Chapter 10 - A MARRIAGE BUILT ON A LIE|
Catherine spent the night in the guest room.
Gabriel did not try to stop her.
He understood why she needed distance. Their marriage had begun with a financial arrangement, but the discovery of Lorenzo’s ledger had transformed that arrangement into something far more disturbing.
If someone had engineered the marriage to bring Catherine back into the Romano household, then the six months she had spent building a fragile connection with Gabriel might have been part of a plan.
At sunrise, Gabriel knocked softly on her door.
“May I come in?”
Catherine opened it but stepped aside without answering.
He remained near the doorway.
“I didn’t know who you were when I married you.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I had known, I would have told you before asking you to become my wife.”
She looked at him.
“Would you?”
He accepted the question without anger.
“I hope I would have.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No,” he admitted. “It isn’t.”
He explained that her father’s company had been on the verge of collapse after a major contractor disappeared with several million dollars. Gabriel’s lawyers had investigated the case and discovered irregular payments connected to a Romano subsidiary.
He had offered to stabilize the company because the alternative was bankruptcy and hundreds of lost jobs. The marriage had been suggested by their respective families as a way to formalize the alliance.
He had agreed because he believed Catherine would have greater freedom inside his household than under the control of her father’s creditors.
“I thought I was giving you a choice,” he said. “I didn’t understand how little you knew.”
Catherine sat on the edge of the bed.
“Did you ever wonder why my father accepted so quickly?”
“Yes.”
“And did you investigate?”
“I did. His debts were real. The company was in trouble. Nothing connected him directly to the Romano family beyond the financial agreement.”
“Until now.”
“Until now.”
She looked at the bandages on her hand.
“I don’t know what part of my life belongs to me anymore.”
Gabriel stepped closer but did not touch her.
“Your life belongs to you. Whatever our families arranged, whatever my mother hid, none of it gives me the right to decide your future.”
Catherine wanted to believe him.
That frightened her almost as much as the ledger.
She reached into her bag and removed the photograph of her biological mother.
“I want to know why she died.”
“So do I.”
“And I want the people responsible exposed.”
“Even if that destroys the company?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Then we do it properly.”
He placed a folder on the bed. Inside were copies of the financial records, a list of independent attorneys, and a draft statement transferring the evidence to investigators.
“I won’t hide anything from you again,” he said.
Catherine studied him.
“Promises are easy.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t promise. Prove it.”
He left the folder and walked toward the door.
Before he reached it, she spoke.
“Gabriel.”
He turned.
“Did you ever want this marriage?”
He took a long breath.
“At first, I wanted the agreement to work. Then I started looking for reasons to come home early.”
Catherine’s throat tightened.
“And now?”
“Now I’m afraid the truth will make you leave.”
She looked away.
“That’s the first honest thing you’ve said to me.”
For the first time since the discovery, Gabriel smiled.
May you like
It was small and sad.
But it was real.
