The Debt Collector's Daughter

CHAPTER FIVE: THE WEDDING

The contract arrived at my apartment at 8 a.m., delivered by a man in an expensive suit who introduced himself as Marcus Webb, Cassian's attorney.

"Mr. Vex wanted to ensure you had time to review the final documents," Marcus said, handing me a leather portfolio. "He's also asked me to answer any questions you might have."

I invited him in, though my apartment looked even more pathetic with a man wearing a watch that probably cost more than my yearly rent standing in it.

The contract was identical to the draft I'd read, with my conditions added in precise legal language. Everything we'd discussed was there in black and white.

"What happens if we find the ledger before the year is up?" I asked.

Marcus adjusted his glasses. "The marriage can be dissolved early, as outlined in Section 10, but all financial agreements remain in effect. Your sisters' trust funds, your father's debt forgiveness, your monthly stipend, all of it is guaranteed regardless of the marriage duration."

"And if something happens to Cassian?"

"You're listed as his spouse, which means you inherit according to his will. Though I should note that Mr. Vex is in excellent health and has extensive security measures in place."

Right. Because normal people needed to specify security measures in marriage contracts.

"One more question," I said. "In your professional opinion, is Cassian Vex someone I should be afraid of?"

Marcus was quiet for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "I've worked for Mr. Vex for eight years. In that time, I've seen him be ruthless in business, brilliant in strategy, and unforgiving to those who cross him. But I've never seen him harm an innocent person. Quite the opposite, actually."

"That's not exactly reassuring."

"No," Marcus agreed. "But it's honest. Mr. Vex is not a simple man. He exists in complicated spaces. But if he's given you his word to protect you, he'll die before he breaks it."

After Marcus left, I sat with the contract for another hour. Then I signed it.

Elena Rose Marlowe.

My signature looked small and ordinary next to all that legal language. But it changed everything.

The "wedding" was scheduled for Friday. Three days away. Not a real wedding, Cassian had made that clear. Just a courthouse ceremony with a judge and Marcus as a witness.

"We can have a reception later if needed," Cassian had said during one of our increasingly frequent phone calls. "For appearances. But I thought you'd prefer to keep the actual ceremony private."

He was right. The idea of a white dress and flowers and pretending this was real, it was too much.

Thursday night, I packed up my apartment with Rosie and Jade's help. It was depressing how little I'd accumulated in twenty-four years. Clothes, books, my mother's shoebox of memories. Everything fit in four boxes.

"Is this really happening?" Jade asked, sitting cross-legged on my bare floor. "Tomorrow you're getting married?"

"Tomorrow I'm signing a piece of paper," I corrected. "It's different."

"Is it, though?" Rosie looked up from the box she was taping. "You'll have his name. You'll live in his house. You'll be legally bound to him."

"For a year."

"A lot can happen in a year."

She wasn't wrong.

My phone buzzed. A text from Cassian: The car will pick you up at 9 a.m. Courthouse ceremony at 10. Wear whatever makes you comfortable.

I stared at that last line. Wear whatever makes you comfortable. Like he knew I'd been agonizing over whether I needed to buy a special outfit, whether this farce required the costume of a bride.

I texted back: See you tomorrow.

His response was immediate: Try to sleep. Tomorrow changes everything.

I didn't sleep.

Instead, I lay awake in my empty apartment, listening to my sisters breathe softly in their sleeping bags on the floor. They'd insisted on staying with me for my last night as "just Elena."

At 3 a.m., I gave up and went to the window. The city glittered below, thousands of lives I'd never touch, stories I'd never know. Somewhere out there, my mother might be living one of those lives. Hiding. Waiting.

Did she ever think about me? Wonder what I looked like now? Feel guilty for leaving?

Or had she erased me completely, along with everything else from her old life?

I touched the locket around my neck, the one with Cassian's childhood photo. I'd started wearing it two days ago, unable to explain why. Maybe because it was proof that my mother had cared about something. Someone.

Even if it wasn't me.

At 8:30 a.m., I put on the only dress that felt right, a simple navy blue sheath that I'd worn to job interviews. I twisted my auburn hair into a bun and added the only jewelry I owned: the locket and my mother's silver bracelet.

Rosie and Jade watched me get ready with solemn faces.

"You look beautiful," Rosie said quietly.

"I look terrified."

"That too."

The black town car arrived at exactly 9 a.m. The driver was professional and silent, opening the door for me without comment.

Rosie hugged me hard. "If he's awful to you, call us. We'll figure something out."

"He won't be awful."

"But if he is,"

"I know. I'll call." I hugged Jade next, feeling her shake slightly. "Hey. This is a good thing, remember? Trust funds. Security. No more scrambling."

"I don't care about the money," Jade whispered. "I just want you to be okay."

"I will be."

I wasn't sure if I was lying.

The courthouse was old, built from grey stone that had witnessed thousands of marriages and divorces and everything in between. I walked up the steps feeling like I was going to my execution rather than my wedding.

Cassian was waiting inside, and for a second, I forgot to breathe.

He wore a suit, of course he wore a suit, but this one was different. Softer somehow. Navy blue that matched my dress, though there was no way he could have known what I'd wear.

He looked up when I entered, and something crossed his face. Surprise, maybe. Or relief.

"Elena." He walked toward me, and I noticed he carried a small box. "You look..."

"Terrified?"

"I was going to say beautiful. But terrified works too." He offered a small smile. "I brought you something. If you want it. No pressure."

He opened the box. Inside was a bouquet of white roses, simple, elegant, not overdone.

"I know this isn't a real wedding," he said quietly. "But I thought you should have flowers anyway. You deserve that much."

I took the bouquet with shaking hands. "Thank you."

"And this." He pulled a small velvet box from his pocket. "Your ring. Unless you'd prefer to choose your own."

I opened it. The ring was perfect, a simple platinum band with a single diamond. Elegant. Understated. Nothing like the ostentatious rocks I'd seen on other billionaires' wives.

"I can exchange it,"

"It's perfect," I interrupted. "Really."

We stood there in the courthouse hallway, two strangers about to bind their lives together based on secrets and contracts and the ghost of a woman who might not be dead.

"Are you ready?" Cassian asked.

"No." I met his eyes. "But I'm doing it anyway."

"That's all anyone can ask."

Marcus appeared from a side room. "Judge Hendricks is ready for you."

The ceremony lasted eight minutes.

Judge Hendricks was an older woman with kind eyes and reading glasses on a chain. She read through the legal requirements in a voice that suggested she'd done this a thousand times.

"Do you, Cassian Alexander Vex, take Elena Rose Marlowe to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." His voice was steady.

"Do you, Elena Rose Marlowe, take Cassian Alexander Vex to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

I looked at this man who I'd known for less than a week. This man who held secrets about my mother and promises about protection. This man who I was binding myself to based on nothing more than matching lockets and a ledger that might not exist.

"I do."

"By the power vested in me by the state, I now pronounce you husband and wife." Judge Hendricks smiled. "You may kiss the bride."

Cassian looked at me, a question in his eyes.

I gave the tiniest nod.

He stepped closer, close enough that I could smell his cologne, something expensive and subtle. His hand came up to cup my face, thumb brushing my cheekbone with surprising gentleness.

Then he kissed me.

It was supposed to be perfunctory. A legal requirement. A quick press of lips to seal the contract.

But the moment his mouth touched mine, something shifted. His hand tightened on my face, and I found myself leaning into him, my free hand clutching his jacket. The kiss deepened, became real, became something that had nothing to do with contracts and everything to do with the electricity that had been crackling between us since we met.

When we finally pulled apart, we were both breathing hard.

Judge Hendricks cleared her throat. "Well then. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Vex."

Mrs. Vex.

I'd done it. Married a stranger. Bound myself to a man I barely knew in search of a mother who might not want to be found.

Cassian kept his hand on my face, his thumb still tracing my cheekbone. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"Ask me in a year."

He smiled, a real smile this time, not the polished mask he usually wore. It transformed his face, made him look younger, almost vulnerable.

"Fair enough."

We signed the papers. Marcus congratulated us with professional warmth. Judge Hendricks wished us well.

And just like that, I was married.

Outside the courthouse, the car was waiting. Cassian held the door for me, and I slid inside, still clutching my bouquet of white roses.

"The penthouse?" the driver asked.

Cassian looked at me. "Unless you need to go somewhere else first?"

"The penthouse is fine."

It wasn't fine. Nothing about this was fine. But I'd made my choice, signed the contract, said "I do" in front of a judge and God and whatever forces governed the universe.

As the car pulled into traffic, Cassian took my hand. His fingers were warm, steady.

"I know this is strange," he said. "I know you're probably questioning everything right now. But I meant what I said, Elena. I'll protect you. Whatever we find, whoever tries to stop us, you're safe with me."

I looked down at our joined hands. At the platinum band on my finger that marked me as his wife.

"I'm holding you to that," I said.

"Good."

The city rolled past the windows as we drove toward my new life. Toward a penthouse I'd never seen, a marriage I'd never wanted, and answers to questions that terrified me.

But I wasn't alone anymore.

For better or worse, I had a husband now. A partner in this insane quest.

And maybe, just maybe, that would be enough to survive whatever came next.

The car turned onto Fifth Avenue, and I caught sight of the building that would be my home for the next year. Sleek glass and steel, soaring into the sky.

Tomorrow, we'd start searching. Tomorrow, we'd begin unraveling twenty years of secrets.

But today, I was Elena Vex.

And somewhere out there, a mother who thought she'd hidden forever was about to discover that her daughter was coming to find her.

Whether she wanted to be found or not.