Chapter 414
Chapter 414:
Later, as guests danced under the stars, Alexander excused himself. “I need to make a quick call, that supplier issue. I’ll be right back.”
Camille nodded, distracted by conversation with a board member. When Alexander returned twenty minutes later, she noticed nothing unusual beyond a certain tension in his shoulders that she attributed to wedding nerves.
“Everything handled?” she asked as he rejoined her.
“All taken care of.” He kissed her cheek. “Nothing for you to worry about.”
The evening continued with dessert and dancing. If Alexander seemed occasionally distracted, no one noticed but him.
Long after the guests departed, Camille and Alexander walked through the moonlit gardens. Victoria had insisted they spend the night before their wedding in separate wings of the estate, following tradition.
“I believe we’re actually here,” Camille said softly. “After everything.”
Alexander stopped beneath an ancient oak tree, taking both her hands in his. “I need you to know something, Camille.” His voice had a serious edge that made her look up. “No matter what happens, no matter what we learn about each other or our families, my love for you is constant.”
She tilted her head, puzzled by his intensity. “Where is this coming from?”
“Just pre-wedding reflection.” He smiled, but his eyes held something deeper. “The past year has taught me that family, whether born or chosen, comes with complications. Histories we don’t control. But what we build together is our choice.”
“Alexander…”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “Tomorrow we begin our life together. That’s all that matters.”
Later that night, long after he had kissed Camille goodnight and retired to the guest wing, Alexander slipped out of the house. The drive to Red Hook took forty minutes, giving him time to wrestle with the anonymous message that had arrived during dinner:
The woman who will be your mother-in-law tomorrow destroyed your true family before you even met her. Ask Victoria about Richard Pierce. Storage unit 237 has everything you need to know.
The storage facility loomed against the night sky, a massive block of concrete and steel. Unit 237. The key had been attached to the message, left in his jacket pocket somehow—a calculated attempt to derail his happiness on the eve of his wedding.
Inside the unit, boxes of evidence surrounded him. Financial statements. Photographs. News clippings. All bearing two names: Kane Industries and Mediterian Enterprises.
A yellowed newspaper headline screamed: MEDITERIAN ENTERPRISES DECLARES BANKRUPTCY, FOUNDER COMMITS SUICIDE.
Alexander sat heavily on a wooden chair, his uncle Richard’s silver pocket watch cold in his palm. The truth unfolded before him in merciless detail—how Victoria Kane had systematically destroyed Mediterian Enterprises because of her ruthless business practices. How his uncle, who had taken him in when his parents disowned him, had lost everything because of his silent partnership with James Preston.
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