Chapter 5 - The Wedding Revenge Nobody Saw Coming
The police treated the shooting as an attempted break-in.
No one had been seriously hurt.
But the blue box was gone.
The flash drive was gone.
And so was the only physical evidence connecting my mother to the Vale family.
I assumed the worst.
Adrian didn't.
“He wanted us to find the box.”
“Why?”
“To make us think he got everything.”
“What else is there?”
“You.”
I shook my head.
“I’m not a clue.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“You’re the key.”
The next day, gossip exploded again.
This time, the story was bigger.
Dylan and I had canceled our wedding.
Adrian Vale had been seen entering my apartment.
Rumors spread that the fifty-five-year-old businessman had become involved with his son's former fiancée.
The headlines were cruel.
I expected it.
What I didn't expect was the reaction from Dylan.
He called a press conference.
I watched it from Adrian's office.
“My former fiancée is being harassed because of me,” Dylan said.
“She did nothing wrong.”
He admitted the affair publicly.
He admitted lying.
He admitted manipulating me.
He never asked for forgiveness.
Then he said something that surprised everyone.
“I don't expect Eve to come back.”
My throat tightened.
“I only expect people to stop blaming her for choices I made.”
For the first time in months, I saw the man I thought I had loved.
Not the perfect version.
Not the man who always knew what to say.
Just a broken human being finally telling the truth.
But the truth didn't erase what he had done.
That evening, Adrian called me into his library.
“I have a proposition.”
I smiled weakly.
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It is.”
He placed a legal document on the desk.
“I want to marry you.”
I stared at him.
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
“Why?”
“Because Victor believes you are protected only if you are connected to the family.”
“And you?”
“I can protect you.”
“That's not enough.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I also love you.”
My heart hammered.
“Adrian…”
“I know what this sounds like.”
“It sounds insane.”
“It is.”
I almost laughed.
He continued.
“I am not asking you to replace Dylan.”
“I couldn't.”
“I don't want you to.”
“Then why?”
“Because you deserve a choice that is yours.”
He pushed the document aside.
“This is not a business transaction.”
I looked at him.
“Then what is it?”
“A door.”
“To what?”
“To a life where no one gets to decide your future for you.”
I walked away.
I spent that night thinking.
About Dylan.
About my mother.
About Adrian.
About the strange bond forming between two people who had begun their story in the middle of a disaster.
At six in the morning, I returned to the library.
“I'll do it.”
Adrian looked stunned.
“You're sure?”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
“What?”
“You shouldn't be sure.”
I smiled.
“You're a strange man.”
“I know.”
We got married privately three days later.
No guests.
No cameras.
No flowers.
Just a judge, two witnesses, and a simple white dress I bought because I wanted one beautiful thing in the middle of all the ugliness.
When I slipped the ring onto my finger, I looked at Adrian.
“This doesn't make us a real couple.”
“Not yet.”
“And you can't expect anything from me.”
“I won't.”
“And you don't get to control me.”
“I wouldn't survive trying.”
I laughed.
It was the first real laugh I'd had in days.
Then we kissed.
It was not passionate.
It was gentle.
Almost uncertain.
But it felt honest.
For the first time in my life, honesty was enough.
The next morning, Dylan showed up.
He saw the ring.
He stopped.
“You married him.”
“Yes.”
He looked at Adrian.
“You actually did this.”
Adrian stayed calm.
“She made the choice.”
Dylan turned to me.
“Do you love him?”
I could have lied.
Instead, I answered honestly.
“I don't know.”
Dylan nodded.
That answer hurt him.
But he accepted it.
“I hope he deserves you.”
“I hope you learn to deserve yourself.”
He smiled sadly.
Then he left.
I thought that was the end of Dylan.
It wasn't.
That afternoon, a package arrived.
Inside was the missing blue box.
And a handwritten note.
May you like
From Victor.
You married the wrong Vale.
