Chapter 9 - The Marriage That Was Never About Love)
Victoria had spent six years becoming the woman Ethan thought he wanted.
Daniel Cross explained it with terrifying simplicity.
She learned his routines.
His charities.
His favorite restaurants.
The books he mentioned in interviews.
The music he listened to while working.
Nothing about their relationship had been accidental.
Their first meeting at Nora’s supposed funeral had been arranged.
Their second encounter at a fundraising dinner had been arranged.
Their friendship had been encouraged by people around them.
Even the investment dispute that made Ethan rely on Conrad Hale’s advice had been manufactured.
Ethan felt humiliated.
Lucy sat beside him during the final part of Daniel’s statement.
Reed had initially objected, but Lucy refused to leave.
“My mom knew?” she asked.
Daniel looked at her.
“Eventually.”
“Did she know Victoria was going to marry him?”
“Yes.”
“Is that why she disappeared?”
“Partly.”
“What’s the other part?”
Daniel hesitated.
“She found proof Samuel was alive.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“Where?”
“A private medical facility.”
“Which one?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel looked frightened now.
“Samuel changes locations constantly.”
“What is wrong with him?”
“He’s sick.”
“What kind of sick?”
“Cancer.”
Ethan stared.
“Terminal?”
“I heard six months.”
That explained urgency.
Samuel had spent decades building something from shadows.
Now he was running out of time.
“What does he want before he dies?” Reed asked.
Daniel looked at Ethan.
“Control.”
“Of Pierce Meridian?”
“Of everything Thomas took from him.”
Ethan shook his head.
“My father didn’t take the company from him.”
“Samuel believes he did.”
“Pierce Meridian was founded by my grandfather.”
“Northstar funded its expansion.”
The room went quiet.
Daniel continued.
“Dirty money built clean buildings. Samuel believes half the Pierce fortune belongs to him.”
“And Victoria was supposed to inherit it?”
“She was supposed to become your wife.”
“Then?”
Daniel looked away.
“An accident.”
Lucy reached for Ethan’s hand.
He squeezed hers.
Reed asked, “Why did Victoria turn on Samuel?”
“Olivia showed her something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“When?”
“Yesterday, before the mill.”
Ethan frowned.
“You said Olivia was a prisoner.”
“She is.”
“Then how did she show Victoria anything?”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“You don’t know Olivia Bennett very well if you think being locked in a room stops her.”
Ethan almost laughed.
That was true.
“What did Victoria do after?”
“She stole files.”
“From Samuel?”
“Yes.”
“And escaped?”
“For a few hours.”
“Where is she now?”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Samuel found her.”
Ethan felt nothing resembling sympathy.
Until Daniel added:
“She called me.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she knew where Olivia was being taken.”
“Where?”
Daniel looked at Reed.
“I want protection.”
“You’ll get consideration.”
“No. Protection.”
“Give us something worth protecting.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Boston Memorial.”
Ethan stared.
“A hospital?”
“Private wing.”
“Under what name?”
“Samuel doesn’t use his name.”
“What name?”
Daniel said, “Thomas Pierce.”
The dead brother’s identity.
Reed moved immediately.
Within thirty minutes, police and federal agents were searching hospital records.
A patient named Thomas Pierce had been admitted to a sealed executive suite two weeks earlier.
By the time officers reached it, the suite was empty.
The bed was warm.
Medication remained connected to an IV stand.
Samuel had been there less than an hour earlier.
In the adjoining room, they found blood.
Not much.
Enough for DNA.
And a torn piece of Victoria’s wedding dress.
Ethan stared at the white fabric.
“She came here wearing that?”
Reed nodded.
“Looks like she never made it home after the church.”
“So she escaped the mill, came here, and Samuel caught her.”
“That’s one possibility.”
A nurse approached.
She looked nervous.
“I saw the woman.”
“Victoria?”
“Yes.”
“Was another woman with her?”
The nurse nodded.
“Brown hair. About Ethan’s age.”
Ethan felt his heart pound.
“Olivia?”
He showed a photograph.
The nurse nodded immediately.
“That’s her.”
“Was she conscious?”
“Yes.”
“Was she being restrained?”
“No.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
The nurse looked uncertain.
“They weren’t acting like prisoners.”
“What were they doing?”
“Arguing.”
“With each other?”
“Yes.”
“What did you hear?”
The nurse thought.
“The woman in the wedding dress said, ‘You ruined my life.’”
“And Olivia?”
“She said, ‘No, Victoria. Your father did that.’”
Ethan exchanged a look with Reed.
“What happened next?”
“A man came in.”
“Samuel?”
“I don’t know. Older. Very thin.”
“What did he say?”
The nurse swallowed.
“He told Olivia it was time to finish what Thomas started.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Then?”
“They left through the private elevator.”
“Where does it go?”
“Underground parking.”
Security footage showed an ambulance leaving twelve minutes later.
It belonged to a private medical transport company.
The company was registered to Northstar Meridian Consulting.
The same supposedly dissolved corporation.
Police tracked the ambulance north.
Then lost it near the New Hampshire border.
That evening, Lucy sat beside Ethan at his kitchen island.
She pushed food around her plate.
“Dad?”
It was the second time she had called him that.
He looked up.
“What?”
“Do you think Mom is helping Victoria?”
Ethan considered the nurse’s account.
“I think your mom is trying to survive.”
Lucy nodded.
“Victoria hates her.”
“Yes.”
“Do you hate Victoria?”
Ethan looked toward the rain outside.
“I don’t know what I feel anymore.”
“I do.”
“What?”
“I hate her.”
“That’s allowed.”
Lucy stared at her plate.
“But Mom says hate makes you stupid.”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“Your mother sounds irritatingly wise.”
“She is.”
Lucy smiled for the first time in hours.
Then the apartment intercom buzzed.
Security.
“Mr. Pierce, there’s someone here asking to see you.”
“Who?”
A pause.
“She says she’s Victoria Hale.”
Ethan stood.
Lucy froze.
Reed, stationed in the living room, reached for his weapon.
The elevator doors opened.
Victoria stumbled out.
Her wedding dress was torn.
Her face was bruised.
She held a flash drive in one hand.
She looked at Ethan.
“Before you call the police, listen to me.”
Reed stepped forward.
Victoria raised both hands.
“I know where Olivia is.”
Lucy ran toward her.
“Where?”
Victoria looked at the child she had once considered an obstacle.
Her voice cracked.
“With Samuel.”
“We know that,” Ethan said.
“No.”
Victoria shook her head.
“You don’t understand.”
She held out the flash drive.
“Samuel isn’t trying to hide Olivia anymore.”
“Then what is he doing?”
Victoria looked at Ethan.
“He’s taking her somewhere she agreed to go.”
Ethan’s stomach tightened.
“Why would she agree?”
“Because he has something she wants.”
“What?”
May you like
Victoria’s next words silenced everyone.
“Proof that your father is still alive.”
