Chapter 5 - The Wedding Day Trap
The afternoon sun blazed over the oceanfront resort, casting a golden hue across the immaculate lawns where three hundred high-society guests had gathered for the ceremony. White rose petals lined the aisle, and a classical harpist played near a massive ice sculpture shaped like the bride and groom’s initials.
Behind the scenes, however, chaos reigned.
Althia and Stellin were frantically pacing near the bridal suite, their phones glued to their ears as they tried to figure out why their primary credit cards had been declined at the resort's luxury boutique. Sutton, radiant in a custom French lace gown valued at over twenty thousand dollars, was throwing a screaming fit because the wedding caterer had momentarily halted setup due to a sudden banking freeze.
I arrived an hour before the ceremony began, escorted by two private security contractors and Vesper. I sat upright in my carbon-fiber wheelchair, my right leg encased in a rigid black medical immobilizer, my posture cool and composed.
Althia spotted me first as she marched down the grand hallway. Her face twisted into an ugly snarl as she stormed over.
“What in God’s name are you doing here?” Althia hissed, grabbing the handle of my wheelchair and trying to wheel me backward out of sight of the arriving guests. “I told you to stay at the hospital! You look like a miserable vagrant, and you are going to ruin Sutton's big day!”
“Take your hands off my chair, Althia,” I said, my voice cutting through the corridor with absolute authority.
She froze, stunned by my calm demeanor. Before she could recover her tongue, heavy footsteps echoed down the marble hall. Four federal marshals, accompanied by two state financial investigators and local police officers, marched directly toward us.
May you like
Alden stepped out from behind the officers, wearing a sharp tailored suit, his expression carved from stone. He walked straight past Althia and stood beside my wheelchair.
“Mother, father,” Alden said loudly enough for the entire bridal party to hear. “The ceremony is officially canceled.”
