Chapter 5 - The Wedding Was Never About Love
I called off the wedding the next morning.
Mason arrived at my office with a smile.
He knew before I spoke.
“Claire.”
“We're done.”
He stared at me.
“What happened?”
“You know.”
His face changed.
“You found someone?”
I almost laughed.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“You.”
His eyes hardened.
“You're believing rumors.”
“I saw you.”
“With Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“She came to me.”
“On her husband's car?”
“It wasn't what you think.”
“Then explain it.”
He said nothing.
I pushed the power of attorney across the desk.
“I reviewed it.”
“You didn't sign it.”
“No.”
His expression shifted.
“You don't trust me anymore.”
“I don't know who you are.”
“That hurts.”
“Good.”
He stared at me.
“I loved you.”
“I believed that.”
“You still do.”
“No.”
He took a step toward me.
“You're making a mistake.”
“Maybe.”
“You don't know what you're involved in.”
“I know enough.”
His voice dropped.
“You should ask Adrian what happened to the last woman he protected.”
I froze.
“What?”
He smiled.
“Did he tell you about Sophie Lane?”
I had heard the name.
A former employee.
A woman who had disappeared years ago.
Adrian noticed my silence.
“She trusted him too.”
“You're trying to scare me.”
“No.”
He walked toward the door.
“I'm trying to tell you that Adrian Vale doesn't save people.”
He turned.
“He collects them.”
Then he left.
I called Adrian.
He answered immediately.
“Sophie Lane.”
Silence.
“You know her.”
“Yes.”
“Who is she?”
“My former assistant.”
“What happened?”
“She was murdered.”
My stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“She found evidence against Evelyn.”
“How did she die?”
“She was pushed from a parking structure.”
“Was Evelyn involved?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Adrian's voice became very quiet.
“We never found out.”
That answer frightened me.
Because there was one person Mason had mentioned.
Someone who collected people.
I met Adrian at his office that afternoon.
Vale Meridian occupied fifty floors of a glass tower.
Employees moved through the lobby with quiet efficiency.
Nobody looked at him for long.
He took me to his private office.
There were no family photographs.
Only one framed image.
A young woman.
“Sophie?”
He nodded.
“You loved her.”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
“Not romantically.”
“No.”
“Then why keep her picture?”
“Because she died because of me.”
I sat.
“Tell me.”
Adrian leaned against his desk.
“Sophie discovered the network before I did.”
“And you ignored her?”
“I didn't believe her.”
His voice was rough.
“That mistake cost her life.”
I stared at the photograph.
“Then you know what it feels like to be wrong.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me the truth about Mason.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't know whether he's the enemy.”
That surprised me.
“You suspect he's being used.”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“I have a theory.”
“Your mother?”
He looked up sharply.
“Evelyn told you.”
“Yes.”
Adrian sat.
“My mother disappeared when I was ten.”
“She's alive?”
“I believe so.”
“Why?”
“She has sent me letters for years.”
“What do they say?”
“That I should never trust the men who built Vale Meridian.”
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“Then why not go looking for her?”
“Because the last time I did, someone died.”
I remembered Mason's warning.
Sophie.
“What happened?”
“A man followed me.”
“And Sophie died.”
“Yes.”
We sat in silence.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Claire?”
A man's voice.
“Your father is alive.”
My entire body froze.
“Who is this?”
“Someone who knows where he is.”
“Where?”
“Marry Mason.”
The line went dead.
I stared at Adrian.
He understood immediately.
“They're watching us.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Then what do we do?”
He stood.
“We use the wedding.”
“What?”
“They think the marriage gives Mason legal access to the trust.”
“It doesn't.”
“Not unless you sign a prenuptial amendment.”
My blood went cold.
“There was an amendment.”
“When?”
“Mason sent it last month.”
“Did you sign?”
“No.”
Adrian smiled grimly.
“Then we let them think you will.”
I stared.
“You want me to marry him?”
“No.”
“You just said—”
“I want you to make them believe it.”
I understood.
A trap.
A false wedding.
A fake signature.
A legal counterattack.
But there was one problem.
May you like
Mason had to believe I still loved him.
And I wasn't sure I could look into his eyes without thinking about those shoes.
