Chapter 8 - THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT FROM HELL
“I’m not marrying you.”
Addison said it so quickly Dwayne almost laughed.
“I hadn’t proposed.”
“You looked like you were considering whether the paperwork was efficient.”
“That is offensive.”
“It is accurate.”
Unfortunately, yes.
Celeste placed the trust documents on the table.
Created forty-one years earlier.
Waterfront land.
Warehouses.
Rail access.
Development rights.
Currently fragmented among Cross and Rourke shell companies.
If direct surviving heirs from both Rourke branches legally married, dormant voting rights consolidated.
Dwayne and Addison.
Absurd.
Addison crossed her arms.
“No.”
Dwayne nodded.
“Agreed.”
Celeste looked surprised.
“So easily?”
“Yes.”
Dwayne stared at the documents.
“No dead man decides who Addison marries.”
Addison looked at him.
Something in her expression shifted.
Tiny.
Important.
Then Celeste said:
“Margaret disagrees.”
Naturally.
Margaret’s plan was simple.
Put Addison near Dwayne.
Let professional dependence become emotional attachment.
Then reveal the trust when Dwayne was under pressure.
Marriage would consolidate enough land and money to defeat Vincent’s old loyalists.
Not romance.
Strategy.
Addison laughed bitterly.
“So the cardigans didn’t protect me from being manipulated after all.”
Dwayne looked at her.
“They protected you from me.”
“Debatable.”
Fair.
He turned to Celeste.
“Where is Margaret?”
“Queens.”
“Address.”
“I don’t have one.”
“You found Elias but not Margaret?”
“She finds me.”
“Convenient.”
Nathan interrupted.
“I have something.”
He returned to his room and brought a flash drive.
Addison stared.
“What is that?”
“Backup from Pier Nine.”
“You had it?”
“Yes.”
“For three years?”
“I was unconscious for two months, Addie.”
“Fair.”
The drive contained audio.
Margaret and Simon.
Margaret’s voice was older but clear.
“Dwayne cannot know he is Elias’s son until the Cross captains are isolated.”
Simon asked:
“And the girl?”
“Keep her employed. Keep her invisible.”
“Why?”
“Because when Dwayne finally learns who he is, Addison is the only person in that building with enough Rourke blood to protect his claim.”
Dwayne frowned.
Protect.
Not marry.
Then Simon said:
“The trust requires marriage.”
Margaret answered:
“Only if Elias is dead.”
Everyone froze.
Dwayne looked at Celeste.
“Elias is alive.”
“Yes.”
“Then marriage isn’t required.”
“No.”
Addison’s eyes narrowed.
“So Margaret wasn’t planning to marry us.”
Nathan nodded.
“She was planning something else.”
The recording continued.
Simon asked:
“What happens if Elias returns?”
Margaret answered:
“Dwayne becomes his legal heir immediately.”
“And Addison?”
“She becomes unnecessary.”
Pause.
Then:
“Make sure she never learns enough to become dangerous.”
Addison went still.
Simon’s reply:
“And if she does?”
May you like
Margaret answered calmly:
“Then Nathan won’t be the only Lynwood who disappears.”
