Chapter 8 - The Wife the City Never ExpectedThe engagement announcement caused chaos.
Reporters camped outside the Ambrose.
Financial analysts questioned the trust.
Old enemies resurfaced.
And everyone wanted to know the same thing.
Why would the richest hidden heiress in Chicago marry a mafia boss?
Adeline had the answer.
“Because I love him.”
Simple.
No explanation needed.
The wedding was planned quietly.
But before it could happen, another attack came.
Not against Adeline.
Against Roarke.
Someone poisoned his drink.
He collapsed during a board meeting.
Adeline rushed him to the hospital.
The doctor said the toxin was slow.
He would survive.
But only because someone had recognized the symptoms quickly.
Adeline sat beside him.
“You're not allowed to die.”
He opened his eyes.
“Bossy.”
“You deserve it.”
He smiled weakly.
She held his hand.
“I thought I was going to lose you.”
“I thought I was going to lose you first.”
She cried.
“You can't keep doing this.”
“I'll try.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“I don't want a life where we keep surviving.”
“Then what do you want?”
“A life where we live.”
She leaned closer.
“Then let's build it.”
They rebuilt everything.
Roarke dissolved much of the illegal infrastructure inherited from his family.
Adeline redirected the trust.
The Ambrose became one of the city's leading charitable properties.
A wing was established for nurses.
Another for children with respiratory illness.
Posy's experience inspired a medical assistance program.
Adeline returned to nursing school.
This time, she paid tuition herself.
Roarke attended her graduation.
He sat in the front row.
When she walked across the stage, he stood first.
She laughed.
“You're embarrassing me.”
“Good.”
“You're impossible.”
“You married me.”
“Not yet.”
He smiled.
“Soon.”
Their wedding came six months later.
No politicians.
No criminals.
No secret deals.
Just family.
Daniel walked Adeline down the aisle.
Posy carried the rings.
Silvio stood beside Roarke.
Dorian sat in the front row.
When Adeline reached the altar, Roarke looked at her.
For a second, he forgot everyone else existed.
“You came.”
She smiled.
“I'm here.”
The vows were simple.
Truth.
Trust.
Protection without possession.
Love without control.
When they kissed, Posy shouted:
“Finally!”
Everyone laughed.
Afterward, Adeline changed her last name legally.
But she kept Vance professionally.
“I want both,” she said.
“Why?”
“Because I don't want to erase where I came from.”
Roarke kissed her.
“Good.”
Their first night as husband and wife was quiet.
No gala.
No celebration.
Just a small apartment they had kept for themselves.
Adeline made soup.
Roarke burned bread.
She laughed.
“You can run an empire and can't toast bread.”
“Apparently.”
She kissed him.
“I prefer this version.”
“So do I.”
Then a knock came.
Silvio stood outside.
“Boss.”
Roarke sighed.
“What now?”
Silvio handed him a file.
“The final account.”
Roarke opened it.
A bank number.
A name.
Matteo Castellano.
His father.
The account had received money for twenty-eight years.
It was still active.
Adeline stared.
“Your father is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then who controls the account?”
Roarke looked at the signature.
His face changed.
“My aunt.”
Adeline frowned.
“Helena?”
“Yes.”
Silvio shook his head.
“Not Helena.”
He pointed to the name.
Eleanor Vance.
Adeline's mother.
Adeline stopped breathing.
Her mother was dead.
But the account had been active six months after her funeral.
Someone had been using her identity.
May you like
And the money had been transferred to one final location.
The same place where Adeline's mother had supposedly died.
