Bound to my Rival

Chapter Seven

The next morning, I woke with a clearer sense of what I needed to do.

I didn’t tell Adrian about the meeting with Roman. I didn’t tell him about the documents Marcus had given me either. When he came downstairs, I was already seated at the breakfast table with a cup of coffee in front of me, going through the same household correspondence I normally handled. He kissed my cheek, asked whether I had slept better, and complained about a council meeting scheduled for later that morning. I listened, asked the right questions and even laughed when he made a joke about one of the council members.

It felt strange to perform normality when everything between us had changed, but I was beginning to understand that pretending was useful. Adrian had spent years making decisions while I trusted him enough not to look too closely. Now I needed that same confidence to work in my favor.

After breakfast, he left for the council building.

I waited nearly an hour before asking Marcus to bring me the remaining financial records.

He arrived at my study carrying a locked document case.

“I found these in the old records room,” he said. “Mr. Vale hasn’t requested them yet.”

I looked at the case before meeting his eyes. “What’s inside?”

“Copies of the original property transfers, several investment agreements and correspondence between Mr. Vale and outside companies.”

My stomach tightened.

“Where did you find them?”

“In a cabinet that hasn’t been used in months.”

I unlocked the case and began going through the documents. Several carried my father’s seal, and seeing it made something inside me ache. These were pieces of the life my father had spent years building for our family, and I had trusted Adrian to protect them without ever considering that he might eventually use them against me.

One document stopped me.

It was an agreement transferring control of one of my family’s smaller territories to an investment company. My signature appeared at the bottom.

I stared at it for several seconds.

“I never signed this.”

Marcus went still.

“You’re certain?”

“I remember every document I signed after my father’s death. This wasn’t one of them.”

He moved closer and examined the page.

“There should be a council seal attached to this.”

“There isn’t.”

We looked at each other.

That missing seal could change everything.

I placed the document carefully inside a separate folder. “Find out who prepared this.”

Marcus nodded.

“And Marcus?”

He paused at the door.

“If Adrian asks what you’ve been doing, tell him you were helping me organize the household accounts.”

“I understand.”

Once he left, I sat alone with the document in front of me. I had spent so long thinking my greatest mistake was marrying the wrong man. Now I was beginning to realize that the greater danger was how much power I had allowed him to accumulate while I remained convinced that love made trust safe.

My phone vibrated.

A message from Roman appeared on the screen.

I found something. Meet me at the archives tonight. Seven. Come alone.

I deleted the message after memorizing the time.

For the rest of the afternoon, I behaved normally. When Adrian returned briefly to change before another council meeting, I was in the sitting room reviewing invitations. He barely looked at the papers before asking whether I had plans that evening.

“Nothing important,” I replied.

“Good. I may be home late.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

The words came easily.

He smiled, apparently satisfied, and kissed my forehead before leaving again.

At seven, I told the driver I needed to visit the council archives and went alone from there. Roman had chosen a private room on the upper floor, away from the main records area. When I entered, he was standing beside the table with several documents spread in front of him.

“You found something,” I said.

He nodded.

“I traced one of the companies receiving your family’s money.”

I sat opposite him.

“Who owns it?”

Roman pushed a document toward me.

I read the name twice.

My heart sank.

It belonged to a man who had been advising Adrian for nearly a year.

“He’s been working with someone inside the council.”

“Yes.”

I looked through the remaining documents. There were meeting records, payments and correspondence that showed Adrian had been building relationships with people who could challenge my claim to my father’s territories.

“How long has this been happening?”

“Long enough that I don’t think Adrian intended to stop at taking your money.”

I looked up.

“What does he want?”

Roman’s expression hardened.

“Your position.”

The words settled heavily between us.

I thought of my father’s title, the territories that had belonged to my family for generations and the council members who had once treated me as their future leader. Adrian hadn’t simply wanted the comfort of my inheritance. He wanted the authority that came with it.

I closed the file.

“Then we need to find out exactly what he’s planning.”

Roman watched me for a moment before saying, “There is something else.”

He handed me another document.

It contained a list of names.

At the bottom was Adrian’s signature.

I read the heading and felt the blood drain from my face.

It was a draft proposal to challenge my legal authority over the eastern territories.

“This hasn’t been submitted yet,” Roman said. “Which means we still have time.”

I looked at him.

“How much?”

“Enough, if you move carefully.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke. The room felt smaller than it had when I entered, filled with the weight of everything I had just discovered.

Roman finally broke the silence.

“You don’t have to do this alone.”

I looked at him, surprised by the quiet certainty in his voice.

“I know.”

It was the first time I realized I actually believed him.

I gathered the documents and placed them back into the folder. “What do we do next?”

Roman leaned back slightly, studying me.

“Tomorrow, you start taking back what belongs to you.”

I nodded.

When I left the archives, I carried the evidence beneath my coat and kept my expression calm.

Adrian believed I was still his trusting wife.

He had no idea that his own plans had begun leading me directly back to the power he had taken from me.