Chapter 6 - The Groom Walked Toward the Trap
At 11:45 a.m., the cathedral was full.
Cameras flashed.
Politicians smiled.
Businessmen whispered.
Security teams stood everywhere.
The wedding of Dominic Pierce and Vivienne Beaumont was happening.
At least, that was what Chicago believed.
Vivienne walked down the aisle in white.
Dominic waited at the altar.
I stood in a hidden control room beneath the cathedral.
Gabriel stood beside me.
“Your plan?”
“We let them enter the trap.”
“And the explosives?”
“Already found.”
“The poison?”
“Replaced.”
“The fake security team?”
“Tracked.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“You’re terrifying.”
“I’m an accountant.”
“Exactly.”
On the screens, Dominic placed the ring on Vivienne’s finger.
She whispered something.
He responded with a smile.
Nobody would have guessed they were preparing to dismantle a criminal empire.
The priest continued.
“Do you, Dominic Pierce…”
Dominic looked at Vivienne.
“I do.”
Applause erupted.
Vivienne smiled.
Then the bells stopped.
Every door in the cathedral locked.
Charles Beaumont appeared on the balcony.
He was sixty-three.
Silver-haired.
Elegant.
Completely calm.
“Congratulations,” he said.
Dominic turned.
Charles smiled.
“Now we begin.”
Armed men emerged from the side aisles.
Guests screamed.
Dominic lifted his hands.
His security team pretended to panic.
Charles laughed.
“You really believed you could stop me?”
Dominic’s voice remained calm.
“No.”
Charles frowned.
“I knew you would come.”
The cathedral lights went out.
I pressed a button.
Every screen beneath the church changed.
Live financial records appeared.
Names.
Accounts.
Payments.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police officials.
Businessmen.
The entire Chicago Exchange.
Gabriel stared.
“You did it.”
I smiled.
“Not yet.”
Charles looked at the screens above him.
His confidence vanished.
“Turn that off.”
Nobody moved.
The information had already been transmitted to hundreds of journalists.
The room erupted.
Charles shouted orders.
Dominic walked toward him.
“You built this for thirty years.”
Charles backed away.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“I do.”
“You think Chicago will choose you?”
“No.”
Dominic stopped beneath the balcony.
“I think Chicago will finally see you.”
Charles pulled a gun.
Vivienne stepped between them.
“Dad.”
Charles stared at her.
“You.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You ungrateful little—”
She slapped him.
The entire cathedral fell silent.
“You promised me he would survive.”
Charles stared at his daughter.
“You were supposed to marry him.”
“I did.”
“And?”
Vivienne looked at Dominic.
“I changed my mind.”
Charles pointed the gun.
A shot rang out.
Dominic moved.
Vivienne fell.
I screamed.
But she landed on the floor without blood.
The gun had fired a blank.
Dominic looked at the balcony.
Elias stepped from the shadows and disarmed Charles.
Police sirens sounded outside.
Real ones.
Not corrupt men.
Federal agents.
The data had triggered an investigation larger than anyone expected.
Charles screamed that everyone had betrayed him.
Then he looked at me.
“You.”
I froze.
“You have no idea what your father did.”
I stepped forward.
“Yes, I do.”
“You think he was a hero?”
“No.”
Charles stared.
“He was a man who made terrible choices.”
I held up the last document.
“But he spent the last years of his life trying to undo them.”
Charles looked at the signature.
His face changed.
The original owner of the Exchange.
Richard Pierce.
He had transferred controlling rights into a trust.
A trust managed by Beatrice Gallagher.
My father had chosen me.
Not because I was powerful.
Because nobody expected me.
Charles whispered, “You were the administrator.”
I nodded.
“For fifteen years.”
Dominic stared at me.
“You knew?”
“I didn’t.”
Charles laughed bitterly.
“Your father was clever.”
“No,” I said.
“He was hopeful.”
Police officers stormed the cathedral.
Charles was arrested.
Elias surrendered.
Vivienne was taken into custody for questioning.
The wedding guests were evacuated.
When the chaos finally quieted, Dominic found me outside.
Rain fell over Chicago.
He stood beneath the cathedral steps.
“You saved me.”
I looked at him.
“You’re alive.”
“You also destroyed the largest criminal network in the city.”
“We’re accountants. We fix things.”
He smiled.
Then he became serious.
“Beatrice.”
“Yes?”
“Tomorrow morning, I’m filing paperwork.”
“For what?”
“To cancel my marriage.”
I stared at him.
“Vivienne?”
“It was never real.”
“And me?”
He stepped closer.
“I don’t know yet.”
My heart skipped.
“You don’t?”
“I know I want you in my life.”
My breath caught.
“But I want you there because you choose it.”
He touched my hand.
“Not because my enemies made you part of the war.”
For the first time in years, I smiled without pretending.
“Then ask me when there’s no gunfire.”
He laughed.
“Deal.”
Behind us, Chicago sirens faded into the distance.
The war was over.
Or so we thought.
Because that night, while Dominic slept for the first time in thirty-six hours, I opened the final file from my father.
One page remained.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Beatrice,
If you are reading this, then the Exchange has fallen.
But there is one person you must never trust.
Not Charles.
Not Elias.
Not even Richard.
The danger was closer than any of them.
May you like
At the bottom of the page was one final name.
Gabriel Hayes.
