Chapter 4
Julian did not fight.
Smart.
My men brought him through the garden corridor five minutes later.
Thirty-two.
Tuxedo trousers.
Dark overcoat.
No tie.
He looked at Odessa first.
Then me.
“You’re awake.”
There are moments when people confess without meaning to.
That was one.
I almost smiled.
“Disappointing?”
His face tightened.
Odessa whispered:
“Julian, don’t.”
Too late.
I asked:
“What happens if I’m asleep?”
Nothing.
I looked at his overcoat.
“Open it.”
Inside pocket.
A torn strip of ivory silk.
Same fabric as Odessa’s gown.
Another pocket.
One broken diamond bracelet.
Not broken tonight.
Pre-cut.
Prepared.
I looked at Odessa.
Then Julian.
“Continue.”
Julian closed his eyes.
Rafe brought the small suitcase Marielle had seen.
Inside:
Flat shoes.
A plain dress.
A dark wig.
Cash.
Odessa’s passport.
And a second phone.
No mystery now.
She had planned to leave the estate.
But not simply leave me.
Too theatrical.
The torn gown.
Broken bracelet.
Hidden change of clothes.
I looked toward the garden.
“Kidnapping.”
Julian said nothing.
Odessa whispered:
“It wasn’t supposed to hurt you.”
I turned.
“Being drugged at my engagement dinner while my fiancée stages her own abduction?”
She started crying.
“I was coming back.”
That actually made it worse.
“How long?”
“A few days.”
“For what?”
Julian looked at her.
She looked at him.
Family agreement breaking under pressure.
I waited.
Finally:
“Money.”
Not mine.
Interesting.
“What money?”
Odessa sat slowly.
“My father’s debts.”
There it was.
Not romance.
Not escape.
A performance.
She intended to vanish during the fireworks while I slept.
At midnight, a ransom demand would arrive.
I would believe a rival family had taken her.
I would pay.
She would return alive.
Her family’s debt disappeared.
Our wedding continued.
Clean.
Except for one detail.
I looked toward Marielle.
“If I became ill after dessert, who served it?”
Odessa’s face changed.
Exactly.
The maid.
May you like
If anyone questioned why I collapsed before Odessa vanished, Marielle would carry that suspicion.
The fake kidnapping had always required a real scapegoat.
