Chapter 11 - The Bride’s Contract
We found Fiona in the bridal suite.
She sat on the edge of a sofa with her shoes off, her wedding gown pooled around her like white wreckage.
Connor stood across the room.
Mom sat beside Fiona.
When I entered, my sister looked up.
“What now?”
I placed the document on the coffee table.
Her eyes dropped to it.
Then widened.
“Where did you get that?”
So she had seen it before.
My stomach tightened.
“You recognize it.”
She looked away.
Connor stepped forward.
“Fiona?”
She started crying again.
“I didn’t know what it was.”
I crouched in front of her.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
“Dad gave me papers yesterday.”
“What did he say?”
“He said they were related to my trust.”
“What trust?”
“The one Grandma left me.”
I frowned.
Grandma had left us both money.
Mine had come directly through a bank trustee.
“Your trust was closed four years ago.”
Fiona stared at me.
“What?”
“It was supposed to terminate when you turned thirty.”
“I’m thirty.”
“Exactly.”
She looked toward Mom.
Mom’s face went pale.
“You knew?” Fiona asked.
“No.”
“Everyone keeps saying no!”
She stood so quickly her dress caught under her heel.
She tore the hem without noticing.
“Connor, did you know?”
“No.”
She laughed hysterically.
“Fantastic.”
I held up the document.
“What did Dad tell you?”
“That signing would release money for the wedding.”
“How much?”
Her voice dropped.
“Five million.”
Connor stared at her.
“Five million dollars?”
Fiona hugged herself.
“I thought it was Grandma’s money.”
“Did you get it?”
“No.”
“When were you supposed to?”
“Monday.”
Payment upon ceremony completion.
The marriage itself triggered something.
I looked at Connor.
“Did you sign anything?”
His face changed.
Fiona saw it.
“No.”
He rubbed his jaw.
“Connor.”
He sat down.
“A prenuptial amendment.”
“When?”
“This afternoon.”
Fiona stared at him.
“We signed our prenup two months ago.”
“Your father said there was a correction.”
“What correction?”
Connor swallowed.
“He added a provision concerning business interests acquired during marriage.”
My brain clicked.
Fiona’s document moved Harbor Point property to MBC.
Connor’s document potentially changed marital ownership.
Dad was using their marriage to shift assets.
“Get the prenup,” I said.
Connor pulled up the file on his phone.
Daniel read it.
His expression hardened.
“This isn’t an amendment.”
Connor frowned.
“What?”
“It’s an assignment clause.”
“Meaning?”
“If Fiona receives a controlling interest in certain entities after the marriage, Connor becomes co-manager.”
Fiona stared at her husband.
“You knew?”
“No!”
Daniel continued.
“And if either spouse dies, the surviving spouse receives full control.”
Nobody moved.
Fiona whispered, “Dies?”
A chill went through me.
Mom stood.
“Aidan would never hurt her.”
I looked at her.
“Tonight you planted stolen jewelry on me because he threatened Fiona.”
She sat back down.
Point taken.
I read the clause again.
Then something else caught my eye.
Witness.
The document had been witnessed by Victor Sterling’s attorney.
This wasn’t Dad’s scheme alone.
It was coordinated.
My phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
A photograph loaded.
My father.
Standing inside what looked like a concrete tunnel.
Beside Victor Sterling.
Underneath Harbor Point.
Then a second image arrived.
A locked metal door.
And a text:
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY YOUR NAME WAS CHOSEN.
Adrian read it over my shoulder.
“No.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“You’re not going.”
I looked at him.
“My father says he’ll tell me why he chose me.”
“He’s baiting you.”
“Yes.”
“And you still want to go.”
“Yes.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Absolutely not.”
I slipped the phone into my pocket.
“You lied to protect me once tonight.”
His jaw tightened.
“Don’t do it again.”
Then another message arrived.
This one wasn’t a photograph.
It was live video.
My father stood beside a chair.
Someone was tied to it.
A woman.
Blood on her forehead.
My breath stopped.
It was my mother.
Dad looked into the camera.
“Thirty minutes, Mabel.”
May you like
Behind him, Victor Sterling smiled.
“Or Kathleen learns what family loyalty really costs.”
