Chapter 9 - THE MAN I ALMOST MARRIED
"How long have you known?" I asked Nathan.
He finally looked up.
"Madison, this isn't the time."
"How long?"
Victoria interrupted.
"Don't involve him."
I laughed bitterly.
"You involved him when you made him my fiancé."
Nathan stepped toward me.
"I didn't know everything."
"Everything about what?"
He swallowed.
"Your mother's inheritance. The shares. The money."
"But you knew about the recording?"
He didn't answer.
I looked at Victoria.
"Tell me."
She smiled.
"Nathan knew that the Caldwell family had financial difficulties. He knew your mother had left certain assets connected to Bellamere. He also knew that marrying you would make things easier."
My heart seemed to stop.
"Easier how?"
Victoria's voice became almost conversational.
"Your shares would have been transferred into a marital trust. The family would have gained access to the estate's voting rights."
I turned toward Nathan.
"Was that why you proposed?"
"No!"
"Then why didn't you tell me about the trust?"
He reached for my hand.
I stepped away.
"Madison, I loved you."
"Did you?"
"Yes."
"Then why did your mother tell you to marry me?"
Nathan's face tightened.
Victoria answered for him.
"Because you were the only person who could legally restore the collection to the Caldwell family."
I stared at her.
"So the engagement was a business transaction."
"Don't be childish. Nathan developed genuine feelings for you."
I looked at him.
"Did you know about Brittany?"
He hesitated.
"What about her?"
"Did you know she was going to wear my wedding dress?"
Nathan closed his eyes.
That was all the answer I needed.
"You knew."
"I found out that morning."
"And you let it happen?"
"I thought my mother was arranging something harmless."
"Harmless?"
His voice rose.
"She told me you had agreed to postpone the wedding!"
I stared at him.
"Did you call me?"
He said nothing.
"Did you send me a message?"
Nothing.
"Did you ask why I wasn't there?"
He lowered his head.
"No."
I nodded slowly.
"Then you didn't love me enough to care whether I was standing beside you."
Nathan looked devastated.
But I no longer cared.
Victoria stepped between us.
"This conversation is over. Give me the key, Madison."
I turned toward the old chapel corridor.
"No."
She motioned to the security guards.
Two men moved toward me.
But Thomas appeared behind them.
"Mrs. Caldwell, you have no authority to order the removal of a shareholder."
Victoria's eyes narrowed.
"You're dismissed."
Thomas shook his head.
"That decision will be discussed tomorrow."
I walked toward the exit.
Nathan followed.
"Madison, please. Don't let this end like this."
I stopped.
"You know what hurts most?"
He waited.
"I spent three years believing you were different from your mother."
I removed the second ring he had given me, a simple gold band we had chosen together.
I placed it in his hand.
"But you were never different. You were simply quieter."
I left him standing there.
Outside, Daniel opened the car door.
"Did you get the key?"
I held it up.
"Yes."
"Then let's find out what's inside the vault."
We drove to the chapel.
It was an old stone building behind the estate's gardens, no longer used for weddings.
The entrance was locked, but Thomas had arranged access.
Inside, the air smelled of dust and old wood.
A narrow staircase descended beneath the altar.
At the bottom stood a steel door.
The brass lock was marked B-09.
I inserted the key.
It turned.
The door opened.
Inside was a small vault containing three boxes.
The first held my mother's original sketches.
The second contained financial records.
The third held a sealed envelope.
I opened it.
A handwritten letter lay inside.
Madison,
If you have reached this place, then the people I feared have finally revealed themselves.
I need you to understand something.
Victoria Caldwell did not begin stealing from me after I became ill.
She began long before that.
I turned the page.
And she did not work alone.
Beneath the letter was a list of names.
My father.
Victoria.
And one more.
Nathan Caldwell.
I felt the room tilt.
Daniel took the paper.
"Madison..."
I stared at Nathan's name.
The man I had almost married had been involved in my mother's betrayal before we ever met.
And there was another document beneath the list.
A bank transfer authorization.
It showed that Nathan had personally approved a payment of eight million dollars from my mother's trust.
May you like
The date?
Three months before he proposed.
