—”
“He wants the evidence.”
“Yes.”
“And I technically own it.”
“No.”
“You just told me the box was mine.”
“That was sentimental. This is operational.”
Despite everything, Brooke almost laughed.
“No.”
She picked up her letter and slipped it into her bag.
“I’m going.”
Adrian stared at her.
“You are impossible.”
“So I’ve been told.”
They returned to the mansion under heavy security.
Victor Marlowe waited in the ballroom.
He was sixty-four, elegant, silver-haired, and calm.
Celeste stood beside him.
Brooke stopped.
Adrian’s voice went cold.
“You ran.”
Celeste smiled.
“No. I changed clothes.”
The black case sat on a table.
Open.
Empty.
Marcus checked it.
“No weapon.”
Celeste laughed.
“You people are dramatic.”
Brooke looked at her.
“You wanted us to think there was one.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor answered.
“To make Adrian react.”
Adrian faced him.
“Congratulations.”
Victor smiled.
“You always were predictable.”
Beatrice entered behind them.
Victor’s smile vanished.
“So it’s true.”
Beatrice stared.
“You should have died before me.”
Victor sighed.
“You always had a flair for melodrama.”
Brooke felt Adrian tense.
“Why are you here?” he asked.
Victor looked at Brooke.
“To make an offer.”
“No.”
“You haven’t heard it.”
“I don’t need to.”
Victor smiled.
“Five hundred million dollars.”
Brooke blinked.
“To do what?”
“Sign away any claim to Vale Maritime.”
Adrian laughed.
Victor looked at him.
“This does not concern you.”
“She is my sister.”
“Biologically.”
Brooke stepped forward.
“What else?”
Victor’s smile sharpened.
“Your mother’s house. Every debt paid. A new identity if you want one.”
“And the evidence?”
“You give it to me.”
“No.”
“Think carefully.”
“I have.”
“Brooke.”
“I said no.”
Victor looked at Celeste.
Something passed between them.
Then he sighed.
“I hoped you’d be reasonable.”
Brooke heard a click.
Marcus moved.
Too late.
The ballroom doors locked automatically.
Steel shutters dropped over the windows.
Adrian spun toward Celeste.
“What did you do?”
Celeste held up a small remote.
“Insurance.”
Victor’s pleasant expression vanished.
“You should have taken the money.”
Brooke looked around.
Security outside pounded on the doors.
Inside, another hidden panel opened near the service corridor.
A man stepped through.
Then another.
Then three more.
The first carried a gun.
He raised it.
Not at Adrian.
May you like
At Brooke.
And Victor said, “Now we settle the inheritance permanently.”
