Chapter 8: The Marriage That Was Never Real
The hardest truth to accept wasn’t that Adrian betrayed me.
It was that maybe he never started with love at all.
I spent that night sitting alone in my apartment, surrounded by memories that suddenly looked different.
The photograph from our first vacation.
The anniversary dinner.
The night he proposed.
Every moment I once considered proof of love now felt like evidence in a case against me.
My mind kept returning to one question.
How long had I been a strategy?
The next morning, I met Vivian at a private café downtown.
She arrived wearing sunglasses and a simple coat.
Nothing like the woman from the banquet.
No designer dress.
No confident smile.
Just someone who looked exhausted.
She sat across from me.
“I know you don’t trust me.””
“You’re right.””
She nodded.
“I wouldn’t trust me either.””
I studied her.
“Why are you helping me?””
She looked down at her coffee.
“Because I finally realized I was never his partner.””
“What were you?””
Her answer came quietly.
“A tool.””
The honesty surprised me.
She opened her bag and placed a flash drive on the table.
“This contains everything.””
I didn’t touch it.
“What exactly?””
“Emails. Financial records. Conversations between Adrian and the investor.””
I looked at the drive.
“How did you get this?””
“Adrian trusted me.””
A bitter smile crossed her face.
“He thought because I was in love with him, I wouldn’t look too closely.””
“And you did.””
“I did.””
She looked at me.
“I found messages from before we met.””
My chest tightened.
“About me?””
“Yes.””
She slid her phone across the table.
The conversation was between Adrian and the investor.
The first message was from four years ago.
*The marriage is the easiest way in. Her family trusts her judgment.*
I stopped.
Another message.
*Once I have access to the family office, controlling Hawthorne will be simple.*
My fingers went cold.
There were dozens more.
Plans.
Meetings.
Financial strategies.
My marriage reduced to business calculations.
Vivian watched my reaction.
“I’m sorry.””
I looked up.
“Did he ever say he loved me?””
She hesitated.
That hesitation answered everything.
“I don’t know.””
The cruel part was that I believed her.
Because Adrian had never been good at lying with words.
He lied through actions.
And I had ignored them.
I stood.
“Thank you for the files.””
She looked surprised.
“That’s it?””
“What else should there be?””
“I hurt you.””
“Yes.””
“I ruined your marriage.””
“No.””
I looked at her.
“He did that.””
For the first time, Vivian looked like she might cry.
Before I left, she grabbed my wrist.
“Claire.””
I turned.
“There’s one more thing.””
“What?””
Her face changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
“The investor Adrian was working with…”
She swallowed.
“He isn’t trying to buy Hawthorne Industries.””
I frowned.
“Then what does he want?””
Vivian whispered:
“He wants the original ownership documents.””
I felt my heartbeat slow.
“The documents my father left?””
She nodded.
“Adrian believes they contain something worth more than the company.””
That night, I returned to the family office.
Thomas was waiting.
I placed the flash drive on the table.
“He was planning this for years.””
Thomas nodded.
“I suspected.””
I looked at him sharply.
“You suspected?””
His face tightened.
“Your father suspected too.””
The words angered me.
“So everyone knew except me?””
“No.””
Thomas shook his head.
“Your father wanted you to have a normal life.””
I laughed quietly.
“Normal?””
I pointed toward the documents.
“My husband married me as part of a takeover plan.””
Thomas looked away.
Then he said something I never expected.
“Your father wasn’t afraid Adrian would hurt your company.””
I froze.
“Then what was he afraid of?””
Thomas opened another file.
Inside was a copy of Adrian’s birth certificate.
I looked at it.
Then looked again.
Something was wrong.
The name listed under father was not Adrian’s grandfather.
It was someone else.
Someone whose name I knew.
Someone connected to my own family.
I looked at Thomas.
“What am I seeing?””
May you like
His voice was barely above a whisper.
“The truth about why Adrian wanted your family’s secrets.””
