Chapter 13 - The Marriage That Never Happened
The marriage license was fake.
Charles had created it.
Why?
Sienna answered first.
"To destroy both of us."
If Charles was arrested, he needed witnesses discredited.
A fake secret marriage made Sienna look like Julian's hidden partner.
It made my marriage look like staged fraud.
It turned evidence into gossip.
Still, I asked Julian directly.
"Did you ever have a relationship with Sienna?"
"No."
"Did you want one?"
He looked at her.
"No."
Sienna said, "Don't involve me in your marriage."
Fair.
The envelope from my father contained six handwritten pages.
He admitted everything he had done wrong.
He had protected Hartwell too long.
He had let Alan Mercer carry blame while he built a quiet legal strategy.
He thought he could restore Alan's reputation once Hartwell stabilized.
Then Alan died.
My father wrote:
I kept telling myself I was protecting jobs. Some of that was true. Some of it was cowardice.
The last page explained the convertible note.
It was not designed to enrich Bennett Capital.
It was designed to force the books open if Charles ever borrowed heavily again.
The refinancing triggered it.
My marriage merely transferred decision-making authority to me.
Charles had seen the trap coming.
So he used Julian.
My phone rang.
Federal investigators had located Charles's car near a private airfield.
Empty.
Evelyn Hartwell's passport was missing from her home.
For one horrible moment, we thought Charles had taken her.
Then Evelyn called.
"I'm safe."
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere Charles can't find me."
She refused to say more.
"I need to tell you something about Julian," she said.
Julian looked at me.
Evelyn continued.
"His father has been holding one thing over him for years."
"What?"
"The Ridgeway accident."
Julian went pale.
May you like
I asked, "What accident?"
He whispered, "The one that killed my brother."
