Chapter 8 - The Choice Nobody Could Force
Vivian read the name twice.
Rebecca Vale.
Rebecca looked almost embarrassed.
“Elena trusted me to remain neutral.”
Edmund took the document.
The clause was straightforward.
If Vivian and Edmund chose to dissolve their marriage after discovering the truth, neither would lose their inheritance.
The trusts would separate again.
Rebecca would temporarily oversee disputed assets until independent audits were completed.
No punishment.
No financial trap.
No forced marriage.
Vivian’s eyes filled.
Her mother had protected her choice.
Even from beyond the grave.
“She knew,” Vivian whispered.
Rebecca nodded.
“Elena said love created through obligation was only another kind of debt.”
Vivian looked at Edmund.
He said nothing.
For once, the powerful man everyone feared seemed uncertain.
Vivian almost smiled.
“You look nervous.”
“I am.”
“That’s new.”
“It is unpleasant.”
“Welcome to my month.”
Victor laughed unexpectedly.
Then covered his mouth.
Vivian looked at him.
He became serious again.
“Sorry.”
She almost laughed too.
Almost.
Authorities took possession of the ledger.
Thomas was detained pending investigation.
Adrian was found alive in an unused maintenance building two blocks away.
The evidence suggested Thomas had arranged his disappearance to frame him.
Samuel agreed to testify.
Rebecca surrendered every document she had preserved.
By sunrise, the wedding was over.
But the marriage remained.
Vivian stood alone on the balcony of the bridal suite.
She had removed her jewelry.
Not the ring.
Not yet.
The door opened behind her.
Edmund stopped several feet away.
“I can leave.”
“You’re unusually polite this morning.”
“I’m experimenting.”
“How’s it going?”
“Poorly.”
She smiled.
He came closer.
The city was beginning to brighten.
“Rebecca has the annulment documents ready,” he said.
Vivian’s smile disappeared.
“You work fast.”
“I asked her to.”
“Why?”
“Because your father lied to both of us.”
She looked at him.
“And?”
“And you never freely agreed to marry me.”
There was no defensiveness in his voice.
No attempt to keep her.
“You cleared the debts anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I told you.”
“The fundraiser.”
“Yes.”
“You remembered me for three years?”
“Yes.”
“That’s slightly unsettling.”
“I’m aware.”
Vivian turned toward him.
“What did you think would happen?”
“When?”
“When we married.”
Edmund considered.
“I thought you disliked me.”
“I did.”
“I assumed eventually you might dislike me less.”
“That was your romantic plan?”
“I have limited experience.”
She laughed.
Actually laughed.
The sound surprised both of them.
Edmund smiled.
It changed his entire face.
Vivian realized she had never seen him do it fully.
“You should do that more often.”
“Give women annulment papers?”
“Smile.”
“Oh.”
Silence settled.
Comfortable this time.
Then Vivian removed her wedding ring.
Edmund’s smile disappeared.
She held it between her fingers.
“This marriage began with lies.”
“Yes.”
“My father lied.”
“Yes.”
“Thomas manipulated both families.”
“Yes.”
“And you accepted an arrangement you should never have accepted.”
“Yes.”
“No argument?”
“None.”
She studied him.
“That’s inconvenient.”
“Why?”
“It makes being angry harder.”
“I can say something irritating if that helps.”
“I’m sure you can.”
She looked at the ring.
“I’m signing the annulment.”
Pain crossed his face.
He hid it quickly.
“All right.”
“You’re not going to stop me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because if I stop you, then nothing has changed.”
Vivian felt something inside her loosen.
That answer mattered more than flowers.
More than promises.
More than five hundred guests.
She put the ring on the table.
Then walked past him.
At the doorway, she stopped.
“Breakfast?”
Edmund turned.
“What?”
“I haven’t eaten since yesterday morning.”
“You’re asking me to breakfast after ending our marriage?”
“I’m asking whether you want breakfast.”
His mouth curved.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
They walked downstairs together.
Not husband and wife.
Not enemies.
Something unfinished.
For the first time, Vivian liked unfinished things.
They meant choice remained.
Three days later, the annulment was filed.
Three weeks later, Victor entered a treatment program for gambling addiction and resigned from Moretti Maritime.
He did not ask Vivian to forgive him.
That helped.
Three months later, Vivian became interim chair of the company.
She discovered she was good at it.
Very good.
Edmund discovered this too.
Their companies began working together on recovering assets stolen through Thomas’s network.
Professional meetings became dinners.
Dinners became arguments.
Arguments became longer dinners.
Edmund never asked her to return.
Vivian noticed.
Six months after the wedding, they stood inside Warehouse 417.
The real one.
It was being converted into a joint historical archive.
Vivian found Edmund examining an old photograph of their parents.
“You look sentimental.”
“Don’t tell anyone.”
“Your reputation?”
“Ruined.”
She stood beside him.
“Do you ever think about that night?”
“Every day.”
“The red dot?”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“What then?”
“You putting yourself between me and the window.”
Vivian became quiet.
“I didn’t think.”
“I know.”
“That sounds insulting.”
“It wasn’t.”
He looked at her.
“It was the first moment anyone had protected me without wanting something in return.”
Vivian swallowed.
“Edmund.”
“I know.”
“What?”
“You’re going to tell me this is complicated.”
“It is.”
“I know.”
“And our families—”
“Complicated.”
“And the companies.”
“Extremely complicated.”
“And you.”
He nodded solemnly.
“Tragically complicated.”
She laughed.
Then he kissed her.
Not dramatically.
Not possessively.
He waited half a second before closing the distance.
Long enough for her to choose.
She did.
When they separated, Vivian whispered, “That doesn’t mean we’re getting married again.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Good.”
“I was thinking Thursday.”
She shoved him.
He laughed.
Then his phone rang.
The smile disappeared.
Vivian watched him answer.
“Costa.”
Silence.
His expression changed.
“What do you mean missing?”
Vivian stepped closer.
“Who?”
Edmund lowered the phone.
“Samuel.”
Her stomach tightened.
“When?”
“Last night.”
“Did he leave voluntarily?”
Edmund looked toward the archive door.
“No.”
Vivian followed his gaze.
Something had been pushed beneath it.
A photograph.
Edmund picked it up.
It showed Samuel standing beside a woman.
The date printed in the corner was from twenty years ago.
Vivian recognized the woman.
Her mother.
May you like
On the back were six handwritten words.
ELENA HID MORE THAN THE LEDGER.
