“The transfer forms are here,” he said. “Once her shares are in my name, the board will approve the merger.”
“And the house?” his mother asked.
“Sold by Friday.”
She chuckled. “Your father always said marrying rich was better than working hard.”
I closed my eyes.
My father had built Hale Medical from one small clinic and a secondhand van. Before he died, he warned me that greed always arrived with a smile. So I learned contracts before makeup, security law before wedding etiquette, and corporate governance before floral arrangements.
Daniel didn’t know that.
He didn’t know the champagne glass he had handed me touched my lips but never went down my throat.
He didn’t know my father’s old security consultant had installed cameras in every private suite of the estate.
And he definitely didn’t know that the “helpless bride” under the bed was the majority shareholder he needed alive, awake, and willing.
My veil tightened in my hair.
Above me, Daniel said, “She was so easy.”
I smiled in the darkness.
No, darling.
I was patient.
I let my body go limp before Daniel found me.
He knelt beside the bed, his handsome face blurring into view as I kept my eyes half-closed. The same face that had trembled during his vows. The same mouth that had promised to protect me.
“Poor thing,” he murmured, brushing my cheek. “Too much champagne.”
His mother stood behind him in silver silk, arms folded, watching me like an expensive object being inspected.
“Do it now,” she said. “Before the staff starts cleaning.”
