Chapter 10 - The Bride Who Never Reached the Altar
Sebastian could have run.
He had planes.
Passports.
Properties in countries without extradition agreements.
Instead, the next morning he walked into the federal courthouse with Mara beside him.
And me.
“You should not be here.”
“You’ve mentioned.”
“Repeatedly.”
“Yet here I remain.”
“You’re exhausting.”
“You like me.”
He looked down at me.
“That is becoming inconveniently obvious.”
Reporters crowded the courthouse steps.
Questions exploded.
“Mr. Ward, did you order murders?”
“Are you connected to organized crime?”
“Miss Hayes, are you romantically involved with Sebastian Ward?”
That one made Sebastian turn.
His security moved immediately.
I grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t.”
“I dislike that question.”
“Because?”
“It is none of their business.”
“Very modern of you.”
Inside, investigators presented Thomas’s evidence.
Some was real.
Sebastian had committed crimes.
Money laundering.
Bribery.
Obstruction.
He did not pretend otherwise.
Other evidence was fabricated.
Murders attributed to Sebastian occurred when he was in other countries.
Accounts carried forged signatures.
Nicholas had spent years preparing a case against his brother.
But Daniel’s drive gave Sebastian leverage.
He offered full cooperation.
Assets.
Names.
Records.
In exchange, he wanted protection for employees uninvolved in violent crimes and immunity for families forced into cooperation.
The prosecutors were stunned.
“You’re giving us everything?” one asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Sebastian looked at me.
“Because someone should’ve done it thirty years ago.”
Negotiations lasted a week.
Thomas remained protected as a cooperating witness.
Nicholas stayed out of custody.
That disturbed Sebastian.
“They’re using them.”
“For what?”
“To build a bigger case.”
“Against whom?”
“That’s what worries me.”
On Friday, Sebastian asked me to dinner.
For once, no security meeting interrupted.
No criminal revelation.
No dead relative returned.
He rented a private rooftop overlooking Manhattan.
“Pretentious,” I said.
“You came.”
“There’s food.”
He laughed.
After dessert, he stood.
My heartbeat accelerated.
“If you take out a ring, remember what I said about the trust.”
“I remember everything you say. Unfortunately.”
He reached into his jacket.
There was a ring.
I stared.
“Sebastian.”
“I had an entire speech.”
“And?”
“I no longer remember it.”
I started smiling.
“That’s disappointing.”
He took my hand.
“Valerie Hayes, you entered my life and exposed every lie I had built around myself.”
“Very romantic.”
“Stop interrupting.”
I covered my mouth.
He continued.
“I cannot promise normal.”
“Clearly.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Sorry.”
“I can promise honesty. I can promise choice. And I can promise I will spend whatever life I have left becoming someone who deserves the fact that you stayed.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes.”
His entire body seemed to exhale.
I laughed.
“You thought I’d say no?”
“You threatened to.”
“Only if it was about money.”
He slipped the ring onto my finger.
For forty-eight hours, we were happy.
Then our wedding day came.
Small.
Private.
An estate overlooking the Hudson.
Elena attended.
Daniel attended.
Mara stood beside me before the ceremony.
“You look like Vivienne,” she said.
I smiled.
“Hopefully with fewer international conspiracies.”
Mara laughed.
Sebastian waited outside.
I was thirty steps from the ceremony when every phone in the room began ringing.
Simultaneously.
Mara answered first.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She turned toward me.
“Valerie, stay here.”
“What happened?”
“Sebastian.”
My heart stopped.
“What happened to him?”
Before she could answer, the building alarm sounded.
Outside, security rushed toward the driveway.
I ran.
“Valerie!”
I ignored Mara.
At the ceremony site, chairs stood empty.
Sebastian was gone.
His jacket lay on the ground.
Beside it was his father’s gold ring.
A black SUV was disappearing beyond the gates.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Nicholas.
“Beautiful dress.”
My blood froze.
“Where is Sebastian?”
“On his way to correct an old family mistake.”
“You touch him—”
“Everyone always says that.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“No.”
“Then Sebastian dies believing you never reached the altar.”
I looked down at my wedding dress.
At the empty place where he should have been standing.
“Where?”
Nicholas gave me an address.
Before disconnecting, he added:
“And Valerie?”
“Yes?”
“Ask Mara why she knew Sebastian would be taken today.”
I turned.
Mara stood behind me.
She had heard everything.
May you like
And from her expression—
Nicholas had told the truth.
