Chapter 9 The Truth Behind the Vows
“Marcus!”
Emilia's voice cut through the darkness.
Marcus moved toward it.
“Emilia?”
A hand caught his arm.
Daniel.
“Wait.”
“That was her.”
“I know.”
“Then let go.”
Daniel released him.
Marcus pulled out his phone and switched on the flashlight.
The garage was empty.
The stranger was gone.
So was the vehicle.
Daniel stared toward the open doorway.
“How did they get past us?”
Marcus didn't answer.
He was looking at the floor.
A small silver object lay near the entrance.
He picked it up.
Emilia's pendant.
His stomach dropped.
She had worn it on the day they met.
He remembered the moment because she had been standing in the rain outside a charity auction, arguing with a security guard who wanted to turn an elderly woman away.
She had been wearing that pendant then.
Marcus closed his fingers around it.
“She was here.”
Daniel nodded.
“Or someone wants us to believe she was.”
Marcus looked at him sharply.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she wouldn't leave this behind.”
Daniel studied his brother.
“You trust her.”
Marcus's answer came without hesitation.
“Yes.”
It was the simplest truth he had spoken all night.
Daniel nodded.
“Then we find her.”
Emilia opened her eyes.
For a moment, she did not know where she was.
Cold stone pressed against her back.
Her hands were free.
Her head hurt.
She pushed herself upright.
A single lamp burned on a table nearby.
She recognized the room.
Bellweather.
The old library.
The shelves were covered in dust, but the tall windows were familiar.
She had been there many times during restoration work.
Someone had brought her here.
She remembered leaving the clinic.
She remembered the road.
Then headlights.
A car.
A voice.
After that, nothing.
“Marcus?”
Her voice sounded small in the empty room.
No answer.
She stood.
The door was locked.
She tried the handle.
Nothing.
“Is anyone there?”
A voice came from behind her.
“You shouldn't have come.”
Emilia turned.
A man stepped from behind the curtains.
He was in his late fifties, with silver at his temples and a narrow scar across his chin.
She had seen him before.
Not recently.
Years ago.
At her wedding.
She searched her memory.
Then recognition came.
“Samuel?”
The man stopped.
“You know my name.”
“Your photograph was in my grandfather's records.”
Samuel gave a tired smile.
“Then you know more than I expected.”
“You brought me here.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you deserve the truth.”
Emilia's anger rose.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Samuel's expression softened.
“And everyone keeps deciding when you're ready to hear it.”
She stared at him.
“What happened to Marcus?”
“He's looking for you.”
“Is he safe?”
“For now.”
Emilia released a breath.
“Then let me go.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because the people hunting your family are no longer interested in Bellweather.”
He stepped closer.
“They're interested in what you know.”
“I know almost nothing.”
“That's what makes you dangerous.”
Emilia frowned.
“I don't understand.”
Samuel walked to the table.
A folder lay there.
He opened it.
Inside were copies of letters.
Photographs.
Financial records.
And one document Emilia recognized immediately.
Her marriage certificate.
She stared at it.
“Why do you have that?”
Samuel looked at her.
“Because your marriage was the final piece of an agreement that began long before you were born.”
Emilia's face tightened.
“You said Marcus's father didn't arrange our marriage.”
“He didn't.”
“Then what was the agreement?”
Samuel slid another document across the table.
“Read it.”
Emilia picked it up.
It was dated twenty-seven years earlier.
The agreement stated that Bellweather would remain under joint protection of the Foster and Aldridge families.
But there was something else.
A condition.
If either family attempted to sell the property or expose the original financial records, control would transfer to a third party.
Emilia frowned.
“Who is the third party?”
Samuel looked at her.
“That's the problem.”
She read the name.
Her breath caught.
The name was not familiar.
But the company was.
It was one of the largest private investment groups in the country.
The same group that had recently approached Marcus about acquiring a controlling interest in one of his companies.
Emilia looked up.
“They're involved.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Bellweather sits above something they want.”
“Money?”
“Not exactly.”
Samuel closed the folder.
“Information.”
Emilia stared at him.
“What information?”
“The original ledger contains evidence that could destroy several powerful people.”
“Politicians?”
“Executives. Lawyers. Investors. People who built fortunes by making sure certain families lost theirs.”
Emilia looked toward the window.
“And my grandfather?”
“He discovered the scheme.”
“Then why did he accept the agreement?”
“Because he believed Richard could help him expose it.”
“But Richard failed.”
Samuel's face hardened.
“Richard tried.”
“Then what happened?”
“He was betrayed.”
“By whom?”
Samuel didn't answer.
Emilia stepped closer.
“You keep avoiding that question.”
“Because naming that person puts you in greater danger.”
“I am already locked inside an abandoned house.”
Samuel looked at her.
“You're right.”
He sighed.
“Richard trusted someone he should never have trusted.”
“Who?”
Samuel's eyes lowered.
“Your grandmother.”
Emilia froze.
“My grandmother died before I was born.”
“I know.”
“She was involved?”
“She was trying to protect your grandfather.”
“That doesn't answer the question.”
Samuel looked at her.
“She was the one who discovered the forged agreement.”
Emilia stared.
“Then why did everyone blame you?”
“Because she needed someone else to carry the suspicion.”
“You allowed that?”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
Samuel's expression changed.
“You're right.”
He looked older suddenly.
“I made mine.”
A noise came from upstairs.
Both turned.
Someone was walking across the floor.
Samuel's face tightened.
“They found us.”
“Who?”
He closed the folder.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Emilia—”
“You brought me into this. I'm not sitting quietly while everyone else decides what happens.”
Samuel studied her.
Then, unexpectedly, he nodded.
“You have your grandfather's courage.”
“My grandfather's courage nearly destroyed him.”
“Perhaps.”
He opened a hidden panel in the wall.
A narrow passage appeared.
“Come.”
Marcus and Daniel drove toward Bellweather.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
Marcus held Emilia's pendant in his palm.
He kept looking at it.
Daniel noticed.
“You really love her.”
Marcus looked through the windshield.
“Yes.”
“You've always loved her.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let her leave?”
Marcus took a long breath.
“Because I thought providing for her was the same as being there for her.”
Daniel nodded.
“Dad taught you that.”
“I know.”
“But you continued it.”
Marcus looked at him.
Daniel did not soften the truth.
“You can't blame everything on Dad.”
Marcus looked back at the road.
“I don't.”
The admission came quietly.
“I became the man I was because I chose to.”
Daniel leaned against the seat.
“That matters.”
Marcus nodded.
“I want another chance.”
Daniel looked at him.
“With Emilia?”
“Yes.”
“Then don't try to earn her back with money.”
Marcus gave him a tired look.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Marcus was silent.
Daniel smiled faintly.
“You're going to have to learn how to be ordinary.”
“Ordinary?”
“Dinner. Conversation. Listening. Showing up when nobody is watching.”
Marcus almost laughed.
“You make it sound harder than running a company.”
“It is.”
For the first time that night, Marcus smiled.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Where is she?”
Samuel's voice came through.
Marcus recognized it immediately.
“You have Emilia.”
“Yes.”
“Is she hurt?”
“No.”
“Put her on.”
“I can't.”
Marcus's grip tightened.
“Then tell me where you are.”
“Bellweather.”
Marcus looked at Daniel.
“We're coming.”
Samuel's voice lowered.
“Don't.”
“Why?”
“Because the people who took her are already here.”
Marcus's heart stopped.
“Who?”
The line went silent.
Then Emilia's voice came through.
“Marcus?”
His breath caught.
“Emilia.”
“I'm okay.”
“Where are you?”
“I don't know.”
A man's voice shouted in the background.
The call ended.
Marcus immediately called back.
No answer.
Daniel looked at him.
“We're close.”
Marcus accelerated.
Emilia and Samuel moved through the hidden passage.
The tunnel was narrow.
Samuel carried the folder.
Emilia followed closely.
“Where does this lead?”
“To the old west wing.”
“Can we get outside?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are we hiding?”
“Because the people upstairs have weapons.”
Emilia stopped.
Samuel turned.
“Stay close.”
“Who are they?”
“People working for the investment group.”
“Why would they come after me?”
“Because you're the legal heir to your grandfather's remaining interest in Bellweather.”
Emilia stared at him.
“What?”
“Your grandfather never lost everything.”
“Then why did he live as though he had?”
“Because the ownership documents were hidden.”
“Where?”
Samuel looked at her.
“In your wedding ring.”
Emilia froze.
“My ring?”
“Yes.”
She remembered leaving it on Marcus's desk.
The ring she had worn for six years.
The ring she had believed represented everything that had gone wrong.
“What was inside it?”
“A microfilm strip containing the final ownership record.”
Emilia stared at him.
“You're telling me my wedding ring was evidence?”
“Yes.”
“Did Marcus know?”
“No.”
“Did my father?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Yes.”
The betrayal hurt.
Again.
Everyone she trusted seemed to have known something about the symbol she had worn every day.
She had thought the ring represented her marriage.
Instead, it had been carrying a secret.
“Where is the ring now?”
“Marcus has it.”
Emilia's heart tightened.
“Are you sure?”
Samuel nodded.
“He kept it.”
She looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because I was the one who told him to keep it.”
Emilia's eyes narrowed.
“You've spoken to Marcus?”
“Several times.”
“When?”
“Before tonight.”
A terrible realization struck her.
“Then you knew where I was going.”
Samuel's expression changed.
“I knew you were leaving your marriage.”
“You knew?”
“I knew you were going to walk away.”
Emilia stepped backward.
“Who told you?”
Samuel said nothing.
“Who?”
He finally answered.
“Your husband.”
Emilia stared at him.
Marcus had known?
No.
That couldn't be right.
Samuel quickly shook his head.
“Not the way you're thinking.”
“Then explain.”
“He asked me to protect you.”
Her heart pounded.
“Why would he ask you?”
“Because he knew he had failed to do it himself.”
The words struck deeper than Emilia expected.
She looked away.
Marcus had been trying to protect her.
But she didn't know whether that made things better or worse.
Before she could respond, a noise came from the passage behind them.
Samuel grabbed her hand.
“Run.”
They moved.
Footsteps echoed behind them.
Someone had entered the tunnel.
Emilia heard a voice.
“Find them!”
Samuel pushed open a hidden door.
They emerged into the west wing.
The room was dark.
Samuel shut the door.
“Stay here.”
He crossed toward the window.
Then the glass shattered.
Samuel jerked backward.
Emilia screamed.
He fell against the wall.
“Samuel!”
He raised a hand.
“I'm okay.”
But blood marked his sleeve.
A second shot struck the wall.
Samuel pulled Emilia down.
“Don't move.”
Footsteps approached outside.
Then a voice spoke through the broken window.
“Give us the ledger.”
Samuel looked at Emilia.
The folder was still in his hand.
The footsteps grew louder.
And suddenly, headlights swept across the room.
A vehicle had arrived.
Samuel looked toward the driveway.
“Marcus.”
Emilia's heart jumped.
Then she heard a second vehicle.
And a third.
Samuel's expression changed.
“That's not him.”
The doors opened outside.
Several people stepped into the rain.
Marcus's car stopped at the front of Bellweather.
He and Daniel got out.
Marcus looked up at the broken window.
“Emilia!”
Her voice answered from inside.
“Marcus!”
He started toward the house.
Daniel grabbed him.
“Wait.”
Marcus turned.
“What?”
Daniel pointed toward the driveway.
A black sedan had just arrived.
The driver's door opened.
A woman stepped out.
Marcus recognized her immediately.
His mother.
Evelyn looked toward the house.
Then toward Marcus.
And behind her stood a man Marcus had never seen before.
Daniel went pale.
“That can't be.”
Marcus stared.
The stranger looked exactly like the man in the old family photograph.
The man everyone had believed was dead.
Samuel had called him by another name.
Richard Aldridge.
Marcus could barely breathe.
His father was supposed to have been dead for six years.
Yet the man standing in the rain looked directly at him.
And smiled.