He Told His Mistress He Only Married Me Out Of Guilt—Now He’s Tearing The City Apart Looking For The Heir He Never Knew Existed

For seventy-two hours, Gideon Vale did not sleep.

The penthouse office at Vale Global had been transformed into a war room. Maps of the eastern seaboard covered the glass partitions, annotated with red markers showing highway checkpoints, ferry terminals, and regional airports.

""Nothing?"" Gideon’s voice was cracked and hoarse. Empty espresso cups littered his mahogany desk alongside unopened corporate contracts worth hundreds of millions.

""The rideshare driver dropped her at the South Central Bus Depot in Philadelphia, sir,"" his lead investigator, Marcus, explained cautiously. ""He was paid three hundred dollars in cash. Security cameras at the terminal are grainy, but we tracked Mrs. Vale boarding a generic intercity transit line heading south. However, five stops along the route, three different wheelchair users disembarked across two different transit hubs. She hired decoys, Mr. Vale. Student volunteers paid to carry duplicate bags.""

A dark, bitter laugh escaped Gideon's throat. He buried his face in his hands, his fingers digging into his hair.

""She outsmarted you,"" Gideon murmured, his chest aching. ""She always was sharper than anyone gave her credit for.""

Evelyn had graduated top of her class in architectural engineering before the crash ruined her lower spine. He had spent years treating her like porcelain, terrified that a strong breeze would shatter her, while completely forgetting the fierce, unyielding mind of the woman who had pulled him out of a burning inferno with her bare hands.

""Mr. Vale,"" Marcus continued, glancing nervously at an incoming dossier. ""Miss Arden is in the lobby downstairs. She claims she has urgent information regarding your wife's whereabouts.""

Gideon’s head snapped up. His eyes, rimmed with red veins from exhaustion, went dead cold. ""Send her up.""

Two minutes later, Celeste stepped into the office, carrying a designer handbag. She had composed herself, wearing an expression of deep sympathy.

""Gideon, darling,"" she began, rushing toward his desk. ""I know you're furious with me, but I couldn't sit by while you destroy your company over this. You haven't attended the board meetings, the merger with the Vance Group is on the brink of collapse, and—""

Before she could finish, Gideon stood up. He didn't raise his voice, but the sudden shift in his posture made Marcus quietly step back toward the door.

""You said you had information about Evelyn.""

Celeste bit her lip, leaning closer over the desk. ""Gideon, face reality. Evelyn left because she realized she was holding you back. She knew about us—about how we belong together. She’s paralyzed, Gideon! She cannot give you the social standing, the public life, or the family a man of your stature requires! Let her go. We can provide her with an offshore allowance, buy her a manor in Switzerland—""

Smash.

Gideon’s hand struck the glass coffee table, shattering the corner cleanly. Celeste screamed, leaping back.

""There is no 'us,' Celeste. There has never been an 'us,'"" Gideon said, his voice dropping into a register of sheer menace that turned the temperature in the room sub-zero. ""Six years ago, you walked away because you thought my injuries would leave me ruined. Evelyn bled for me. She endured eleven surgeries because she put her body between me and a gas explosion.""

""You told me you didn't love her!"" Celeste shrieked, her mask completely falling away. ""I heard you with my own ears! You said you owed her your life, not your love!""

Gideon walked around the shattered table, towering over her until Celeste was pressed against the exterior glass window overlooking the city skyline.

""I told you that because I wanted you to understand that no woman—not you, not anyone—could ever pry me away from her,"" Gideon snarled, his breath ragged. ""I spent six years believing that showing her raw passion would scare her, that admitting how desperately I worshipped her would make her feel pressured to stay. I hid behind duty because I thought I wasn't worthy of her forgiveness for crippling her! But I love that woman more than my own soul.""

Celeste stared at him in horrified disbelief.

""Marcus,"" Gideon commanded without breaking his glare. ""Release the audits on Arden Enterprises. Call in their short-term loans. Freeze their shipping lines. By tomorrow noon, Celeste and her family won't have enough money to buy a cup of coffee in this city.""