Chapter 18 - No More Contracts
Astrid was thinner.
That was the first thing Thea noticed.
The second was that without pearls, assistants and an estate surrounding her, she looked less like the woman who controlled rooms and more like somebody's grandmother.
They sat across from each other in the correctional facility visiting room.
“You came alone,” Astrid said.
“Yes.”
“Lachlan?”
“Doesn't know.”
Astrid almost smiled.
“He'll dislike that.”
“He'll survive.”
“I imagine he will.”
Silence.
Then Astrid noticed the ring.
“You're still married.”
“Yes.”
“By choice?”
“Now.”
Astrid's eyes softened.
“I'm glad.”
“I didn't come for your approval.”
“No.”
“I came because I need to understand something.”
“What?”
“When you offered me the contract, did you know my mother witnessed Harrison's death?”
Astrid looked startled.
“No.”
Thea watched carefully.
“You're certain?”
“Yes.”
“How did you find me?”
“Lachlan.”
That matched his story.
“He had seen you at the hospital.”
“Yes.”
“You investigated us.”
“Yes.”
“Did Sparrow flag my mother's name?”
Astrid went still.
There.
Thea leaned forward.
“You did know.”
“Not when I approached you.”
“When?”
“After the engagement paperwork was processed.”
“How?”
“A legacy database produced a match.”
“And you said nothing.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Astrid's eyes lowered.
“Because I feared if I told Lachlan, he would cancel the wedding to protect you.”
Thea stared.
“So you knowingly let me marry into danger.”
“Yes.”
Anger rose.
Old anger.
Fresh anger.
“You apologized at the cemetery without telling me this.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because shame makes cowards repetitive.”
Thea stood.
She wanted to leave.
Astrid said quietly, “You do not need to forgive me.”
Thea turned.
“I know.”
“I am not asking.”
“Good.”
“But I am sorry.”
Thea breathed.
“You nearly got me killed.”
“Yes.”
“You nearly got Sophie killed.”
“Yes.”
“You used my mother's illness.”
“Yes.”
“And you keep saying yes like confession fixes it.”
“No.”
Astrid's eyes filled.
“It does not.”
That stopped Thea.
Astrid continued.
“I spent my life believing an apology was valuable because powerful people rarely give one.”
A tear rolled down her face.
“I understand now that apologies are cheap. Consequences are expensive.”
Thea slowly sat again.
“What consequence matters to you?”
“Lachlan no longer trusts me.”
“That hurts?”
“More than prison.”
“What about Sophie?”
Astrid looked away.
“She won't visit.”
“She's six.”
“She is also Elena's daughter.”
Thea softened despite herself.
“Sophie doesn't hate you.”
“How do you know?”
“She asked last week whether prisons have birthday cake.”
Astrid laughed through tears.
“She remembers my birthday.”
“She remembers everything involving cake.”
They sat quietly.
Then Thea said, “We're renewing our vows.”
Astrid stared.
“When?”
“Next month.”
“Where?”
“The lake house.”
Astrid's face changed.
“Elena loved that place.”
“I know.”
“Will you invite me?”
Thea did not answer immediately.
Astrid nodded.
“I shouldn't have asked.”
“You can't attend.”
“Of course.”
“But Sophie wants to send you a picture afterward.”
Astrid closed her eyes.
“Thank you.”
Thea stood.
At the door, she stopped.
“I don't forgive everything.”
Astrid nodded.
“But I don't want to hate you forever.”
Astrid's voice broke.
“That is enough.”
Thea left.
Outside, Lachlan waited beside the car.
She stopped.
“You followed me.”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Marcus followed you.”
She stared.
“That's worse.”
“He called me.”
“I'm firing Marcus.”
“You don't employ Marcus.”
“Details.”
Lachlan approached.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
He waited.
Thea appreciated that he didn't ask what Astrid said.
“I told her about the vows.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Were you planning to tell me about them?”
“Eventually.”
“Interesting approach.”
“I'm learning from your family.”
He laughed.
Then opened the car door.
The wedding preparations were intentionally small.
Twenty-two guests.
No media.
No business partners unless they were genuine friends.
Marianne chose flowers.
Sophie chose cake.
She selected chocolate with strawberries and refused negotiation.
Emil returned from temporary protection and insisted on managing every detail.
“You were kidnapped six months ago,” Thea told him. “Take a vacation.”
“I attempted one.”
“And?”
“Beaches are sandy.”
“Yes.”
“I dislike sand.”
“So does every villain in a science-fiction movie.”
Emil blinked.
“I don't understand.”
“Never mind.”
Lachlan chose the music.
Thea chose the vows.
Not the words.
The rule.
No promises about perfection.
Only truth.
Two days before the ceremony, Lachlan handed her an envelope.
She groaned.
“If that's another contract, I'm leaving.”
“It isn't.”
Inside was a deed.
Thea stared.
“No.”
“Read.”
The Voss estate had been transferred into a protected family trust benefiting Sophie.
Thea looked up.
“You gave her the house.”
“It was Elena's favorite.”
“What about you?”
“I own other houses.”
“Of course you do.”
“Too many.”
“What does this have to do with me?”
“The trust says Sophie controls the property at twenty-five.”
“Good.”
“And until then, her legal guardians control residence.”
“Guardians plural?”
Lachlan nodded.
Thea read.
Lachlan Voss and Thea Lindquist Voss.
Her throat tightened.
“You made me her guardian?”
“Only if you accept.”
The next page was unsigned.
Choice.
Always now, choice.
“Does Sophie know?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She asked whether guardians are allowed to cancel bedtime.”
Thea laughed.
Then cried.
“Lachlan.”
“If you don't want—”
She kissed him.
Hard enough to stop the sentence.
When they separated, he looked slightly stunned.
“That means yes.”
“I thought so.”
“You're learning.”
“Slowly.”
She signed.
That night, Sophie climbed into bed between them after a nightmare.
Thea woke at two.
Lachlan was asleep on his back.
Sophie had one hand tangled in his shirt and another wrapped around Thea's wrist.
Thea stared at the ceiling.
Nineteen.
That number had once sounded impossibly young when strangers discussed her marriage.
Maybe it was.
She had made a desperate choice.
But desperation did not mean she was incapable of making new ones.
She had chosen nursing school.
Chosen independence.
Chosen to return.
Chosen Lachlan.
And now she was choosing Sophie too.
Morning light entered.
Lachlan opened his eyes.
He looked directly at her.
Always strange, still.
Those eyes had begun everything.
The secret inside them.
The betrayal.
The mystery.
Now there was nothing hidden.
“What?” he whispered.
“Nothing.”
“You're staring.”
“So are you.”
“I can.”
She smiled.
“I know.”
Sophie stirred.
“Stop talking.”
They laughed quietly.
Tomorrow, Thea would marry Lachlan again.
Not legally.
They were already married.
Something more important.
Emotionally.
Freely.
No medical bills waiting in the background.
No grandmother negotiating.
No audience whispering about the blind billionaire.
No killer watching from the shadows.
Just them.
Or so Thea believed.
At four that afternoon, Emil received a package.
No return address.
Inside was Elena's old wedding bracelet.
The bracelet Sophie had been wearing the night of the crash.
Alongside it lay a final note.
ONE SECRET REMAINS.
Thea stared at it.
Lachlan closed his eyes.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
For once, Thea agreed completely.
Their second wedding was less than twenty-four hours away.
May you like
And someone had just delivered the last piece of Elena's past.
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