Chapter 2: The Marriage Was a Lie
I spent that night in a small hotel room, staring at the ceiling and replaying Daniel's words.
I found out why Alexander married you in the first place.
How could the man I had loved for three years have a secret so terrible that my own brother was afraid to tell me?
At seven the next morning, Daniel arrived at the hotel carrying a thick brown folder.
He didn't smile when he saw me.
That frightened me more than anything else.
“Amelia, sit down,” he said.
“Just tell me the truth.”
He placed the folder on the table and opened it.
Inside were copies of business contracts, bank statements, and photographs of Alexander meeting with an older man outside a private office.
I recognized the man immediately.
Mr. Richard Hayes.
Alexander's father.
“He died before Alexander and I got married,” I said.
Daniel nodded. “That's what the family announced. But these photographs were taken six months ago.”
I picked up one of them.
Alexander stood beside his father, looking perfectly relaxed.
“Why would they hide that he's alive?”
“Because Richard Hayes has been involved in a legal dispute over the ownership of the company. And your investment is connected to it.”
I looked through the documents.
My signature appeared on the final page of an agreement I had signed three years earlier. At the time, I believed I was simply helping Alexander's struggling company survive.
Now I noticed a clause I had never paid attention to.
If the investment was not repaid under the agreed conditions, I would retain a controlling interest in the company.
“Daniel,” I whispered, “what does this mean?”
“It means that the company Alexander calls his empire may legally belong to you if the conditions of the agreement have been met.”
I couldn't speak.
For three years, I had lived quietly in Alexander's mansion, believing I was merely his wife.
Meanwhile, the money I had inherited from our mother had helped build the life he was so proud of.
“But why would he marry me because of this?” I asked.
Daniel turned to another page.
“Look at the date on this document.”
It was dated two months before our wedding.
At the bottom was Alexander's signature.
Above it was a sentence that made my stomach tighten.
Marriage to Amelia Rivers will ensure continued access to the investor's family and prevent immediate enforcement of the ownership agreement.
I read it again.
Then a third time.
“He planned this?”
“We don't know the full story yet,” Daniel said. “This document could have another explanation. But we need a lawyer to examine the original agreement before making any decisions.”
I pushed the papers away.
I wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't come.
I had spent three years trying to be the perfect wife. I had cooked his favorite meals, celebrated his achievements, and defended him whenever people said he was too cold to love anyone.
Had I been protecting a man who saw me as nothing more than a business arrangement?
My phone began to ring.
Alexander.
I stared at his name until the call ended.
A message arrived seconds later.
Come home, Amelia. We need to talk.
I almost laughed.
Yesterday, he had ordered me out of his house. Today, he wanted me back.
I typed a reply.
You told me to leave. I'm respecting your decision.
His answer came immediately.
Don't make a mistake you'll regret.
I showed Daniel the message.
He shook his head. “Don't meet him alone. Let a lawyer review these documents first.”
Before I could answer, someone knocked on the hotel room door.
Daniel stood up.
“Are you expecting anyone?” he asked.
“No.”
He moved toward the door cautiously and looked through the peephole.
His face changed.
“Who is it?” I whispered.
He didn't answer.
Instead, he opened the door just a little.
A woman stood outside wearing a cream-colored coat. She looked to be in her late fifties, with dark hair and eyes that reminded me painfully of my mother.
She looked past Daniel and saw me.
Then she covered her mouth.
“Amelia,” she whispered.
I rose slowly from my chair.
“Do I know you?”
The woman stepped inside and placed a photograph on the table.
It showed my mother holding me as a baby.
Standing beside her was the same man from the photographs—the supposedly dead Richard Hayes.
I looked up, confused.
The woman was crying now.
“My name is Eleanor Hayes,” she said. “I am Alexander's mother.”
I stared at her.
“But Alexander's mother died when he was a child.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“That is the lie my husband told everyone.”
She reached into her handbag and pulled out another envelope.
“I came here because I discovered what Alexander has done. But before you read this, you must understand one thing.”
She took my hands.
“Your marriage was never supposed to happen.”
My heart pounded.
“What do you mean?”
Eleanor looked directly into my eyes.
“Your mother and my husband made an agreement long before you met Alexander. And that agreement is the reason your husband is so desperate to get you back.”
She pushed the envelope toward me.
Inside was a document with my name written across the top.
But beneath my name was another name I had never expected to see.
VANESSA COLE.
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