Chapter 6 - The Marriage Arranged by a Dead Man
Isabella did not answer.
The phone continued ringing until the screen went dark.
“Why would Adrian marry me if he knew?” she whispered.
Elena checked the cellar door.
“I do not know how much he understood.”
“You just said he knew.”
“I heard him arguing with Margaret six months before your wedding. He said he had found Catherine’s daughter. Margaret told him to stay away from you.”
“That doesn’t prove he knew I was her child.”
“He called you Isabella Catherine.”
Only one person had ever used Isabella’s full name.
Her father.
Adrian had always called her Isabella Bennett before their marriage.
She remembered the night he proposed in the bookstore.
He had chosen a table beneath the history section. He had spoken about fate, unfinished stories, and restoring what had been taken.
At the time, she believed he meant their shared loneliness.
Now every word felt different.
The cellar door shook beneath a heavy impact.
“Open the door,” Dr. Mercer called. “Mrs. Vale is experiencing a medical emergency.”
Elena moved toward the rear wall.
“There is another exit.”
She pulled aside a wooden shelf, revealing a passage barely wide enough for one person.
“Where does it lead?”
“To the old chapel.”
They entered the tunnel.
Isabella moved slowly, one hand against the damp stone and the other beneath her stomach. The baby had become unusually still.
“Please move,” she whispered. “Please.”
At last, a faint kick answered.
Relief nearly brought her to her knees.
The tunnel ended beneath a trapdoor. Elena climbed first and helped Isabella into the abandoned chapel behind the western garden.
Dust covered the benches. The stained-glass windows had been boarded over.
On the altar rested a single envelope.
Isabella’s name was written across it.
“How long has that been there?”
Elena shook her head.
“I have never seen it before.”
Isabella opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
My dear Isabella,
If you are reading this, then you have discovered enough truth to place yourself in danger.
I knew who you were before I met you.
I knew your connection to Catherine.
But I did not marry you for the inheritance.
I married you because I loved you before I understood what loving you would cost.
There are things I have hidden because I believed secrecy would protect you. I was wrong.
Do not trust the records concerning Catherine’s death.
Do not trust Dr. Mercer.
And until I can explain everything, do not trust me.
Adrian
Isabella lowered the letter.
“He left this.”
Elena looked toward the chapel entrance.
“Recently.”
“Why here?”
“Perhaps he knew you would use the passage.”
The main doors opened.
Adrian entered alone.
Isabella backed toward the altar.
“Stay there.”
He stopped.
His white shirt was unbuttoned at the collar. Blood marked the side of his face.
“What happened to you?” she asked.
“Mercer tried to stop me.”
“Did you know who I was?”
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than another lie.
“When?”
“Before our first date.”
“Did you arrange for us to meet?”
“No.”
“But once you learned my name, you investigated me.”
“Yes.”
“And then you married me.”
“Because I loved you.”
“Or because marrying me would place my inheritance under your control?”
Adrian’s face tightened.
“Our marriage agreement keeps your assets separate.”
“Assets I did not know existed.”
“I was trying to restore them.”
“Without telling me?”
“My mother would have acted sooner if she knew you understood.”
“She has already been drugging me.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“I found the laboratory report this morning.”
Adrian reached inside his shirt and removed a folded sheet.
“The drink contained a compound designed to weaken uterine muscles.”
Isabella’s knees nearly gave way.
Elena caught her.
“Would it have killed the baby?”
“Over time, it could have caused premature labor or worse.”
Isabella’s voice became cold.
“And you left me in this house.”
“I did not know until today.”
“You knew what your mother had done to Catherine.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew she had erased my identity.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she hated the child I was carrying.”
“No.”
“Why would she hate this baby?”
Adrian looked at the chapel floor.
“Because your child will inherit the entire Sebastian Vale trust.”
“Why?”
“The will contains a bloodline clause. If Catherine’s surviving descendant produces an heir, control passes automatically to that branch.”
Isabella pressed a hand to her stomach.
“So the moment my baby is born, your mother loses everything.”
“Yes.”
A gunshot sounded outside.
One of the chapel windows shattered.
Adrian threw himself in front of Isabella.
Elena dropped behind a bench.
A second shot struck the altar.
From somewhere in the garden, Margaret’s voice rose through a loudspeaker.
“Adrian, step away from her.”
Adrian looked through the broken glass.
“She is my wife.”
“She is the end of our family.”
“No,” he said. “She is the family you stole.”
May you like
Margaret’s answer came without hesitation.
“Then you will fall with her.”
