Chapter 5 The Marriage Was Never an Accident
The figure stepped through the broken entrance.
Emilia's first thought was that he looked too ordinary to inspire fear.
He was an older man with silver hair, a lean frame, and a dark coat damp from the rain. His face was lined, but his posture remained straight. He carried himself with the quiet confidence of someone who had spent decades making decisions while other people lived with the consequences.
Victor stared at him.
"Father."
Edwin Shaw looked at him without warmth.
"You were always too sentimental."
Victor's jaw tightened.
"You disappeared."
"I had to."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"I needed you to believe it."
Marcus stepped forward.
"What is going on?"
Edwin looked at him.
For several seconds, he simply studied Marcus.
Then he said, "You look like your father."
Marcus's expression hardened.
"I've heard that before."
"Your father would have hated the way you speak to me."
"I don't care."
Edwin's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Perhaps you really aren't like him."
Emilia watched Marcus.
The anger in his face was obvious, but beneath it was something else.
Uncertainty.
For perhaps the first time in his life, Marcus was standing in a room where he did not understand the rules.
Edwin turned toward Emilia.
"And you must be Henry Foster's granddaughter."
"My name is Emilia."
"I know."
Something about the way he said it made her uncomfortable.
"You know a lot about me."
"I have spent years making sure I did."
Marcus moved closer to Emilia.
"Stay away from her."
Edwin looked at him.
"Still protective."
"You're threatening my wife."
"No."
Edwin's voice remained calm.
"I'm explaining why she was always going to become part of this."
Emilia frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Edwin glanced at Thomas.
"Ask your father."
Thomas looked away.
Emilia felt a familiar ache.
Everyone seemed to know something except her.
"Enough," she said.
Her voice echoed through the chamber.
Everyone turned toward her.
"I am tired of people speaking about my life as though I'm not standing here."
Thomas opened his mouth.
She raised a hand.
"No."
Her eyes moved from her father to Victor, then to Edwin.
"You all know something about my family. You know something about Marcus's family. And apparently, you know something about my marriage."
Marcus looked at her.
"Emilia—"
She turned toward him.
"I don't want you to defend me."
He stopped.
"I want the truth."
Marcus nodded slowly.
"So do I."
Edwin smiled faintly.
"Then perhaps we can finally begin."
He reached inside his coat.
Marcus immediately moved in front of Emilia.
Edwin paused.
Then he removed a small envelope.
He held it out.
"For you."
Emilia stared at it.
"What is it?"
"A letter."
"From whom?"
"Your grandfather."
Thomas suddenly stepped forward.
"No."
Emilia looked at him.
"Dad?"
Thomas's face had gone pale.
"Don't open it."
Edwin looked at Thomas.
"You had twenty-seven years to tell her."
Thomas's voice shook.
"I was protecting her."
"No," Edwin said quietly. "You were protecting yourself from what she would think of you."
Thomas flinched.
Emilia took the envelope.
Her fingers trembled.
She recognized the handwriting.
Her grandfather.
The man who had taught her how to restore old furniture.
The man who had told her that every damaged thing deserved a chance to be understood before it was discarded.
She opened the letter.
The paper was old.
The ink had faded.
She read the first line.
My dear Emilia,
Her breath caught.
Marcus stood beside her.
She continued.
The letter explained that Bellweather had once belonged to the Foster family. Her grandfather had inherited it from his father.
Then Richard Aldridge had approached him.
Not to steal the property.
To save it.
Bellweather had been drowning in debt.
A group of investors wanted to tear down the historic estate and replace it with a commercial complex.
Richard offered money.
Protection.
A partnership.
But there had been conditions.
Emilia read faster.
Her eyes moved across the page.
Then she stopped.
One sentence made her blood run cold.
Richard asked me to keep something hidden from his son.
Marcus leaned closer.
"What?"
Emilia looked at him.
She could not answer.
She read the sentence again.
His son was never meant to inherit Bellweather.
Marcus stared at her.
"That doesn't make sense."
Edwin spoke.
"It will."
Marcus turned.
"What did my father do?"
Edwin's expression changed.
"He made a promise."
"To whom?"
"To Henry Foster."
Marcus looked at Thomas.
His father-in-law finally spoke.
"Richard knew Bellweather would eventually become valuable."
Edwin nodded.
"He also knew the company surrounding it would become valuable."
Marcus's mind began working.
"So my father protected the property because he wanted the company."
"No."
Edwin looked at him.
"Your father protected it because he believed one day the two families would need each other."
Marcus frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Edwin's gaze moved to Emilia.
"He believed you would marry her."
Silence.
Emilia stared at him.
Marcus's face went blank.
Thomas closed his eyes.
"No."
Emilia's voice was barely audible.
"You knew?"
Thomas looked at her.
"Not when you were young."
"But eventually?"
Thomas nodded.
"Yes."
Emilia stepped backward.
"How?"
Thomas swallowed.
"Richard and I stayed in contact."
"You knew our families were connected."
"Yes."
"And when Marcus and I met..."
"I knew who he was."
Her heart hurt.
She looked at Marcus.
"You knew?"
Marcus shook his head.
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"I swear I didn't."
Emilia believed him.
That was somehow worse.
Because it meant the marriage she had chosen freely had been surrounded by secrets she never knew existed.
Edwin spoke again.
"Richard did not arrange your marriage."
Emilia looked at him.
"Then what are you saying?"
"Only that he believed it would happen."
Marcus gave a bitter laugh.
"My father believed a lot of things."
Edwin nodded.
"He did."
"And what happened to that promise?"
Edwin's eyes darkened.
"Richard broke it."
"How?"
"He took Bellweather for himself."
Marcus stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because power changes people."
Thomas looked at the floor.
Edwin continued.
"Richard became afraid that if the Foster family reclaimed Bellweather, they would gain leverage over the Aldridge company."
Marcus felt something twist inside him.
"So he betrayed them."
"Yes."
"And my father?"
"Your father tried to undo it."
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
"Then why did he hide everything?"
"Because someone else was already manipulating the agreement."
Victor stepped forward.
"Father."
Edwin ignored him.
"The original ledger contains the names of everyone involved."
Emilia held the old book tightly.
"Who?"
Edwin looked at her.
"People from both families."
Thomas said nothing.
Marcus noticed.
"Thomas."
His father-in-law looked up.
"What aren't you telling us?"
Thomas's eyes filled with regret.
"I signed the second agreement."
Emilia stared at him.
"What agreement?"
"The one that transferred Bellweather."
Her face went pale.
"You gave it away?"
"I thought I was saving your grandfather."
"From what?"
Thomas's voice broke.
"Prison."
Silence.
Marcus stared at him.
"What did he do?"
Thomas shook his head.
"He didn't steal anything."
"Then why would he go to prison?"
"Because Richard had evidence that made it look as though he had."
Emilia felt dizzy.
Her grandfather had spent his final years believing he was a failure.
She had never understood why.
Now she wondered how much shame had been forced upon him.
Edwin looked at the ledger.
"Your grandfather took the blame."
"For Richard?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Richard promised to protect your father."
Thomas's eyes closed.
"He promised to protect you."
Emilia looked at him.
"What did you have to lose?"
Thomas answered quietly.
"Everything."
Before anyone could say more, a sharp sound came from outside.
A vehicle.
Then another.
Marcus turned toward the passage.
"How many people are with you?"
Edwin's face changed.
"None."
Victor looked at him.
"Father?"
Edwin's expression became grim.
"They followed me."
Marcus stepped toward Emilia.
"Stay close."
This time she did.
The sound of footsteps grew louder.
Edwin looked at the ledger.
"They aren't here for Bellweather."
Marcus frowned.
"Then what do they want?"
Edwin looked at Emilia.
"They want the person who can prove the original agreement was forged."
Emilia's heart stopped.
"Who?"
Edwin didn't answer.
Instead, his gaze moved toward Thomas.
Thomas went pale.
Edwin whispered,
"Your father."
A gunshot cracked through the chapel.
Thomas collapsed.
Emilia screamed.
Marcus caught her before she could reach him.
"Stay back!"
Thomas lay motionless on the stone floor.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Emilia struggled against Marcus's arms.
"Dad!"
Marcus held her firmly.
"Emilia, wait!"
She cried out.
"Let me go!"
Edwin turned toward the passage.
Victor moved beside him.
"We need to move."
"No."
Emilia pushed away from Marcus.
"My father is hurt."
Marcus looked toward Thomas.
For a moment, the disciplined businessman disappeared.
He looked terrified.
He knelt beside Thomas.
"Thomas."
Thomas's eyes opened slightly.
His lips moved.
Marcus leaned closer.
"What?"
Thomas whispered something.
Marcus's expression changed.
"What did you say?"
Thomas's fingers closed weakly around Marcus's wrist.
"Protect... her."
Marcus stared at him.
Then Thomas's eyes closed.
Emilia fell beside her father.
"Dad?"
No response.
She looked at Marcus.
Her face was wet with tears.
"Please."
Marcus understood the word beneath the word.
Don't let him die.
He looked at Thomas.
Then at Emilia.
And something inside him broke open.
For six years, he had believed protecting Emilia meant giving her a secure life.
Now, with her father lying injured before them, he understood how little money and power could do when the person you loved was afraid.
He reached for Emilia's hand.
She let him take it.
Only for a moment.
Then another sound came from the passage.
Someone was approaching.
Edwin looked at the others.
"We have seconds."
Marcus stood.
He helped Emilia up.
"Where do we go?"
Edwin looked at the hidden tunnel.
"There's another exit."
Victor grabbed the ledger.
Then he stopped.
His eyes moved to Emilia.
"You need to know one more thing."
She stared at him.
"What?"
Victor's voice was quiet.
"The person who forged the agreement wasn't Richard Aldridge."
Emilia felt the room go cold.
"Who was it?"
Victor looked toward Marcus.
"The person who did it is still alive."
Footsteps entered the chapel.
Victor's face hardened.
"And they're much closer to you than you think."