Chapter 9 - The Betrayal Inside Sebastian’s Family
The demand made no sense.
Until Mara explained the trust.
Vivienne had created two conditions.
If I remained unmarried, I controlled her shares.
If I married outside the Ward family, they transferred to a charitable foundation.
If I married Richard Ward’s biological son—
Sebastian—
The shares combined with his inheritance.
Together, we would control enough of the Ward legitimate companies to dissolve Thomas’s network permanently.
“So Nicholas wants us married?” I asked.
“No,” Mara replied. “He wants Sebastian to believe marriage saves your parents.”
“Why?”
“To get both of you into one location.”
Sebastian nodded.
“An execution.”
The word made me cold.
“But we still have to go.”
“No,” Sebastian said.
I nearly screamed.
“My parents—”
“Are already being moved.”
He showed me his phone.
A tracker embedded in Daniel’s watch had activated.
Nicholas was holding them at an abandoned hotel near Tarrytown.
Sebastian’s men were mobilizing.
“You planned this without telling me.”
“Thirty seconds ago.”
“Still counts.”
“Valerie.”
I glared.
He almost smiled.
“You’re impossible.”
“So are you.”
By noon, Daniel and Elena were rescued.
Nicholas escaped.
That should have been victory.
Instead, Sebastian discovered something worse.
Nicholas had not kidnapped them for Thomas.
He had acted alone.
When Elena was safe, she explained why.
“Nicholas hates Thomas.”
Sebastian frowned.
“Then why help him?”
“He isn’t.”
Nicholas wanted control.
Thomas wanted the old empire preserved.
Nicholas wanted Thomas removed and Sebastian disgraced.
“He expected you to destroy each other,” Elena said.
“And then he takes what remains.”
“Yes.”
Sebastian looked almost proud.
“My brother finally learned strategy.”
“That is not a compliment,” I said.
“It wasn’t.”
Federal arrests began that afternoon.
Thomas vanished.
Nicholas vanished.
Half of Sebastian’s senior leadership requested meetings.
Some offered loyalty.
Others made threats.
Sebastian gave everyone the same answer.
“The organization is finished.”
By evening, six men had resigned.
Two fled the country.
One went directly to federal investigators.
The old world was collapsing.
I thought Sebastian would feel relieved.
Instead, I found him in his father’s old office.
“Second thoughts?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
He held a ring.
Not an engagement ring.
An old gold signet.
“My father’s.”
I sat beside him.
“He spent his final years trying to become something different from what Thomas raised him to be.”
“So are you.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
“You saw me six months ago.”
Cold.
Commanding.
Violent when necessary.
Feared by everyone.
“I also saw you bring coffee this morning because you remembered I hate hotel coffee.”
He looked at me.
“That is your evidence?”
“Among other things.”
He put the ring down.
“I meant what I said.”
“About?”
“Not knowing how to do this.”
I smiled.
“You’re still terrible.”
“Thank you.”
“But improving.”
He reached toward me.
Then stopped.
The hesitation from that first morning returned.
“May I?”
I took his hand and placed it against my cheek.
“Yes.”
He kissed me.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Nothing to prove.
Nothing reckless.
Just us.
When we separated, I whispered, “If you ever ask me to marry you because of a trust fund, I’ll say no.”
“That is useful information.”
“And if you ask because you love me?”
His expression changed.
I held my breath.
Sebastian Ward could order hundreds of men into action without blinking.
Three simple words terrified him.
“I—”
His phone rang.
I laughed.
“Saved by the criminal emergency.”
He answered.
His face immediately changed.
“What?”
He stood.
“Where?”
When he hung up, I knew.
“Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“Found?”
“No.”
“Then?”
Sebastian looked toward the television.
I turned it on.
Every news station showed the same breaking headline.
A live press conference.
Thomas Ward walked onto a stage beside the district attorney.
Alive.
Public.
Smiling.
He stepped toward the microphones.
“My grandson Sebastian Ward,” he announced, “has spent fifteen years directing the largest criminal organization in New York.”
Sebastian became completely still.
Thomas continued.
“And tonight, I am providing evidence that will put him in prison for the rest of his life.”
Behind Thomas stood one more person.
Nicholas.
My stomach dropped.
Sebastian whispered, “He made a deal.”
May you like
Then Nicholas looked directly into the camera.
And smiled.
