Chapter 6 - The Bargain Between Enemies
Adrian took Rose to a secure medical clinic under another name.
Evelyn refused to leave her side.
When Rose finally slept, Evelyn confronted him in the hallway.
“You knew who Grant was.”
“Yes.”
“You knew where my grandmother was.”
“I found the building yesterday.”
“And you were going to marry me while all of this was happening?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“The marriage gives me access to the Carter holding company.”
“So I was part of your attack.”
“You were supposed to be.”
Evelyn slapped him.
The sound cracked through the empty corridor.
Adrian did not move.
“You don’t get to call yourself different from my family,” she said, “if you also planned to use me.”
“I was wrong about you.”
“That doesn’t undo the plan.”
“No.”
He removed a folder from his coat.
Inside were photographs, bank transfers, and copies of Grant’s offshore accounts.
“I can help you protect Rose,” he said. “You can help me prove what they did to my father.”
Evelyn looked through the evidence.
“Why continue the wedding?”
“Because Richard is transferring the family voting shares to Alden as collateral. Once the papers are signed, he can no longer move the assets.”
“And when you reveal yourself?”
“The accounts freeze. The board is forced into an emergency review.”
Evelyn understood.
The wedding was not merely revenge.
It was a legal trap.
But it still required her to stand beside a man wearing another face and pretend she had surrendered.
“What happens to me afterward?” she asked.
“You walk away with an annulment and your grandmother’s trust restored.”
“And you take the company.”
“I take back what was stolen from my father.”
Evelyn closed the folder.
“No.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“I’ll participate,” she said. “But you do not take the company.”
“Richard built it with stolen assets.”
“Thousands of innocent employees depend on it. We expose the criminals, return what belongs to your father’s estate, and protect the workers.”
Adrian studied her.
She held out her hand.
“Justice, not destruction.”
After a long silence, he shook it.
Neither trusted the other.
May you like
But both knew they could not win alone.
👉 Their alliance was sealed in secret, unaware that Grant had escaped with a recording of every word they had spoken.
