Chapter 7 - The Bride Becomes the Trap)
Warren's original plan had been simple.
Marriage first.
Incident afterward.
But Giulietta's meetings with Marco had frightened him.
According to Patrick, Warren now believed Giulietta might attempt to delay access to her trust once the wedding certificate was filed.
So he changed the sequence.
The incident would happen before the ceremony.
Not enough to cancel the wedding permanently.
Just enough to create confusion.
A panic attack.
A collapse.
An emotional episode.
Preston would insist the ceremony proceed privately afterward.
Then Dr. Reed would arrive.
Warren would obtain the incapacity declaration before anyone in the Marconi family could interfere.
"How?" Giulietta asked.
Patrick wiped sweat from his forehead.
"I don't know."
"Drink? Food?"
"He didn't tell me."
"Who did he tell?"
"Preston."
Giulietta went very still.
Patrick continued.
"Warren said Preston needed to demonstrate he was capable of managing his own household."
Household.
The word disgusted her.
"Does Preston know everything?"
Patrick's silence answered.
"Say it."
"Yes."
Giulietta had expected that.
It still hurt.
Not because she loved Preston anymore.
Whatever love had existed was already dead.
But she remembered eighteen months of ordinary moments.
Sunday coffee.
Rainy afternoons.
His hand on her back in crowded rooms.
The night he stayed beside her after Isabella died.
Had all of it been false?
Probably not.
That was what made it worse.
Preston could have loved her and still believed he had the right to control her.
People did not need to hate someone to destroy them.
Sometimes entitlement was enough.
Giulietta returned to Marco's townhouse.
Naomi listened to Patrick's recorded statement.
"He needs independent counsel immediately."
"Will prosecutors protect him?" Giulietta asked.
"If he cooperates before money moves, possibly."
Marco looked at Giulietta.
"Wedding is over."
She shook her head.
"Wedding is more necessary than ever."
"He's planning something on wedding day."
"Which means we know where and when."
"You don't know what."
"No."
"That's the problem."
Giulietta walked to the fireplace.
"The bridal suite."
Marco frowned.
"What?"
"Warren asked specifically whether I'd use the private bridal suite at Bellafonte."
"When?"
"Three months ago."
Naomi understood.
"Controlled room."
"Exactly."
Giulietta turned.
"One entrance. Private bathroom. No staff unless invited."
Marco looked grim.
"And camera coverage?"
"Hallway only."
"Inside?"
"None."
Giulietta smiled.
"At least none Warren knows about."
The Bellafonte Estate had undergone a security renovation six months earlier.
Giulietta herself approved it.
The bridal suite had no visible cameras for guest privacy.
But its smart emergency panel contained an audio recorder activated by a silent security command.
Marco stared at her.
"You want them in that room."
"I want Warren to believe I'm isolated."
"Absolutely not."
"Marco."
"No."
"Then suggest another way to catch him attempting the actual coercion."
Marco looked away.
He had none.
Naomi spoke carefully.
"We can control access."
Marco looked at her.
"How?"
"Giulietta enters. Independent security remains within seconds. Audio is live. If Preston introduces any unknown substance or threatens her, intervention happens immediately."
Giulietta added, "And Patrick tells Warren I've become completely compliant."
Marco paced.
Celeste had remained silent.
Now she spoke.
"There's one problem."
They turned.
"Warren never does the ugliest part himself."
Giulietta nodded.
"Preston."
"Yes."
Celeste looked sick.
"He needs Preston to prove loyalty."
Marco stopped pacing.
"Then Preston becomes our evidence."
The next ten days became theater.
Giulietta transformed herself into the woman Preston wanted to see.
Not submissive.
That would have been suspicious.
Simply tired.
Overwhelmed.
More willing to let him decide.
When he suggested changing the honeymoon from Greece to Warren's private island property, she agreed.
When he asked her to reduce Marco's role in the ceremony, she pretended to hesitate and then agreed.
When Warren requested another meeting regarding postmarital finances, she attended without argument.
Each concession made Preston warmer.
Kinder.
More confident.
The irony was unbearable.
The less Giulietta resisted, the more loving he became.
Five days before the wedding, Preston arrived at her apartment with a velvet box.
Inside was a diamond bracelet.
Giulietta almost laughed.
She was already wearing Naomi's hidden transmitter bracelet.
"This was my grandmother's," Preston said.
Giulietta examined it.
"Beautiful."
"Dad wants you to wear it at the wedding."
Of course he did.
"Why?"
"Tradition."
"Your family has traditions?"
"Some."
Giulietta smiled.
"I'll wear it."
Preston kissed her.
She felt nothing.
That night Naomi inspected the bracelet.
"No electronics."
"Poison needle?" Marco asked.
Naomi looked at him.
"Too many spy movies."
"I'm serious."
"So am I. Nothing."
Giulietta turned the bracelet over.
Inside the clasp were engraved initials.
C.H.
Celeste Hale.
She showed Celeste the next morning.
Celeste stared.
"My mother's."
"Preston said his grandmother's."
Celeste touched the diamonds.
"Warren took this from me when I was committed."
Giulietta felt anger burn through her.
"He kept it?"
"Apparently."
"And now he wants me wearing it."
Celeste gave a broken laugh.
"He does love symbolism."
Giulietta closed the box.
"So do I."
On wedding morning, she would wear both bracelets.
Warren's trophy.
And Naomi's transmitter.
The final piece arrived two days before the ceremony.
Patrick delivered a flash drive.
Inside were recordings of Warren Hale speaking to Preston in Warren's office.
Patrick had begun recording after deciding to cooperate.
One exchange lasted forty three seconds.
Warren said, "If she refuses in the suite, frighten her."
Preston answered, "She won't refuse."
"And if she does?"
"I'll handle it."
"How?"
A pause.
Then Preston laughed.
"You taught me, didn't you?"
Giulietta stopped the recording.
Marco looked ready to break something.
Naomi was pale.
Celeste stared at the floor.
Giulietta restarted it.
Warren's voice continued.
"Just remember. No marks anyone can photograph."
Preston answered.
"Relax."
A scraping sound followed.
Then Warren said, "Take the club."
Giulietta looked up.
"The club?"
Patrick nodded.
"Warren keeps an antique golf club in his office."
"Why?"
Celeste answered.
"He used to threaten me with one."
Silence.
Giulietta understood.
The bridal suite confrontation had already been scripted.
Not by her.
By Warren.
He wanted Preston to carry the symbol of his mother's obedience into the room where Giulietta was supposed to surrender.
Marco shut the laptop.
"The second Preston enters with that club, we go in."
Giulietta shook her head.
"No."
"What?"
"We let him speak."
"Giulietta."
"We need intent."
"We have intent."
"We need him to show who he is when he believes no one is listening."
Marco stared at her.
"This isn't about evidence anymore."
She did not answer.
He stepped closer.
"This is personal."
"Of course it's personal."
"You want him to say it to your face."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Giulietta looked at Celeste.
Then at Marco.
"Because I spent eighteen months wondering whether I imagined the little things."
Her voice remained steady.
"The corrections. The decisions made for me. The way he laughed when I objected. The way he apologized only when I pulled away."
She swallowed.
"I want one moment in which there is no ambiguity left."
Marco's anger softened.
Giulietta continued.
"Then I want to walk out knowing I didn't leave because someone told me Preston was dangerous."
She touched the engagement ring.
"I want to leave because he finally showed me himself."
The day before the wedding, Warren Hale made one final mistake.
He called Giulietta personally.
"Tomorrow changes everything."
Giulietta looked out across Manhattan.
"Yes."
"You're nervous?"
"A little."
"That's natural."
He paused.
"Preston has a strong personality."
"So do I."
Warren chuckled.
"Marriage softens that."
"For whom?"
Another pause.
Then Warren said, "You'll understand soon."
Giulietta ended the call.
Behind her, Marco checked his watch.
"Twenty four hours."
Giulietta removed her engagement ring and looked at it.
"Twenty four hours until Warren thinks he wins."
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But neither of them knew that Preston had already discovered Patrick's betrayal.
And by midnight, the plan inside the bridal suite had changed again.
