Chapter 7 - The Wedding That Was a Weapon
The guests returned to their seats believing the disturbance had been minor.
Few had seen the gun.
Those who had were quickly approached by hotel security employees claiming Martin Cross had been pursuing an armed intruder. Confusion spread faster than truth.
Inside a storage room behind the ballroom, Adrian formed a plan.
Daniel would contact a federal investigator he trusted and send copies of every file Lily’s phone contained. Celeste would return to the bridal suite and behave as though nothing had changed. Lily would stay with Hannah.
But Hannah was missing.
Lily began to cry when the kitchen staff said they had not seen her mother for nearly an hour.
“She wouldn’t leave me,” Lily insisted.
Adrian crouched.
“We’ll find her.”
“He has her.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Yes, we do.”
The certainty in Lily’s face silenced him.
Adrian had grown up around adults who disguised fear as politeness. Lily did not have that skill. She named terror honestly.
Celeste knelt beside her.
“My father may have taken your mother because he wants the phone.”
Lily pulled away from her.
“Your father is bad.”
Celeste flinched.
“Yes.”
“Did you know?”
“Not everything.”
“That means you knew something.”
Adrian watched Celeste struggle to answer.
Finally, she said, “I knew my family wanted Adrian’s company. I knew they were planning to trick him. I told myself no one would be hurt.”
Lily wiped her face.
“That was a lie.”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell yourself, or did they tell you?”
Celeste’s eyes filled.
“Both.”
Daniel returned.
“I sent the files. Agent Torres is twenty minutes away.”
“The ceremony starts in eight,” Celeste said.
Adrian turned to Daniel.
“Search for Hannah.”
“I’ll take two people I trust.”
“No hotel security.”
“Agreed.”
Lily held out the phone.
“Take it.”
Adrian shook his head.
“They’ll search me.”
“They won’t search a flower girl,” Celeste said quietly.
Adrian looked at her.
“That’s why your mother chose the moment during the toast. Everyone would be watching us.”
Celeste removed a decorative ribbon from a flower basket and secured the phone beneath the layers of petals.
“Keep this with you,” she told Lily.
Lily did not move.
Celeste swallowed.
“You don’t have to trust me. Trust Adrian.”
The orchestra changed melodies.
The ceremony was beginning.
Guests rose as the ballroom doors opened.
Lily stood at the head of the aisle holding her basket.
At the opposite end, Adrian waited beneath an arch of white roses.
He looked calm.
Only Daniel, standing beside him, knew how tightly Adrian’s hand was clenched.
Lily began walking.
Petals fell around her shoes.
Every few steps, she glanced toward the exits, searching for Hannah.
Vivian sat in the front row wearing pale gold.
Her eyes followed the basket.
She knew.
Lily saw it in her face.
When Lily reached the altar, Vivian smiled at her.
Then Vivian touched one finger to her own throat.
A warning.
Lily’s steps faltered.
Adrian extended his hand.
She took it.
“You’re safe,” he whispered.
Vivian’s smile widened.
The ballroom doors opened again.
Celeste appeared.
For the first time that day, Adrian truly looked at the woman he intended to marry.
She was beautiful.
She was also a stranger.
As Celeste walked toward him, Adrian wondered whether her tears were real.
The officiant began.
Words about trust, devotion, and unity filled the ballroom.
Adrian heard none of them.
Near the service entrance, a silver tray appeared.
Three crystal glasses stood upon it.
The center glass contained champagne with a faint golden shimmer.
May you like
Lily saw Vivian nod toward the waiter.
The waiter began moving toward the altar.
