Chapter 13 - THE BRIDE WHO MARRIED FOR A FORTUNE|
Madison Crane had never experienced real poverty.
She knew what it meant to lose access to a luxury credit card.
She knew what it felt like when a designer refused to extend a payment deadline.
But she had never wondered whether there would be food in her refrigerator.
That was why she couldn't understand how Amara Lewis had refused thirty thousand dollars.
Money solved problems.
That was what Madison had been taught.
Until now.
She sat alone in her mother's townhouse, staring at an engagement photograph.
Ethan looked genuinely happy in it.
Madison remembered the evening he proposed.
He had taken her to a private rooftop overlooking Chicago.
There were white roses everywhere.
A string quartet played her favorite song.
And when he knelt, she had actually cried.
For a moment, she had believed she loved him more than the lifestyle he represented.
Then her mother had started talking about money.
A partnership.
An opportunity.
A way to secure the Crane family's future.
Madison's phone rang.
Ethan.
She answered immediately.
“Ethan?”
“We need to talk.”
“Are you coming home?”
“No. Meet me at Margaret Wells's office.”
Madison's stomach dropped.
“Why your attorney?”
“Because I found out about the acquisition documents.”
She closed her eyes.
“Ethan, please—”
“Were you involved?”
Madison began crying.
“I didn't understand everything.”
“That's not what I asked.”
She looked at their engagement photograph.
“My mother said Conrad was helping refinance her businesses.”
“And you believed her?”
“At first.”
Ethan remained silent.
Madison continued.
“Then she told me your grandmother was blocking an investment deal.”
“So you agreed to help remove her?”
“No!”
“Madison.”
“I agreed to keep her away from the investors. My mother said Grandma Eleanor needed to rest after surgery.”
Ethan's voice turned cold.
“You knew they wanted her out of the way?”
“I didn't know anyone would damage her wheelchair!”
Silence.
Then Ethan asked quietly.
“How do you know someone damaged it?”
Madison froze.
She had made a terrible mistake.
Ethan continued.
“I never told you what maintenance found.”
Madison gripped the phone.
“Ethan, please don't do this.”
“What else are you hiding?”
She began shaking.
“The night before the wedding, I heard my mother arguing with Quentin Frost.”
“About what?”
“She told him to make sure your grandmother couldn't interfere.”
Ethan felt sick.
“And what did he say?”
Madison closed her eyes.
“He said there wouldn't be a problem once she was taken downstairs.”
Ethan's breathing changed.
“Taken downstairs where?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you ask?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Madison started sobbing.
“Because I was afraid of the answer!”
When Ethan finally spoke, his voice was almost unrecognizable.
“I'm arranging a separation. My attorney will discuss the divorce process with you.”
Madison gasped.
“You're leaving me?”
“I don't know who I married.”
“Ethan, I love you.”
He paused.
“Then you should have trusted me with the truth.”
The call ended.
Madison sat motionless.
Then another message appeared on her phone.
It came from an unfamiliar number.
YOU'VE TALKED TOO MUCH. YOUR MOTHER CAN'T PROTECT YOU NOW.
Attached was a photograph.
It showed Amara Lewis entering her mother's apartment building.
Madison stared at the image.
Then she did something she had never imagined herself doing.
She called Amara.
Not to insult her.
Not to offer money.
May you like
But to warn her.
“Amara,” Madison whispered when the call connected, “someone is watching your family.”
