Chapter 6 - The Fortune Her Husband Never Stole
The key opened a safe-deposit box in a bank three states away.
Clare, Sebastian, Gabriel and a federal attorney traveled there together.
Inside was not cash.
Not jewelry.
Not drugs.
It was ownership paperwork.
Thirty-two percent of Lombardi Holdings.
Sebastian stared.
“My father’s missing shares.”
Daniel’s letter explained everything.
Before his death, Sebastian’s father had transferred the shares into a protected trust to prevent Victor from gaining control.
Daniel became temporary custodian because nobody inside the Lombardi organization could be trusted.
If Daniel died before Sebastian learned the truth, the trust passed to Clare.
She had unknowingly controlled part of Sebastian’s legitimate business empire for four years.
“How much is this worth?” she asked.
The attorney hesitated.
Sebastian answered.
“Approximately eighty-four million dollars.”
Clare laughed.
Nobody else did.
She stopped.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“I had eighty-four million dollars while arguing with the pharmacy over thirty-dollar copays?”
“Apparently.”
Clare sat down.
“This is ridiculous.”
Sebastian watched her.
“What will you do?”
“Give it back.”
The attorney blinked.
Sebastian did not.
“You don’t have to.”
“It belongs to your family.”
“My father legally placed it in trust.”
“For protection.”
“And he chose Daniel.”
“Daniel chose me because he died.”
Sebastian’s voice softened.
“You returned a hundred-and-eighty-thousand-dollar watch when you could barely pay rent.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m stupid enough to return eighty-four million.”
He smiled.
Clare looked at the documents again.
Then she thought of Daniel.
Of Oliver.
Of patients at her clinic who disappeared when insurance stopped paying.
Of people told recovery was impossible because they could not afford another opinion.
“I know what I want.”
Six months later, the Bennett-Lombardi Neurological Rehabilitation Center opened in Chicago.
Clare used part of the trust.
Sebastian matched it.
The center specialized in patients with spinal injuries who had exhausted traditional treatment options.
Nobody was promised miracles.
That was Clare’s first rule.
Everyone was promised to be taken seriously.
That was Sebastian’s.
His own recovery continued.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Some weeks brought progress.
Others brought nothing.
He learned to stand using parallel bars.
Then braces.
Then a walker for short distances.
The first time he crossed the therapy room without his wheelchair, Clare cried harder than he did.
“You’re ruining my reputation,” he said.
“You threatened to throw me in a lake.”
“I was flirting.”
“You were terrible at it.”
“I improved.”
He had.
So had their lives.
Oliver became Sebastian’s loudest coach.
“Ten steps.”
“Nine.”
“That one counted.”
“You pushed me.”
“Still counted.”
Gabriel watched from the doorway.
“I agree with the child.”
Sebastian glared at both of them.
“Traitors.”
The criminal cases moved forward.
Victor Lombardi faced conspiracy, attempted murder, racketeering and kidnapping charges.
Dr. Vale faced additional charges connected to patients harmed in his clinics.
More victims came forward.
Daniel’s evidence became the center of a federal case.
For the first time, Clare could say her husband’s name without thinking only about the night he died.
He had been afraid.
But he had acted anyway.
One evening after therapy, Sebastian asked Clare to join him by the lake.
He walked there using a cane.
Slowly.
Clare stayed beside him but did not touch him.
She knew better.
He hated being helped unless he asked.
At the water, he stopped.
“I rejected every woman who tried to become part of my life.”
Clare raised an eyebrow.
“This sounds romantic already.”
“I’m trying.”
“Continue.”
“I thought they wanted something.”
“Most people do.”
“You didn’t.”
“I wanted ten thousand dollars.”
He looked offended.
“That destroys the speech.”
Clare laughed.
Sebastian reached into his pocket.
She stopped laughing.
“Sebastian.”
He lowered himself carefully onto one knee.
It was difficult.
Pain crossed his face.
“Don’t you dare injure yourself proposing.”
“You’ve ruined this too.”
“Get up.”
“No.”
“Your therapist is ordering you.”
“My therapist is currently off duty.”
He opened a small box.
Inside was not an enormous diamond.
It was a simple ring.
Elegant.
Beautiful.
Clare’s eyes filled.
Sebastian looked at her.
“I spent most of my life believing love gave people leverage over you.”
His voice was quiet.
“Then you walked into my house because you needed money, insulted me, returned my watch, discovered someone had sabotaged my spine, exposed the people who destroyed our families, and somehow convinced an eight-year-old that I’m emotionally functional.”
“You’re not.”
“I know.”
She laughed through her tears.
Sebastian continued.
“You never needed me to save you.”
Clare looked at him.
“But I want to build a life where neither of us has to survive alone.”
He held up the ring.
“Marry me.”
Clare whispered, “Yes.”
From behind a hedge came a shout.
“FINALLY!”
Clare spun around.
Oliver jumped out.
Gabriel followed.
Elena stood behind them.
Clare stared at Sebastian.
“You planned an audience?”
“No.”
He glared at Gabriel.
Gabriel shrugged.
“The boy insisted.”
Oliver ran toward them.
“I kept the secret for three days.”
“That might be your personal record,” Clare said.
They laughed.
For a moment, everything felt finished.
But life rarely ended exactly where happiness began.
Two weeks before the wedding, Clare received a call from the federal prosecutor.
Victor wanted to speak with her.
Alone.
She refused.
Then the prosecutor said why.
Victor claimed Daniel’s car crash had not been ordered by him.
Clare went silent.
“Who ordered it?”
“He says he’ll only tell you in person.”
Sebastian hated the idea.
“You’re not going alone.”
“It’s a federal facility.”
“I don’t care.”
“You can wait outside.”
“No.”
“Sebastian.”
He stared at her.
“Fine.”
At the detention center, Clare sat across from Victor behind reinforced glass.
He looked older.
Smaller.
Power had left him quickly.
“You look happy,” he said.
“I am.”
“That won’t last.”
“Is that why you asked me here?”
Victor smiled.
“Daniel was inconvenient. But I didn’t order his death.”
“Then who did?”
“Vale didn’t either.”
Clare’s fingers tightened around the telephone.
Victor leaned closer to the glass.
“Your husband discovered someone else in our operation.”
“Who?”
“Someone Sebastian trusts more than anyone.”
Clare felt cold.
Victor smiled.
“Gabriel Mendes.”
Clare stood.
“You’re lying.”
“Ask Sebastian who was driving the car that forced Daniel through the guardrail.”
She dropped the phone.
Outside, Sebastian waited.
One look at her face and he knew.
“What did he say?”
Clare could barely speak.
“He said Gabriel killed Daniel.”
Sebastian went completely still.
Then Clare saw something that frightened her.
Not disbelief.
Recognition.
“You knew something,” she whispered.
Sebastian looked away.
May you like
And in that instant, Clare realized the man she was about to marry had kept one final secret from her.
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