Chapter 6 - The Marriage No One Knew About
The investigation lasted four months.
Quietly.
Nathaniel's cybersecurity team discovered repeated unauthorized access to Hart Maritime's internal governance system.
The login credentials belonged to Victor Dane.
Victor denied involvement.
Thomas believed him.
Amelia did not.
Until Victor appeared at Hart House one night looking twenty years older than he had at the last board meeting.
He closed the study door.
"Cassandra has photographs."
Thomas's face hardened.
"What photographs?"
"My son."
Victor's twenty-eight-year-old son had struggled with gambling and addiction for years.
Three months earlier he had borrowed money from a criminal lender.
Cassandra somehow obtained photographs of him meeting the lender.
"She said she'd send everything to federal investigators and claim company funds were involved," Victor said.
"Were they?" Amelia asked.
"No."
"Then why cooperate?"
"Because my son used my name."
Victor's voice broke.
"I thought I could fix it."
Thomas stood.
"So you gave Cassandra access."
"Only temporary credentials."
"Those credentials were used to forge my signature."
"I didn't know."
Thomas's anger filled the room.
Victor lowered his head.
"I know saying I'm sorry is worthless."
"No," Thomas replied. "It isn't worthless. It's simply insufficient."
Victor gave them everything.
Emails.
Encrypted messages.
Account transfers.
Instructions from Cassandra.
But the evidence still did not prove Julian knew about the forged signatures.
Then Nathaniel traced payments from Cassandra to a consulting company.
The company was controlled by Julian's law partner.
Amelia stared at the report.
"So he knew."
Nathaniel sat beside her.
"Most likely."
"I was going to marry him."
"You didn't."
"That's not the point."
"I know."
She looked at him.
"I trusted him."
Nathaniel took her hand.
"That says something about him. Not you."
Amelia shook her head.
"You always know what to say."
"No. I just delete the stupid things before they reach my mouth."
She laughed.
Thomas entered.
"Good. You're laughing. I need witnesses."
"For what?"
Thomas looked at Nathaniel.
"Ask her."
Nathaniel blinked.
Amelia looked between them.
"Ask me what?"
Thomas groaned.
"For a man who negotiated a nine-country aerospace contract, you're remarkably slow."
Nathaniel stood.
"Thomas."
"Don't Thomas me. I've had heart trouble. I don't have time for modern courtship."
Amelia's mouth opened.
Nathaniel rubbed his forehead.
"Your father has decided to ruin something I've been planning for weeks."
Thomas left the room.
"Door stays open," he called.
Amelia burst out laughing.
Nathaniel looked toward the ceiling.
"This is not how I imagined this."
"What did you imagine?"
"Less commentary."
He reached into his jacket.
Amelia stopped laughing.
Nathaniel held a small velvet box.
Inside was Eleanor Hart's ring.
Amelia stared.
"Dad gave you that?"
"After threatening me."
"That sounds right."
Nathaniel did not kneel immediately.
Instead he held the ring between them.
"I know you don't need rescuing."
Her eyes filled.
"I know your work matters to you."
He continued.
"I know there will be deployments, terrible coffee, missed holidays, and nights when neither of us can say where the other one is."
Amelia swallowed.
"I know you're not going to become easier because I love you."
A tear slipped down her cheek.
Nathaniel smiled.
"I don't want easier."
Then he knelt.
"Amelia Hart, will you marry me?"
She whispered, "Yes."
Thomas shouted from the hallway, "What did she say?"
Amelia laughed through her tears.
"She said yes," Nathaniel called.
"Good."
The wedding happened six weeks later.
Not at Hart House.
Not in a cathedral.
Not before hundreds of guests.
Amelia and Nathaniel married quietly in a small courthouse near Alexandria, Virginia.
Thomas attended.
So did Nathaniel's mother and sister.
Martin served as witness.
Amelia wore a cream dress.
Nathaniel wore a dark suit.
Afterward they ate dinner in a private room above an Italian restaurant.
Thomas raised his glass.
"To two people smart enough not to invite anyone annoying."
Amelia smiled.
They agreed to keep the marriage private temporarily.
Amelia was preparing for another overseas assignment.
Nathaniel's company was negotiating a sensitive government contract.
Thomas's investigation into Cassandra and Julian was still active.
Publicity could complicate all three.
Only a handful of people knew.
For Amelia, secrecy felt peaceful.
No reporters.
No society pages.
No performance.
Nathaniel placed his wedding ring on a leather cord when working overseas.
Amelia wore hers normally except during deployments.
Before leaving for her next assignment, Amelia spent one final weekend with Thomas.
On Sunday evening they sat beside Eleanor's grave.
Thomas looked at Amelia's wedding ring.
"Your mother would have liked him."
"She had questionable taste. She married you."
"Exactly."
Amelia leaned against his shoulder.
Thomas became quiet.
"If anything happens to me..."
"Don't."
"Listen."
She sighed.
Thomas continued.
"The original family trust cannot be changed by electronic amendment."
Amelia turned.
"What?"
"I revised it after the first forgery attempt."
"When?"
"Three months ago."
"Who has the original?"
"Not Martin."
"Then who?"
Thomas smiled faintly.
"You don't need to know yet."
"Dad."
"If something happens, remember three things."
Amelia waited.
"Your mother's letters. The Charleston Harbor clock. And the day you learned to salute."
She stared.
"That makes absolutely no sense."
"It will."
He kissed her forehead.
May you like
Six weeks later, Amelia deployed.
Three months after that, Thomas stopped answering her calls.
