Chapter 9: The Truth Beneath the Wedding
The paper trembled between my fingers.
*THE OWNER OF NORTHBRIDGE IS AVA.*
For one terrible second, I couldn't understand what I was reading.
Then Victor moved.
“Give me that.””
He lunged toward me.
My father stepped between us.
Victor's men raised their weapons.
Everything happened at once.
“Get down!”” Daniel shouted.
Malik grabbed my shoulder and pulled me behind the sedan as another shot cracked through the night.
Glass exploded above us.
Harold screamed.
Maria fired back.
“Run!”” she shouted.
We dropped behind the concrete barrier beside the road.
My wedding dress was soaked with rain and streaked with mud. The bouquet was gone. My veil had torn loose somewhere near the loading dock.
None of it mattered anymore.
I held the paper against my chest.
“Ava!”” Malik shouted.
“I have it!””
“What is it?””
“Ownership!””
He stared at me.
“What?””
I unfolded the paper again.
“The company. Northbridge. The land.
The trust. It says they're mine.””
He looked stunned.
“How?””
“I don't know.””
A gunshot hit the concrete above us.
We ducked.
Daniel fired from behind the sedan.
“Stay down!””
Victor's voice carried through the rain.
“You don't understand what you're holding, Ava!””
I shouted back.
“Then explain it!””
“I will.””
“From behind a gun?””
He laughed.
“You're holding an inheritance your father never wanted you to have.””
Daniel's face tightened.
“That is a lie.””
Victor called back.
“Ask him!””
I turned toward my father.
“Is it?””
He didn't answer immediately.
That frightened me more than anything Victor could have said.
Daniel lowered his weapon.
“I didn't want you to inherit Northbridge.””
My stomach dropped.
“Why?””
“Because owning it would put a target on your back.””
“But it's mine.””
“Yes.””
“How?””
He looked at me.
“Your father didn't leave Northbridge to you.””
“Then who did?””
“Elias.””
Malik's head snapped up.
“My father?””
Daniel nodded.
“Before he died, Elias changed the ownership agreement.””
Malik stared at him.
“Why would he give everything to Ava?””
“Because he believed Victor would eventually destroy the Hayes family.””
Victor shouted from across the road.
“Because Elias was a coward!””
Daniel ignored him.
“He wanted someone outside the Hayes family to inherit the company.””
Malik looked devastated.
“So he chose her.””
“Yes.””
I stared at the little paper in my hand.
“All these years…”
“You had no idea.””
“No.””
“That was the point.””
Harold crawled toward us.
“There was another condition.””
I looked at her.
“What?””
She reached into her coat.
Her hands were shaking.
“Your father and Elias agreed that you would inherit only when you were married.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“It was designed as protection.””
“Protection?””
“Victor had been searching for the beneficiary for years. The marriage condition meant the transfer could not be completed until you had a legal spouse.””
Malik slowly stood.
“And the wedding?””
Harold nodded.
“The wedding triggered the transfer.””
I looked at her.
“You knew.””
“Yes.””
“You knew the moment I married Malik…”
“The company would become yours.””
Victor laughed from the darkness.
“Exactly.””
I turned.
His men had stopped firing.
Victor stepped into view.
He was bleeding from the shoulder.
Maria kept her gun trained on him.
“You planned the wedding,” I said.
Victor smiled.
“No. Your mother did.””
Maria's eyes hardened.
“I didn't arrange it.””
“You arranged the conditions.””
She didn't deny it.
Victor looked at me.
“Your marriage was a legal trigger.””
I stared at Malik.
“You knew?””
He shook his head.
“No.””
His face had gone pale.
“My mother never told me.””
Harold looked at him.
“You didn't need to know.””
“You were going to let me marry her without telling me why.””
“I needed to know whether you loved her.””
He flinched.
“And if I didn't?””
“Then the transfer would have been stopped.””
I stared at her.
“So the wedding was a test.””
“Yes.””
“And when Malik humiliated you…”
“I knew the answer.””
Silence.
The rain hit the pavement between us.
I looked at Malik.
His eyes were wet.
“You failed.””
He nodded.
“I know.””
Victor started laughing.
“Don't you see what this means?””
I turned toward him.
He pointed at the paper.
“The moment that ownership transferred, your marriage became valuable.””
My blood ran cold.
“Valuable to whom?””
“To anyone who can control your spouse.””
Malik looked at Victor.
“You wanted me to marry her for the company.””
Victor smiled.
“I wanted you to marry her so Northbridge could be stripped legally.””
Malik recoiled.
“That's why you gave me the loan.””
“Yes.””
“You knew I couldn't repay it.””
“I expected you to default.””
“So you'd take my company.””
“Your company was worthless.””
Victor's eyes moved to me.
“But Ava's wasn't.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“You used my son.””
Victor shrugged.
“I gave him a chance.””
“You destroyed him.””
“No. His ambition destroyed him.””
Malik looked down.
The words hurt because they were true.
I suddenly understood everything.
The lavish wedding.
The pressure.
The debt.
The sudden urgency to marry.
The venue.
Victor hadn't cared about Malik.
He had cared about me.
More precisely, he had cared about what I would inherit.
I looked at the paper again.
“Then why cancel the payment?””
Victor smiled.
“I didn't.””
I froze.
“What?””
He pointed at Harold.
“She did.””
Harold nodded.
“I canceled it.””
“Why?””
“Because once I saw how Malik treated me, I knew the marriage couldn't proceed.””
Victor laughed.
“You should have stopped it earlier.””
Harold looked at me.
“I thought there was still goodness in him.””
Malik shut his eyes.
“I was wrong,” she whispered.
He swallowed.
“I know.””
Victor suddenly raised his weapon.
“Enough.””
Maria aimed at him.
“Put it down.””
“No.””
His eyes locked on me.
“Ava, hand me the document.””
“No.””
“Then people will die.””
Daniel moved in front of me.
Victor's smile vanished.
“Daniel.””
“You already killed one brother.””
Victor's face hardened.
“Elias was weak.””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“You murdered him.””
“And you disappeared.””
“To protect my daughter.””
Victor laughed.
“You failed.””
Something in Daniel's expression changed.
He raised his gun.
Victor raised his.
Maria shouted.
“Wait!””
She stepped between them.
Everyone froze.
She looked at me.
“Ava, there is one more thing.””
I shook my head.
“I can't take any more.””
“You have to.””
She reached inside her red coat.
She pulled out an old envelope.
She handed it to me.
It was addressed in handwriting I recognized.
My father's handwriting.
*For Ava, when the wedding is complete.*
My hands shook as I opened it.
Inside was a single letter.
I read the first line.
*My daughter, if you are holding this, then the worst day of your life has already happened.*
I swallowed.
The next line nearly made me drop the paper.
*You married a man who was never supposed to inherit anything from you.*
I looked at Malik.
His face crumpled.
I kept reading.
*But your marriage is not the trap. The trap is what happens after you annul it.*
My eyes widened.
I read faster.
*The person who files for the annulment becomes the temporary controller of Northbridge until ownership is reviewed.*
I stopped.
“What?””
Daniel looked away.
Harold whispered, “There was no other way.””
I looked at Malik.
He was staring at me, horrified.
“What does it mean?””
I couldn't answer.
Victor did.
“It means the first person to control your marriage controls the company.””
I looked down at the letter.
There was another paragraph.
*Your mother will tell you that the trust was designed to protect you. She is telling the truth. But there is someone else named in the trust.*
I looked at Harold.
“Who?””
She didn't speak.
I read the final line.
*His name is Malik Hayes.*
My heart stopped.
I looked at my husband.
He stared at me in disbelief.
“No.””
The letter continued.
*Malik is entitled to nothing while the marriage remains intact. But if Ava dies, disappears, or annuls the marriage, Malik becomes the next protected beneficiary.*
The world went silent.
Victor slowly smiled.
“That is what I've been waiting for.””
I looked at Malik.
He looked sick.
“You didn't know,” I whispered.
“No.””
“Swear it.””
“I swear.””
Victor laughed.
“Maybe he didn't.””
Malik turned toward him.
“What?””
“But I did.””
Everyone froze.
Victor's smile disappeared.
“What?””
Malik's voice was shaking.
“I knew there was a trust.””
My stomach dropped.
“I knew my mother was protecting something.””
He looked at me.
“But I didn't know about the beneficiary clause.””
Victor stared at him.
“Then you are useless.””
Malik's expression hardened.
“For the first time in my life, I don't care what you want.””
Victor lifted his weapon.
Malik stepped toward him.
“You used me.””
“Yes.””
“You destroyed my business.””
“Yes.””
“You made me believe my mother was poor.””
Victor sneered.
“I made you believe what you wanted to believe.””
Malik looked at Harold.
Then at me.
Then at Daniel.
And finally back at Victor.
“I won't let you have her.””
Victor raised the gun.
“Then you die with her.””
Maria fired first.
Victor dropped his weapon.
His men scattered.
Daniel rushed forward.
Malik grabbed my hand.
Harold pulled Maria toward the vehicles.
For a few seconds, there was nothing but rain, shouting, and sirens approaching in the distance.
Then I felt Malik's grip loosen.
I turned.
He was staring at the road.
At the black SUV.
At Victor, being dragged away by police.
Then he looked back at me.
His face was full of tears.
“I need to tell you something before anyone else does.””
“What?””
He stepped closer.
“I knew about the wedding payment.””
My breath caught.
“What?””
“I knew my mother was paying for it.””
“When?””
“Three weeks ago.””
The world seemed to go silent again.
“And you still married me?””
He closed his eyes.
“I thought I could fix everything before you found out.””
My heart sank.
“Everything?””
He nodded.
“The debts. The trust. The company.””
“What were you going to do?””
He looked at me.
“I was going to take the money.””
I stepped back.
“From me.””
“Yes.””
Then he whispered,
“But there was one thing I never expected.””
“What?””
His eyes filled.
“I fell in love with you anyway.””
I wanted to believe him.
I wanted desperately to.
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message appeared.
*Don't trust Malik. Ask him who signed the original wedding contract.*
I slowly raised my eyes.
Malik's face changed.
Because he knew the answer.
May you like
And the person who signed it...
wasn't him.
