Chapter 3 - Nikolai Told Me Someone Had Been Stealing Money Through My Family’s Foundation—and the Paper Trail Led Directly to SerenaThe wedding planning began immediately.
Not flowers.
Not dresses.
Contracts.
Security.
Legal protection.
Financial transfers.
Every detail of my life suddenly became part of a larger investigation.
Nikolai gave me access to his files.
I found my family's foundation.
It was supposed to support children's hospitals.
Instead, money disappeared.
Millions.
Payments went to shell companies.
Some were linked to Julian.
Others to Serena.
I stared.
“She stole from the foundation.”
“Not alone.”
“Who else?”
“My uncle.”
I looked up.
“Lucia?”
“No.”
“Thomas.”
His older cousin.
A board member.
I studied the transactions.
One payment had been made three days before my engagement party.
It funded the dress Serena wore.
I laughed.
“You're kidding.”
“No.”
“My dress.”
“My money.”
My stolen future.
I suddenly realized how deliberate the humiliation had been.
It wasn't just romantic betrayal.
It was a financial maneuver.
They wanted me to walk away from the family entirely.
Then my shares could be transferred.
But Nikolai had interrupted.
We traced more transactions.
One led to a private medical facility.
A patient:
A woman named Evelyn Hart.
My name.
My medical records.
My blood.
I froze.
“What is this?”
Nikolai stared.
“I don't know.”
The file was six years old.
Someone had ordered genetic testing.
Without my permission.
The results had been classified.
Why?
I looked at him.
“What were they looking for?”
“Your mother.”
“What about her?”
“She was adopted.”
I stared.
My family had never told me.
My mother was the daughter of another powerful family.
The Morettis knew.
My father knew.
Serena knew.
Everyone but me.
That explained the shares.
My bloodline gave me access to another trust.
One worth more than the Moretti fortune.
Suddenly, the marriage negotiations made sense.
They weren't fighting over love.
They were fighting over inheritance.
And I had been the only person who didn't know I was the prize.
Nikolai looked at the file.
“They've been studying you for years.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother died before telling you.”
I felt cold.
“Who ordered the tests?”
He pointed at the signature.
Julian.
I stared.
My former fiancé had been investigating my bloodline.
He hadn't been planning a wedding.
He'd been planning a transfer of power.
Serena had been chosen because she could help him manipulate me.
Then Nikolai found me.
And now the entire plan was collapsing.
“Do you still want to marry me?” I asked.
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
“Even knowing this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you're not a financial asset to me.”
His answer was simple.
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“You're a woman who was lied to.”
That was the first time I believed him.
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