Chapter 15 - The Trap at St. Catherine’s
My mother was dead.
I knew that.
I had seen the casket.
I had stood beside her grave in cold rain while Sofia held my hand.
So when Grace said Victor claimed a woman named Caroline wanted the trust amendment, my first reaction was simple.
"No."
"That's what he said."
"Then he lied."
"Probably."
But probably no longer satisfied me.
Federal investigators checked.
The woman offering Victor money had used the name Caroline Vail.
One letter different.
Fake identity.
But surveillance footage existed.
A blonde woman in her late fifties.
Not my mother.
Relief came first.
Then confusion.
Who was she?
Facial recognition returned a name.
Margaret Greer.
Dr. Nathan Greer's older sister.
Another circle closed.
Margaret had worked for Vale family offices for thirty years.
She handled estate documents after my mother's death.
She had access to the trust.
She also had access to our family schedules.
And according to investigators, Margaret had vanished two days earlier.
Dr. Greer stared at her photograph on a video call.
"I didn't know."
"She was involved with Victor?"
"For years, apparently."
"Did she help stage the bedroom?"
He looked sick.
"Possibly."
Everything had been a network.
Not one mastermind.
People with overlapping motives.
Sofia wanted revenge.
Anthony wanted control and believed separation meant safety.
Victor wanted money.
Margaret wanted something we still didn't understand.
Greer wanted payment.
Each person performed one piece.
Together, they destroyed years of our lives.
Then St. Catherine's called.
Someone had broken into the church office.
Nothing stolen except old marriage records.
Mine and Marco's.
That finally explained tomorrow night's message.
The church mattered because our marriage itself was being challenged.
Rachel understood first.
"If they invalidate the marriage..."
"The trust amendment doesn't activate," I said.
"Exactly."
Marco frowned.
"How could they invalidate it?"
"Fraud in the license. Forged officiant credentials. Missing records."
Our wedding had been planned by Sofia and my father.
They could have manipulated almost anything.
Except one thing.
I remembered.
"Father Michael."
Marco looked at me.
"The priest?"
"He performed the ceremony."
"He retired."
"Where?"
Nobody knew.
Daniel found him within two hours.
A monastery in Indiana.
And Father Michael remembered us.
Very clearly.
"Your sister nearly murdered the florist," he told me over the phone.
That sounded like Sofia.
Most importantly, he had retained his own copy of the signed marriage certificate because the church office flooded the year after our wedding.
Our marriage was valid.
Victor's final legal escape was closing.
Then Rachel called.
"Federal prosecutors are prepared to move."
"Against who?"
"Victor. Margaret Greer. Several associates."
"Sofia?"
"She's negotiating cooperation."
"My father?"
"Likely charges."
I closed my eyes.
Consequences.
Finally.
But there was one missing piece.
Victor himself.
Police lost track of him after the warehouse.
And then, at 7:00 p.m., a courier delivered an envelope.
Inside was a church key.
St. Catherine's.
A note:
COME FINISH WHAT BEGAN AT YOUR WEDDING.
No signature.
Marco read it.
"Absolutely not."
I almost smiled.
"Was wondering how long your restraint would last."
"It's a trap."
"Obviously."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
"Elena."
"We're not walking in alone."
That changed the argument.
Federal agents prepared the church.
Plainclothes officers around the perimeter.
No children.
No family.
Just me and Marco entering through the same doors we'd walked through on our wedding day.
The church was dark except for altar candles.
Our footsteps echoed.
I remembered white roses.
Marco's hand shaking slightly when he slid the ring onto my finger.
Sofia standing behind me.
My father in the front row.
My mother absent because she'd already been dead four years.
I remembered thinking she would have loved Marco.
Maybe she had known him better than either of us realized.
A woman stepped from a side aisle.
Margaret Greer.
Gray-blonde hair.
Elegant coat.
Composed.
"You look like Caroline," she said.
"I've heard that too many times lately."
Her mouth curved.
"You have her defiance."
"Where is Victor?"
"Running."
"From you too?"
"Victor runs from everybody eventually."
Marco remained beside me.
"What do you want?"
Margaret looked at the envelope in my hand.
"The amendment."
"It's already with federal investigators."
Her composure cracked slightly.
"Original?"
"Yes."
That was another lie.
The original remained secured elsewhere.
She recovered.
"Then perhaps this meeting is pointless."
"Why offer Victor ten million?"
Her expression hardened.
"Because your mother stole from my family."
I stared.
"What?"
"Caroline didn't create those assets alone."
She explained.
Her father had once been a business partner of both families.
When he died, parts of his investments disappeared into the trust.
Margaret had spent decades believing Caroline took what belonged to the Greers.
"Did she?"
"Your mother called it protection."
"So you helped Victor steal?"
"I helped correct a theft."
"You helped destroy people."
Her eyes flashed.
"Your families destroyed mine first."
There it was.
Another inheritance.
Another old grievance passed down until children paid debts they never created.
"Did you kill my mother?"
Marco shifted beside me.
Margaret's expression barely moved.
"No."
"Did Victor?"
"No."
"Then what happened?"
She looked toward the altar.
"Caroline's crash truly was an accident."
I laughed.
"Convenient."
"Not everything is conspiracy, Elena."
"What about Thomas Reed?"
Silence.
"Victor."
"So you knew."
"Yes."
"Marco's father?"
Another pause.
"Natural heart attack."
Maybe.
Maybe not.
But not every wound required another murder.
Sometimes ordinary death happened alongside extraordinary lies.
"Why St. Catherine's?" Marco asked.
Margaret looked at us.
"Because I wanted to see whether you would come together."
I frowned.
"What?"
"Victor always said you were easier separated."
My skin prickled.
"He underestimated Caroline's daughter."
"You're testing us?"
"I'm deciding whether to surrender."
Marco stared.
"You arranged all this to negotiate?"
"I arranged very little. Victor became unstable once he learned about the foundation."
"What do you know about him now?"
Margaret's expression changed.
"Enough to tell you your children are not where you think they are."
Every cell in my body froze.
"No."
I called Teresa.
No answer.
Marco called Daniel.
Nothing.
My hands began shaking.
Margaret whispered, "Victor knew the children were your weakness."
Marco stepped toward her.
"Where are they?"
"I don't know."
"You just said—"
"I know he planned to move them."
My phone rang.
Teresa.
I answered.
"Nonna?"
She was crying.
"Elena."
My heart stopped.
"What happened?"
"They're gone."
The world disappeared.
"Who?"
"Two men came wearing federal badges."
"No."
"They said there was an emergency relocation order."
Marco was already calling Daniel.
Teresa sobbed.
"I thought—"
"It's okay."
It wasn't.
Nothing was okay.
"How long?"
"Ten minutes."
I looked at Marco.
He had gone completely pale.
We had spent years arguing about the past.
Now none of it mattered.
Our children were gone.
Then my phone chimed.
A video.
Victor appeared on screen.
Behind him, Mila and Leo sat together on a couch.
They looked frightened but unharmed.
Mila held Leo's hand.
Victor smiled at the camera.
"You wanted to give away my fortune."
My blood turned to ice.
"Bring the original amendment to Union Pier before midnight."
Marco stared at the screen.
Victor continued.
"No police. No federal agents. No clever games."
Then he leaned closer.
"Come together."
The video ended.
For three years, people had succeeded by keeping Marco and me apart.
Victor's final mistake was demanding we face him side by side.
Because this time...
we weren't strangers.
We weren't enemies.
We weren't a broken husband and wife trapped inside someone else's lie.
We were Mila and Leo's parents.
May you like
And we were bringing our children home.
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