Chapter 5 - The Six Wives Were Never the Victims Everyone Believed
We found the six women.
One by one.
They lived in different places.
California.
Toronto.
London.
Phoenix.
Maine.
Arizona.
Each told a different story.
But the pattern was the same.
Every woman had been selected by Victor.
Some were forced into the marriage.
Some were promised protection.
Some believed Cassian was a monster.
Some fell in love with him and were punished for it.
The sixth woman, Clara, had the most important information.
She had been the one who discovered Victor.
“I tried to tell Cassian,” she said.
“Why didn't he believe you?”
“He wanted to.”
She looked away.
“Then Victor killed my brother.”
I understood.
Fear.
The thing that had controlled everyone around Cassian.
Fear had made people lie.
Fear had made my mother hide.
Fear had made Evelyn run.
Fear had made Clara disappear.
And fear had made Cassian cold.
Until me.
Clara handed us a notebook.
“Your father wrote this.”
I opened it.
The first line stopped me.
Lydia Carter must never marry a man who cannot choose her freely.
I looked at Cassian.
He read the sentence.
Then he smiled.
“My father would have hated me.”
“Why?”
“Because I think I'm in love with you.”
My breath caught.
He didn't touch me.
He didn't ask anything.
He simply said it.
The honesty scared me more than deception.
“I don't know when it happened,” he continued.
“Neither do I.”
“But I know I don't want another woman pretending to be my wife.”
I smiled through tears.
“Good.”
He stepped closer.
“I want you.”
I whispered:
“Then choose me.”
He did.
Our relationship changed after that.
Not because the danger disappeared.
Because we stopped pretending it didn't exist.
We worked together.
We protected my mother.
We rebuilt the evidence.
We found the names on Victor's payroll.
Margaret was arrested.
Bianca turned herself in and agreed to testify.
Thomas discovered that Victor had been using the company’s internal systems.
The whole empire was compromised.
Cassian made a choice.
He would dismantle the illegal operations.
Sell the legitimate businesses.
Pay every debt.
Turn over the records.
No more secret organization.
No more family war.
But Victor wouldn't accept it.
He kidnapped my mother.
The call came at midnight.
“Bring Lydia to the old warehouse.”
Cassian said no.
I said yes.
We went together.
Victor waited.
He held my mother at gunpoint.
“You have the ledger,” he said.
Cassian looked at me.
I handed it over.
Victor opened it.
He laughed.
“Fake.”
I smiled.
“Yes.”
Cassian had replaced the real ledger hours earlier.
The copy contained fabricated account numbers.
Victor realized too late.
The police surrounded the building.
He tried to flee.
He didn't make it.
For the first time, the war ended without Cassian killing anyone.
He stood over Victor.
Then lowered his weapon.
“You're not worth becoming him.”
Victor stared.
Cassian turned away.
That was the moment I knew he had changed.
May you like
Not because he became weaker.
Because he finally stopped allowing his father and uncle to define him.
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