Chapter 3 - The Groom’s Missing Hour
Adrian Vale stood in front of a mirror while his best man adjusted his bow tie for the third time.
“You look like a man awaiting sentencing,” Daniel Mercer said.
Adrian gave him a tired smile.
“Perhaps I’m thinking about the speeches.”
“You’ve negotiated billion-dollar acquisitions without blinking.”
“Companies don’t expect you to dance.”
Daniel laughed.
They had known each other since university. Daniel had helped Adrian build Vale Holdings from a struggling logistics company into an international empire. He was the closest thing Adrian had to a brother.
Yet that afternoon, Adrian sensed something guarded in him.
Daniel kept checking his watch.
“Are you expecting someone?” Adrian asked.
“No.”
“You’ve looked at the door six times.”
“I’m making sure no one interrupts.”
Adrian studied him.
“Is there something I should know?”
Daniel tightened the bow tie.
“You’re getting married in less than an hour. There are probably many things you should know.”
“That sounds ominous.”
Before Daniel could answer, Celeste entered without knocking.
She wore a silk robe over her wedding gown. Her blond hair was pinned beneath a jeweled veil.
Daniel stepped back.
“You’re not supposed to see each other yet.”
Celeste ignored him.
“I need a moment with Adrian.”
Daniel looked at Adrian, then left.
Celeste waited until the door closed.
“My mother says there’s a problem.”
“What kind?”
“A child wandered into a restricted area and stole a consultant’s phone.”
Adrian frowned.
“A child?”
“The flower girl.”
“Lily?”
“You remember her name?”
“I spoke to her during rehearsal.”
Celeste folded her arms.
“She caused trouble this morning. My coordinator says she’s been wandering through private rooms.”
“Then someone should help her find her mother.”
“My mother thinks the phone may contain confidential family information.”
Adrian watched her carefully.
“Why would a consultant’s phone contain confidential information about your family?”
Celeste hesitated.
“It’s a security issue.”
“What consultant?”
“Elena Marlow.”
The name stirred something in Adrian’s memory.
He turned toward the desk, where a sealed folder had been delivered earlier.
“Wasn’t Elena employed by my board last year?”
Celeste’s expression tightened.
“For a routine audit.”
“She vanished halfway through the project.”
“She resigned.”
“That isn’t what I was told.”
Celeste walked closer and placed both hands on his chest.
“Adrian, today is our wedding. Please don’t allow a confused child and a disgruntled former employee to ruin it.”
He looked into her eyes.
They had met eighteen months earlier at a charity gala. Celeste had seemed different from everyone else in his world. Warm, intelligent, apparently uninterested in his fortune.
He had believed she understood loneliness.
His parents had died when he was young. Her father had supposedly died in an accident when she was a teenager. Grief had been the bridge between them.
Now he realized she was not answering his question.
“Where is Elena?”
“I don’t know.”
“Your mother mentioned a problem. Someone must have seen her.”
Celeste stepped away.
“Daniel said you disappeared for an hour this morning.”
Adrian blinked.
“What?”
“Between eleven and noon. No one knew where you were.”
“I was in this suite.”
“Daniel says you left.”
“I didn’t.”
A cold unease moved through him.
Adrian remembered taking a call at eleven fifteen. He remembered drinking coffee. Then there was a gap.
His next clear memory was waking in a chair near the window at twelve twenty, Daniel standing beside him.
At the time, he had assumed he had fallen asleep.
Now he touched the side of his neck.
A small sore spot throbbed beneath his collar.
Celeste saw the movement.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
Her phone rang.
She glanced at the screen and turned it face down.
“Who’s calling?”
“My mother.”
“Answer it.”
“I’ll speak to her outside.”
Celeste reached the door.
“Celeste.”
She stopped.
“Did I sign anything this morning?”
Her shoulders stiffened.
Then she looked back with a smile.
“Only the wedding register rehearsal.”
“I don’t remember doing that.”
“You were distracted.”
“Show it to me.”
“The coordinator has it.”
Adrian took one step toward her.
Before he could say more, Daniel returned.
“The guests are seated.”
Celeste quickly left.
Daniel watched her go.
Adrian closed the door.
“What happened between eleven and noon?”
Daniel’s expression became unreadable.
“You tell me.”
“I can’t remember.”
“That’s not possible.”
“I woke with pain in my neck.”
Daniel’s face changed.
He locked the door.
Then he reached inside his jacket and removed a folded document.
“I was going to wait until after the ceremony.”
Adrian opened it.
The paper authorized temporary transfer of his voting rights in Vale Holdings to his legal spouse if he became medically incapacitated.
At the bottom was Adrian’s signature.
He stared at it.
“I didn’t sign this.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
A knock sounded.
“Mr. Vale,” a voice called. “It’s hotel security.”
May you like
Daniel folded the document.
“Do not open that door.”
