Chapter 3: The Bride's Real Vows
I read Fiona's message three times.
Not because I didn't understand the words.
Because I did.
You need to come back before midnight.
If you don't, your mother loses everything.
The conference room around me seemed voting interests through the completed transaction.""
I blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"Mom?""
She squeezed my hand.
"George has been building his empire with money he thought belonged to people who would never challenge him.""
"But why now?""
to disappear.
I enlarged the photograph.
My mother's name appeared at the bottom.
*Mary E. Sullivan-Henderson.*
The signature looked real.
At least to me.
I held out theHer face became impossibly sad.
"Because I recently learned he was planning to use your marriage to gain something he couldn't obtain any other way.""
I felt cold.
phone.
"Mom.""
She took it.
Her face changed almost instantly.
Not fear.
Recognition.
"Where did she get this?""
"Is that your signature?""
Mom didn't answer.
"Mom.""
"It looks like it.""
Mercer came around the table.
"May I?""
She handed him the phone.
Evelyn moved beside him.
They studied the image.
"What is a marital union and debt"What?""
Arthur opened another document.
It was a copy of an agreement.
Across the first page, I recognized George Blake's signature.
Beneath it was Fiona's.
The document had standstill agreement?"" I asked.
Evelyn didn't look up.
"Not a phrase I've ever seen used in a legitimate financing instrument.""
"Meaning?""
"Meaning whoever drafted this wanted it to sound more formal than it is.""
Mom pointed toward been dated three weeks before our wedding.
I leaned forward.
"What is that?""
Arthur hesitated.
Mom looked at me.
"Sweetheart, before you read this, I need you to understand something.""
"What?""
"I didn't know whether Fiona was involved until yesterday.""
My pulse quick the screen.
"Zoom in on paragraph seven.""
Mercer enlarged the image.
Most of the text was difficult to read.
Fiona had photographed the document at an angle.
But one sentence was clear enough.
In exchange for Sullivan Group delaying collection on certain Blake Meridian obligations, Daniel Henderson would enter and maintain a lawful marriage with Fiona Blake for no fewer than five years.
I felt sick.
ened.
"Involved in what?""
She gently turned the tablet toward me.
The document was titled:
CONFIDENTIAL MARITAL ASSET"Maintain?""
Evelyn's expression hardened.
"That's unenforceable on its face.""
"That's not really the TRANSFER AND BENEFICIAL INTEREST AGREEMENT.
And on the second page, beneath Fiona's signature, was a name that made my stomach drop point, is it?""
Nobody answered.
Because it wasn't.
The point was that somebody believed my marriage had financial value.
I took out my phone.
Fiona was calling again.
I answered.
"What did you.
May you like
Mine.
Except I had never signed it.
