Chapter Two
1075 Words
My ribs felt too tight for my lungs.
Julian was walking right toward us, his arms spread wide, a sickeningly sweet expression plastered across the face I had spent years loving—the face of a monster.
"Step back," Alexander growled.
"Alexander! Clara!" Julian’s voice boomed over the clicking of the cameras. "What a beautiful family reunion. I see my big brother couldn't wait to step into my shoes the second I stepped away to handle a family emergency."
The press went wild. The flashes were blinding, making my head throb.
Breathe. Just breathe.
"An emergency?" Alexander stepped forward, partly covering me with his body. His presence filled the room; he didn't just draw attention, he demanded it. "Is that what we're calling the fifty-million-dollar transfer you just made from Linwood Logistics into a hidden account in the Caymans, Julian?"
The room erupted in a gasp. The cameras instantly swung toward Julian. He briefly stopped smiling, and for a moment he looked hurt and betrayed, then quickly hid it behind a controlled expression.
"I have no idea what corporate nonsense you're fabricating, brother," Julian said smoothly, turning his face toward the cameras. "I left because I discovered Clara’s father was using our wedding to launder cartel money. I went to the authorities to save Vance's reputation. But it seems... you were already here. Waiting to comfort my heartbroken bride."
The rat. He was flipping the script. He was making it look like Alexander and I had planned this entire scandal together to ruin Linwood’s and hijack the company.
"Your betrayal." The words stuck in my throat before I stepped back, slipping from Alexander’s grip. The grief was gone; adrenaline rushed through me, wiping everything off my mind. "You set him up! You took everything from us!"
"Clara, sweetie, you're in shock," Julian sighed, looking at the press with practiced pity. "Alexander is using you. He’s manipulating you to get back at our father."
"Enough."
Alexander didn't shout, but the crushing weight in his voice cut the room dead silent. Reporters actually lowered their devices.
"The Linwood-Vance merger is officially recognized by law," Alexander announced, his dark eyes sweeping over the crowd like a reaping blade. "Clara is my wife. As of ten minutes ago, I bought out eighty percent of Linwood Logistics' outstanding debt. Any allegations against her father will be answered by my personal legal counsel.
Julian narrowed his eyes. The mask was officially slipping. He hadn't expected Alexander to shoulder the debt. He stared at his brother. His breath slowed, disbelief settling in as he tried to understand why he would walk straight into a fire and stay there.
"This isn't over," Julian muttered. He stepped closer, and I caught the faint smell of champagne in his breath. "You married a broken doll, Alex. Her name is dirt after today."
"She is a Vance now," Alexander replied, his voice lowering into a dangerous whisper that made the hairs on my arms stand up. "Which means if you look at her again, I will personally strip you of every dime you have left. Get out."
Julian gazed at us for a moment, a silent moment, then turned and walked away, indicating for the press to follow him out so he could control the narrative.
When the heavy doors finally closed, the silence in the ballroom was ear-splitting.
My legs gave out. I collapsed onto a nearby velvet chair, the weight of the wedding gown feeling like iron bars. I ripped the lace veil from my hair and dropped it onto the floor.
"Why did you do that?" I asked, looking up at the man who had just bought me. "You said I was a pawn. Why defend me? Why buy the debt?"
Alexander walked over to the bar, poured himself a double shot of whiskey into a glass, and swallowed it in a single gulp. He didn't give me any. He didn't even turn around.
"Do not mistake asset protection for kindness, Clara," he said to the wall. "If Julian completely erases your family name, your father becomes useless to me. I need him alive. And I need him to owe me everything."
"What did he do to you?" My voice broke as I spoke. "Before you were sent away, he always spoke so highly of you."
Alexander turned. Your father sold off the shipping routes my mother used for her charity work," Alexander whispered, his voice carrying old bitterness. "He sold the coordinates to the cartel that ambushed her boat. He didn't pull the trigger, Clara, but he bought the bullets."
My blood felt like ice in my veins. "No... that’s a lie. My father wouldn't."
Alexander’s eyes flashed as he snapped back, “Your father is a criminal who got caught.” He caught my chin and tilted my face up to meet his dark eyes. His skin burned against my face, and a chill ran down my spine. "And now, you’re going to pay for his sins. You live under my roof. You play the adoring wife. And when the time comes, you’ll help me tear down every single person who touched my mother's life."
"And if I say no?" I whispered, my teeth clicking together, but I didn't look away.
Alexander smiled. It was a beautiful, ruthless thing.
"Then your father will be dying in an intake cell tomorrow morning," he said softly, letting go of my face. "Take off the dress. The car is outside."
He kept going, without caring about what he had done.
I sat there, my chin still stinging from where his fingers had pressed. I hated him. I hated his brother. I hated the heavy air in this city. But looking at the signed contract on the table, I knew the truth. I had to get through this.
I got up, wiped a tear that slipped out of the back of my hand, and headed towards the bridal changing suite.
The room was dark. I felt along the wall until my hand found the light switch, but my hand stopped midair.
Sitting in the center of the white dressing table was a single black rose; a small card was tucked beneath the rose thorns, neat, slanted handwriting filled the surface.
“Did you really think the Ice Monarch could keep you safe from me? See you tonight, sister-in-law.”
A gasp caught in my throat. Julian wasn't gone. He had slipped past the perimeter unnoticed.
- Writer
