Chapter 7 - The Wedding No One Was Supposed to Attend
Vincent Cain moved faster than they expected.
Within forty-eight hours, he froze several accounts.
Then he leaked documents suggesting Tristan had ordered the hotel shooting himself.
News channels repeated the accusation.
Tristan became the man who supposedly tried to kill himself for insurance money.
Lily became his mistress.
Claire became an unreliable witness.
Marcus became a fugitive.
The truth was being buried beneath headlines.
Tristan responded by doing the one thing Vincent had not expected.
He went public.
He held a press conference outside Cain Holdings.
He stood beneath cameras.
"I am not asking anyone to trust me."
His voice was calm.
"I'm asking them to look at the evidence."
He released the blue ledger.
The shell company records.
The access logs.
The hotel surveillance timeline.
The payment trail.
And Adrian Cross's fingerprints.
The city exploded.
Federal investigators reopened old cases.
Police began arresting people whose names had been untouchable for decades.
Vincent disappeared.
Then Lily received a message.
YOUR FATHER IS NEXT.
She ran to Tristan.
He was already reading it.
"We don't know where Vincent is."
"But he knows where Dad is."
"I'll protect Marcus."
Lily shook her head.
"No."
"What?"
"He wants us scared."
Tristan looked at her.
"What do you suggest?"
"Make him think he's winning."
That was how the plan began.
The announcement of Tristan's engagement to Lily appeared in the newspapers two weeks later.
It was a lie.
But it was the most useful lie they had.
Vincent wanted the Bellweather trust.
The trust required a legal beneficiary.
Lily.
And in his mind, marrying her to Tristan would place her assets inside the Cain family.
He would come for them.
So Lily and Tristan staged the wedding.
A fake ceremony.
A fake guest list.
A fake transfer of assets.
And a real trap.
The night before the wedding, Lily found Tristan alone on the balcony.
"You hate this."
"What?"
"Pretending to marry me."
He looked at her.
"I hate putting you in danger."
"That's not what I said."
He smiled.
"No."
She stepped closer.
"Do you feel anything?"
He was quiet for a long moment.
Then:
"Too much."
Lily's heart beat faster.
"Tristan."
"I shouldn't."
"Why?"
"Because everything around me has a price."
She shook her head.
"I'm not asking you for money."
"I know."
"Then what are you afraid of?"
He looked at her.
"Losing you."
The answer was so simple it broke through every defense she had.
Lily reached for his hand.
He let her.
"We don't have to pretend tomorrow."
He looked down at their hands.
"No."
"Then don't."
For the first time, Tristan kissed her.
It was brief.
Gentle.
Nothing like the danger that had brought them together.
When he pulled away, Lily smiled.
"That felt real."
"It was."
The wedding took place in a private estate outside the city.
The room was filled with security.
Federal agents.
Trusted employees.
Marcus.
Claire.
And Lily in a simple white dress.
At the altar, Tristan looked at her as though the entire world had disappeared.
The vows were supposed to be fake.
Neither of them read the scripted ones.
Tristan took her hand.
"Lily, I don't have a perfect life to offer you."
She smiled through tears.
"I don't need one."
"I can't promise there will never be danger."
"I know."
"But I can promise this."
He looked directly into her eyes.
"You will never have to face it alone."
Her heart broke open.
"I choose you," she whispered.
They kissed.
Then every light in the room went out.
The doors slammed shut.
Gunfire erupted outside.
May you like
Vincent had taken the bait.
But he had brought more men than expected.
