THE BIKER’S RUNAWAY BRIDE

Lena Marlowe POV The church organ was playing softly in the background, but the sound felt completely miles away. Three hundred people in expensive suits and designer dresses filled the rows behind me. They were watching, waiting, smiling, and wiping fake tears from their eyes. They thought they were attending the wedding of the year. They thought Lena Marlowe was finally getting her happy ending. My hands were freezing inside my white lace gloves. Beneath the silk layers of my dress, pressed tight against the ribs of my tight corset, was a folded piece of paper. It was cold against my skin. It was the official autopsy report for my older brother, Daniel. The paper told the truth that my family tried to bury six months ago. Daniel did not just die in a fiery car crash on a quiet country road. His ribs were shattered before the fire ever started. Someone beat him until he stopped breathing, put him behind the wheel, and set the car on fire to cover up the crime. And everyone in my family acted like it was just a terrible accident. "Do you, Adrian Cross, take Lena Marlowe to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?" the priest asked. The priest looked down at Adrian with a warm smile. Adrian stood right across from me, looking handsome in his tailored black tuxedo. His posture was perfectly straight, his hair combed without a single strand out of place. He looked like the dream husband every girl in this city wanted. "I do," Adrian said. His voice was smooth and steady. He sounded so confident. So clear. The priest turned to me. "And do you, Lena Marlowe—" Before the priest could finish his sentence, I reached up with my shaking fingers and lifted the slick veil off my face. I folded it back over my hair so there was nothing left standing between my eyes and his. Adrian smiled at me, a soft and sweet look meant to reassure me. He thought I was just nervous. He thought I was overwhelmed by the crowd and the grand decorations. "Adrian," I whispered, keeping my voice low so only he could hear me over the quiet murmur of the crowd. "Yes, my love?" he replied softly, taking a tiny step closer to me. "Did you help my mother kill Daniel?" The air around us seemed to freeze instantly. The fake smile on Adrian’s face vanished. Every bit of color drained out of his skin in less than a second, leaving him looking as pale as a bedsheet. His lips parted, but no sound came out. His eyes widened in raw, unadulterated terror. His right hand, which was holding the expensive platinum wedding ring, began to tremble violently. He tried to grip the band tighter, but his fingers completely lost their strength. The ring slipped right out of his grasp. It hit the hard stone floor with a sharp ring that echoed through the quiet church, bouncing twice before rolling toward the front row where my mother sat. "Lena... what... what are you talking about?" Adrian tried to force a small laugh to brush it off, but his voice cracked down the middle. His eyes darted around frantically, looking over my shoulder at my parents, then back at me. "You’re... you’re making a bad joke. This isn't funny, Lena." He was terrified. He wasn't confused. He wasn't angry at an absurd accusation. He was terrified. That single reaction crushed whatever tiny piece of hope I had left hidden in my chest. I had begged myself to be wrong. I had prayed all morning that the clue I found was a mistake. But looking at the sheer panic in his eyes right now gave me full, undeniable proof. My groom knew. Adrian knew about Daniel's murder all along. He helped cover it up. "You knew," I whispered, the words burning my throat. "You were in that room with them." "Lena, stop it right now," Adrian hissed under his breath, his fake sweet tone completely disappearing, replaced by an urgent, harsh whisper. "Put your veil back down and say your vows. Everyone is watching us. Do not ruin this." "Ruin this?" I asked, a bitter smile breaking across my face as tears burned behind my eyes. "My brother is dead, Adrian. You helped them murder him, and then you stood at his funeral and held my hand while I cried!" "Lena, keep your voice down!" he snapped softly, his knuckles white as he clenched his fists. "You don't understand what happened. You don't know the whole story!" "Then tell me!" I demanded, my voice rising slightly. "Tell me right now! Look me in the eye and tell me you had nothing to do with it!" Adrian couldn't do it. He dropped his gaze to the floor, unable to meet my eyes for even a second. From the front row, my mother, Eleanor Marlowe, stood up from her chair. Her face was tight with fury, her sharp eyes glaring at me. "Lena! What is the meaning of this delay?" Eleanor called out, her voice loud and commanding enough to cut through the quiet church. "Pick up the ring and finish the ceremony!" My father, Richard, stood up right beside her. He didn't say a word, but his cold, harsh eyes were locked onto mine, giving me the same warning he had given me my entire life: Obey, or suffer the consequences. They didn't care about Daniel. They didn't care about me. To them, this marriage was just a business merger to save our family's failing company, and I was just the final piece of paper to be signed. "Lena, please," Adrian whispered, reaching out to grab my hand. "Just get through today. We can talk about this later in private. I promise I will explain everything to you, but you have to marry me right now." I looked down at his reaching hand, then up at his desperate face. "No," I said clearly. "What?" Adrian gasped. "No," I repeated louder. I took a full step backward, pulling myself completely out of his reach. I looked down at the bouquet of white roses in my hand—the roses my mother picked out because they looked 'pure and obedient.' I loosened my fingers and let the bouquet drop straight onto the cold stone floor right beside his dropped ring. "Lena!" Eleanor screamed from the front row, stepping into the main aisle. "Don't you dare move an inch!" I didn't listen. I turned my back on Adrian, turned my back on the priest, and turned my back on three hundred shocked guests who all gasped at once. "Security!" Eleanor shouted, her voice echoing off the high church ceiling with pure rage. "Lock the main glass doors right now! Do not let her leave this building!" Two tall security guards standing near the back entrance immediately moved toward the glass doors, reaching out to push them shut and lock me inside. I didn't hesitate. I pulled up the skirts of my silk wedding dress with both hands and ran straight down the center aisle as fast as my feet could carry me.