Chapter 4 - The Man Who Had Been Dead for Seven YearsVictor Hale was alive.
And he wanted Sadie.
Roman moved her to a secure estate outside Chicago.
Sadie hated every second.
“You're treating me like a prisoner.”
“I'm protecting you.”
“Same building, different vocabulary.”
Roman sighed.
She was right.
He gave her access to every room.
Then he began teaching her how to defend herself.
“You're holding it wrong.”
“I've never held one of these.”
“I know.”
“I thought you'd never let me.”
“I won't.”
She looked at him.
“Then why teach me?”
“Because if I'm not there, I want you to know what to do.”
She stared at him.
“I don't want to live afraid.”
“Neither do I.”
He took her hand.
“I want you alive.”
They trained every morning.
Then one evening, Sadie found Trevor waiting outside the estate gates.
Security stopped him.
Roman arrived.
“What do you want?”
Trevor looked exhausted.
“I made a mistake.”
“You've made several.”
“Victor Hale threatened my sister.”
Roman's expression changed.
“What?”
“He has her.”
Sadie stepped forward.
Trevor looked at her.
“I didn't know what I was helping.”
“You knew enough.”
“I know.”
He handed Roman a drive.
“These are all the files I gave him.”
Roman took it.
“Why give them back?”
“Because I realized who he really is.”
Sadie studied Trevor.
“Your sister.”
Trevor nodded.
“Please.”
Roman looked at Sadie.
She nodded.
They agreed to help.
The files revealed Victor had been building a case against Roman for years.
But the most shocking document was a marriage certificate.
Roman and Sadie.
Their signature dates had been altered.
Someone was planning to claim their marriage was fraudulent.
If the court ruled that the marriage had never legally existed, Roman's assets could freeze.
Sadie stared.
“But we are married.”
“Yes.”
“Then prove it.”
Roman smiled.
“I intend to.”
They found the original certificate.
Witness signatures.
Notary records.
Everything legitimate.
Except one signature.
Sadie's.
It had been forged on another document.
A loan agreement.
Someone had taken out a $14 million loan in her name.
The lender was a shell company controlled by Victor.
The scheme was designed to make Sadie legally responsible for debts she didn't owe.
Trevor finally understood.
“He wanted you blamed.”
Sadie whispered:
“Why?”
Roman looked at the file.
“Because he can't control me directly.”
“So he controls you through me.”
“Yes.”
Roman's expression hardened.
“No.”
He closed the folder.
“He doesn't control anything.”
They prepared for Victor.
The confrontation happened at an abandoned freight terminal.
Victor waited.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Smiling.
“I expected Roman.”
“You got both of us.”
Victor looked at Sadie.
“You look like your grandfather.”
“You knew him.”
“He betrayed me.”
“My grandfather stopped you.”
Victor laughed.
“He tried.”
Roman stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Victor raised his hands.
“You don't understand, Roman.”
“I understand that you're finished.”
Victor smiled.
“Not yet.”
He pressed a button.
Screens illuminated around them.
On them appeared photographs of Roman's illegal operations.
Transactions.
Weapons.
Secret meetings.
Everything.
Victor planned to destroy Roman publicly.
Sadie grabbed Roman's hand.
“You don't have to protect your reputation.”
Roman looked at her.
“I know.”
“Tell the truth.”
He nodded.
Then he turned toward the cameras.
“My father committed crimes.”
Silence.
“So did I.”
Sadie stared.
Roman continued.
“I inherited an organization I spent years dismantling.”
Victor's smile vanished.
“I've been building evidence against it.”
He looked directly at the cameras.
“I will testify against every person involved.”
Victor stepped backward.
“You'll destroy yourself.”
Roman smiled.
“No.”
He looked at Sadie.
“I'll protect my wife.”
Police sirens approached.
Victor ran.
But before he disappeared, he whispered:
“Ask Sadie what happened the night her parents died.”
She froze.
Roman turned.
“Sadie?”
She couldn't speak.
Her parents had died in a house fire when she was a child.
May you like
Or so she'd been told.
Victor had just opened another door into her past.
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