Chapter 7 - The Wedding Was Almost Stopped by a Deadly Family Secret
Mave and Adrian did not tell the press.
They told Owen.
Owen reacted exactly as expected.
"You're marrying the guy who once had six men with guns at a restaurant?"
Mave winced.
"That sounds worse than it was."
"It sounds exactly as bad as it was."
Adrian smiled.
"He has a point."
The wedding was planned quietly.
Small.
Family only.
A garden venue outside the city.
Margaret was going to walk Mave down the aisle.
Daniel agreed to stay in the background.
Even Mave's former supervisor had resigned before the investigation closed around her.
For a few weeks, life seemed almost normal.
Then the envelope arrived.
No return address.
Inside was a single photograph.
Mave's mother.
Pregnant.
Standing beside Julian Vale.
Mave froze.
She took the photograph to Adrian.
His expression changed.
"Where did you get this?"
"I don't know."
He turned it over.
Written on the back:
Ask your mother who Mave's father is.
Mave's stomach dropped.
She confronted Margaret.
Her mother cried before she even asked.
"Who is my father?"
Margaret looked at Adrian.
Then away.
"Your biological father was Julian Vale."
Mave felt the room tilt.
"No."
"Your mother was married to him before I knew Daniel."
Mave stared.
"I thought Dad was my father."
"Daniel raised you."
"Where is my biological father?"
Margaret said nothing.
"Mom."
"Dead."
"When?"
"Seven months after you were born."
"How?"
"Julian killed him."
Mave backed away.
Everything about her life had just shifted.
Her mother had been hidden.
Her father had been someone else.
Adrian's uncle was her biological father.
Which meant—
"No."
Adrian understood before she did.
He stepped back.
"That changes nothing."
"It changes everything."
"We are not related."
"But you are his nephew."
"Yes."
"Then I am connected to your family."
"By blood through Julian."
She started crying.
Adrian moved toward her.
She stepped back.
"I don't know who I am anymore."
"You are Mave."
"That's not enough."
"It is to me."
She left.
For three days, they barely spoke.
Then Adrian found her outside St. Bridget's.
"I need answers."
"So do I."
"I should have told you."
"When did you know?"
"After the photograph."
She looked at him.
"Did you ever love me because you felt responsible?"
His face hardened.
"Never."
"Then why?"
"Because you are the only person who has ever made me feel like my life could be something other than a war."
She looked away.
"I don't want your pity."
"I don't pity you."
She closed her eyes.
Then he said:
"I would choose you if there were no Vale family."
She looked at him.
"I would choose you if there were no money."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"I would choose you if there were no danger."
She whispered:
"I believe you."
But before they could reconcile, a car exploded outside the hospital.
The blast shattered windows.
People screamed.
Adrian pushed Mave to the ground.
Smoke filled the street.
Security rushed in.
A message appeared on Adrian's phone.
The wedding is canceled unless the nurse comes to the old courthouse alone.
Mave stared.
"They want me."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
"Then who?"
He looked at the phone.
"Me."
A second message arrived.
Bring the truth about Julian's bloodline.
Adrian stared at Mave.
Someone knew about her parentage.
Someone wanted to use it.
But there was one clue they didn't expect.
The photograph was not taken recently.
It was twenty-eight years old.
And in the corner, barely visible, stood Celeste Vance.
Mave looked at the image.
"She knew my mother."
Adrian nodded.
"And she knows what happened to your father."
"Then let's find her."
They tracked Celeste to an abandoned monastery.
She was waiting.
She looked older than expected.
Tired.
Not triumphant.
"I knew you would come."
Mave stepped forward.
"You destroyed my life."
Celeste shook her head.
"No."
"Then who did?"
"Julian."
"Why did you help him?"
"Because he threatened my son."
"Preston?"
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
Celeste closed her eyes.
"Dead."
Mave froze.
"What?"
"Julian killed him after he became a liability."
Adrian stared.
"Then where is Julian?"
May you like
Celeste whispered:
"Coming for you."
