Chapter 8 - The Wedding Nobody Saw Coming
Sebastian proposed without a ring.
He simply appeared at Clare’s apartment one rainy evening, carrying groceries.
Clare opened the door.
“What is this?”
“You said you needed milk.”
“I said Oliver needed milk.”
“I bought cereal.”
“You bought the expensive cereal.”
“He likes it.”
“You’re spoiling him.”
“I’m practicing.”
She smiled.
“Practicing what?”
“Being family.”
Clare stared at him.
He reached into his coat.
This time he had a small velvet box.
“Clare Bennett.”
She laughed.
“You’re supposed to kneel.”
“I can’t always.”
“You can now.”
“Fair point.”
He slowly lowered himself.
Then he opened the box.
The ring was simple.
Elegant.
No giant stone.
Just a smooth band with a tiny sapphire.
“I don’t need you to rescue me,” he said.
“I know.”
“I don’t need you to heal me.”
“I know.”
“I need you to tell me when I’m being an idiot.”
She smiled.
“Fortunately, you give me plenty of opportunities.”
He laughed.
“Will you marry me?”
Clare looked at Oliver.
He was hiding around the corner.
She called out.
“Oliver?”
The boy stepped into the room.
He held up a sign.
SAY YES.
Clare burst into laughter.
Sebastian looked betrayed.
“You knew?”
Oliver grinned.
“Obviously.”
Clare wiped away tears.
“Yes.”
They married six months later.
The wedding was private.
No press.
No politicians.
No business associates.
Just family and a handful of people who genuinely loved them.
Sebastian walked down the aisle.
Every step was hard.
Every step mattered.
Clare waited at the end.
Her mother was no longer alive to see it.
But Elena sat in the front row.
Gabriel stood beside her.
Oliver carried the rings.
When Sebastian reached Clare, he whispered, “I almost didn’t make it.”
She smiled.
“But you did.”
He took her hands.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Their marriage did not erase the past.
Sebastian still woke from nightmares.
Clare still worried about money sometimes even when there was plenty.
Oliver still had medical appointments.
Elena still carried guilt.
Gabriel still watched every doorway out of habit.
But they were together.
And that mattered.
Then, one year after the wedding, Clare received a letter.
No return address.
Only the four-petal symbol.
She opened it.
Inside was one sentence.
YOU FOUND THE TRUTH. NOW FIND THE CHILD.
Her blood ran cold.
Sebastian read it.
“Another threat?”
“I don’t know.”
Elena took the letter.
Her face became pale.
“The child.”
“What?”
“The fourth child.”
Sebastian frowned.
“Mother, you said he was dead.”
“I thought he was.”
Clare looked at her.
“Who was he?”
“My husband’s illegitimate son.”
Sebastian stared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I never knew where he went.”
Gabriel entered.
“We found something.”
He placed an old hospital photograph on the table.
A baby.
A woman.
A nurse.
And a name.
Elliot Marlowe.
Clare looked at Elena.
“Marlowe?”
“Yes.”
“Victor’s son?”
Elena nodded.
The room went silent.
Sebastian whispered, “If Victor has a living child…”
“He could inherit the money,” Gabriel said.
“And continue the war,” Clare added.
Sebastian looked at her.
“You're not going anywhere near this.”
She sighed.
“I know that look.”
“What look?”
“The one you use right before you do something stupid.”
“I’m not going to do it alone.”
“You’re going to do it with Gabriel.”
“Yes.”
Clare crossed her arms.
“Then I’m coming too.”
Sebastian stared.
“Why?”
“Because every time men in suits try to solve a problem without me, someone kidnaps my child.”
Oliver raised his hand.
“That is statistically true.”
Sebastian laughed.
“Fine.”
They followed the trail across three states.
Elliot Marlowe had been raised under another name.
He was twenty-seven.
A paramedic.
No criminal record.
No knowledge of Victor.
No knowledge of the Lombardi family.
When Sebastian finally met him, Elliot was helping an elderly woman into an ambulance.
Sebastian watched from across the street.
“He doesn’t look dangerous.”
“He isn’t,” Clare said.
“Then why is someone trying to find him?”
They later learned the answer.
Victor had placed the money in Elliot’s name.
A hidden trust.
Millions.
But Elliot never knew.
He had spent his life believing his parents abandoned him.
When Clare finally told him the truth, he cried.
“My father?”
“He was a monster,” Sebastian said.
Elliot looked at him.
“And you?”
Sebastian hesitated.
“His enemy.”
Elliot almost laughed.
“That sounds complicated.”
“It is.”
Clare stepped in.
“But you don’t owe either side anything.”
Elliot looked at her.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing.”
“And Sebastian?”
Sebastian shook his head.
“Nothing.”
Elliot studied them.
Then he smiled.
“Then maybe we can end this.”
He signed away Victor’s hidden trust.
The final weapon was gone.
Victor remained in prison.
The empire was dismantled.
The money went to the victims.
May you like
And the war finally ended.
At least, that was what they believed.
