Chapter 11 - The Second Ceremony
The wedding had been rebuilt inside Blackwood House.
That was the first thing Maren saw when Victor’s men brought them through the doors.
Candles lined a long central hall. White roses had been arranged around a stone fireplace. At the far end stood the same minister who had waited beneath the garden arch at Bellweather House.
His hands were bound.
A bruise darkened one side of his face.
Owen sat in a chair beside him.
His ankles were tied, but his hands were free. When he saw Maren, he began to cry.
She tore away from the man holding her and reached him before anyone could stop her.
“Owen.”
She dropped to her knees.
He wrapped both arms around her neck.
“I knew you’d come.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I wrote on Rabbit.”
“I saw it.”
“The mean man said Grandpa told them where we were.”
Maren looked across the hall.
Edmund stood beside the fireplace.
In his hands was a black book with a brass clasp.
The ledger.
Callum entered behind her.
When he saw his grandfather, something final disappeared from his face.
“You arranged this.”
Edmund shook his head.
“Not all of it.”
Victor Sloane closed the doors.
“Enough family discussion.”
Helena and Elias were pushed into the hall.
At the sight of Elias, Edmund gripped the ledger more tightly.
“You look like him.”
“Where is he?” Elias demanded.
Victor nodded toward a side door.
Two attendants rolled a wheelchair into the room.
Adrian Bellweather sat beneath a gray blanket.
He looked older than in the photograph, more fragile. A clear tube ran beneath his nose. His head rested slightly to one side.
Helena made a broken sound.
“Adrian.”
His eyelids moved.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
They were gray.
The same gray as Elias’s.
He looked at Helena first.
Then Elias.
His lips parted.
“My boy.”
Elias crossed the room, but Victor raised the gun.
“Stay where you are.”
Adrian’s hand trembled on the blanket.
“You survived.”
“So did you.”
“Barely.”
Helena stared at Edmund.
“You knew.”
Edmund’s voice broke.
“I received proof only two years ago.”
“Two years?”
“Patricia told me he would die if I interfered.”
“And you believed her again?”
“I paid for his treatment.”
“You paid for his prison.”
Adrian looked toward Edmund.
“You always did confuse money with mercy.”
Edmund lowered his head.
Victor took the ledger from him.
“We have the book. We have the heir. We can proceed.”
“Proceed with what?” Callum asked.
“The covenant requires a public family recognition before the genetic seal can be activated.”
Maren understood.
“The wedding.”
Victor smiled.
“If Callum marries you and legally recognizes Owen as his son, Owen becomes a registered member of the Bellweather line.”
“But the agreement transfers Callum’s shares to Patricia.”
“Temporarily.”
“And the vault recognizes Owen.”
“Permanently.”
Callum looked at Edmund.
“You signed the exclusion document to prevent this.”
“Yes.”
“Then why give him to them?”
“Because they promised Adrian.”
Adrian laughed weakly.
“Still making bargains with other people’s lives.”
Victor placed the ledger on a stand.
“The ceremony will happen. Callum will sign the recognition papers. Owen will open the vault. After that, everyone may leave.”
“No one believes you,” Maren said.
Victor approached her.
“You should. You are more useful alive.”
“For what?”
“As Owen’s legal guardian until he reaches adulthood.”
Maren’s blood chilled.
“They need me to control him.”
“For a time.”
Callum moved between them.
Victor pressed the gun against his chest.
“Do not test me.”
Owen began to tremble.
Maren held him close.
The minister spoke.
“I will not perform a forced marriage.”
Victor pointed the gun at Owen.
The minister went silent.
Callum looked at Maren.
She saw the question in his eyes.
Not whether he loved her.
Whether she trusted him.
Maren gave the smallest nod.
Callum turned toward Victor.
“All right.”
Patricia’s voice came from the balcony above them.
“No.”
Everyone looked up.
She stood between two armed guards, no longer wearing her cream wedding dress. She had changed into a dark suit. The cut above her eyebrow had been covered with a strip of medical tape.
Callum stared.
“You escaped police custody.”
“I was never under arrest.”
“You tried to kill Elias.”
“No charge had been filed when my attorney secured my release.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“You were told to remain away.”
Patricia descended the staircase.
“You were hired to retrieve the ledger, not reorganize my family.”
Victor held up the black book.
“You no longer control the operation.”
Patricia smiled.
May you like
Then one of the guards beside her shot Victor in the shoulder.
The hall erupted.
