Chapter 12: The Bride's Real Wedding Was With My Fortune
“Everybody away from the windows!””
Marcus pulled the curtains shut.
Nathaniel grabbed the nearest security radio.
“Lock every entrance. Nobody enters this property.””
A voice crackled back.
“Understood, sir.””
Grace moved beside me.
“Rose, stay close.””
I looked at the photograph in Charles's hand.
He was standing outside the garage.
Smiling.
He looked directly toward the building as if he knew we were watching.
Then he raised the photograph.
It was a picture of me as a child.
I recognized the blue coat immediately.
The same coat Eleanor had described.
The same day she had seen me outside the library.
Charles turned the photograph over.
Even from a distance, I could read the words written across the back.
The original heir.
My stomach twisted.
Nathaniel watched him through a narrow gap in the curtains.
“Why would he come here alone?””
Marcus checked the cameras.
“He isn't alone, sir.””
The screen showed four vehicles surrounding the property.
Two men stood near the entrance.
Another was walking toward the electrical control room.
“They're preparing to cut the power,” Marcus said.
Nathaniel turned toward Grace.
“Where's the original trust?””
Grace touched her handbag.
“Here.””
“Give it to me.””
She handed him the leather pouch.
Nathaniel opened it and examined the papers.
Then he frowned.
“Something's missing.””
“What?””
“The final page.””
Grace's face changed.
I looked at her.
“Wasn't it inside?””
“No. It was there when I left the penthouse.””
Nathaniel turned toward Marcus.
“Check the garage cameras.””
Marcus switched screens.
A recording appeared.
It showed Charles entering the penthouse hours earlier, before the wedding.
He wasn't alone.
A woman stood beside him.
Victoria.
She handed him a small envelope.
Marcus enlarged the image.
Inside the envelope was a sheet of paper.
The missing final page.
Nathaniel swore under his breath.
“They have it.””
Grace looked horrified.
“Then they can activate the trust without us.””
Nathaniel shook his head.
“Not without Rose.””
I stared at him.
“What do you mean?””
He turned the document toward me.
“The final page requires your personal authorization.””
I stepped back.
“Then they can't force me to sign.””
Grace looked at me.
“Rose, they can threaten the people you love.””
A loud crash came from downstairs.
Marcus grabbed his radio.
“Security team, report!””
Nothing.
He tried again.
“Security team, respond!””
A burst of static answered.
Then the lights went out.
Nathaniel grabbed my hand.
“Move!””
We hurried toward the reinforced basement room.
Grace followed, but stopped near the staircase.
“Go! I'll be right behind you!””
“Mom!”” I shouted.
She looked toward the hallway.
Someone was coming.
“GO, ROSE!””
Nathaniel pulled me downstairs.
We entered the security room and locked the reinforced door.
Marcus checked the emergency monitors.
Three cameras were still working.
One showed Charles entering through the garage.
Another showed two men moving toward the staircase.
The third showed something that made Nathaniel freeze.
Victoria.
She was walking through the front entrance.
Wearing a white wedding dress.
I stared at the screen.
“Why is she dressed like that?””
Nathaniel's face hardened.
“She's here to finish what she started.””
A microphone crackled.
Then Victoria's voice filled the security room.
“Good evening, family.””
She laughed softly.
“I believe we have unfinished wedding business.””
Nathaniel pressed the communication button.
“Victoria, you're not getting anything from us.””
“Oh, Nathaniel. You're still so dramatic.””
“What do you want?””
“The original trust.””
“You already have the final page.””
“I need Rose's signature.””
“Never.””
Victoria sighed.
“Then perhaps I should bring your mother down here.””
I turned toward the door.
“Where is Grace?””
Nathaniel immediately contacted Marcus.
“Find Grace. Now.””
No response.
I felt panic rising.
Then a second camera came alive.
It showed Grace standing in the living room.
Charles was behind her.
His hand rested on her shoulder.
He was holding a gun.
Victoria appeared on screen.
She approached Grace and kissed her cheek.
“Hello, Mother.””
Grace turned away.
“Don't call me that.””
Victoria smiled.
“You always did prefer your other children.””
She pulled a chair toward the center of the room.
Then she forced Grace into it.
I covered my mouth.
Nathaniel slammed his fist against the desk.
“Get her out of there!””
Marcus finally answered through the radio.
“Sir, we're trapped in the east corridor. There are armed men everywhere.””
Victoria's voice returned.
“Rose, darling, I have a proposal.””
Nathaniel grabbed the microphone.
“Talk to me.””
“No. I want your sister.””
“She isn't signing anything.””
“Then Grace dies.””
I stepped toward the microphone.
“Victoria, listen to me.””
Nathaniel caught my arm.
“Don't.””
I continued.
“What do you want me to do?””
Victoria smiled at the camera.
“Come downstairs alone. Bring the original birth certificate.””
“And Eleanor?””
“She's safe.””
“Where?””
Victoria laughed.
“You'll see.””
The screen changed.
It showed Eleanor sitting in a separate room.
Her hands were tied, but she was alive.
Victoria continued.
“Once you sign the trust, everyone walks away.””
I looked at Nathaniel.
He shook his head.
“No.””
“Rose,” he whispered, “she's manipulating you.””
“I know.””
“Then don't give her what she wants.””
I looked at the screen.
Grace was crying.
I couldn't watch another member of my family suffer.
“Let me go.””
Nathaniel held my hand.
“I've already lost you once without even knowing you existed. I'm not losing you again.””
I squeezed his fingers.
“Then help me bring them home.””
For several seconds, he stared at me.
Then he nodded.
He turned toward Marcus's emergency communication channel.
“Do you still have access to the building's fire suppression system?””
Marcus answered.
“Yes, sir.””
“Can you trigger it remotely?””
“Absolutely.””
Nathaniel looked at me.
“Victoria thinks she's controlling the building. Let's give her a surprise.””
Ten minutes later, I walked downstairs carrying the original birth certificate.
The living room was brightly lit.
Victoria stood beside Grace.
Charles sat on the sofa, holding a glass of whiskey.
Detective Miller was there too.
His police uniform was gone.
Victoria smiled when she saw me.
“There's my beautiful sister.””
I stopped several feet away.
“Let them go.””
“First, the document.””
I held up the birth certificate.
“Where's the final trust page?””
Charles laughed.
“Such a determined little girl.””
He reached into his jacket and produced the missing page.
“Sign here.””
I looked at the document.
Then at Grace.
She shook her head.
“Don't do it, Rose.””
Victoria pressed a gun against her mother's shoulder.
“Sign.””
I took the pen.
But before touching the paper, I looked directly at Victoria.
“Why did you save me from the fire?””
Her smile faded.
For a moment, she seemed almost surprised.
Then she answered.
“Because Father needed you alive.””
“Why?””
“Because you were the only child he couldn't control.””
I stared at her.
She continued.
“Richard knew Nathaniel would obey him. He knew I would obey him. But you were different. You had no connection to the Callaway name.””
“So he thought money would control me?””
“Exactly.””
I looked at the document.
“And you?””
Victoria smiled.
“I thought I could finally take what was always supposed to be mine.””
She leaned toward me.
“Sign, Rose.””
I lowered the pen.
Then the fire suppression system activated.
Sprinklers exploded overhead.
Water poured from the ceiling.
The lights flickered.
Charles jumped up.
“What the hell?””
Marcus's voice came through the emergency speakers.
“NOW!””
The security doors opened.
Two armed guards rushed into the living room.
Nathaniel came through the side entrance.
He tackled Charles before the older man could raise his weapon.
Grace kicked Victoria's knee.
The gun fell.
I grabbed the document and ran toward the doorway.
Detective Miller lunged after me.
But Eleanor appeared behind him.
She struck him across the back with a heavy metal lamp.
He collapsed.
“Not my granddaughter,” she shouted.
I stared at her.
“Granddaughter?””
Eleanor smiled through her tears.
“I'm sorry it took me twenty-eight years to say it.””
Nathaniel restrained Charles.
Marcus handcuffed Miller.
Victoria stood in the middle of the soaked living room, her white dress ruined.
She looked at Grace.
Then at me.
“You think you've won?””
Nathaniel stepped forward.
“It's over, Victoria.””
She laughed.
“No. You still don't understand.””
She reached into her pocket and produced a small remote.
Charles went pale.
“Victoria, don't!””
She pressed the button.
A screen on the wall turned on.
It showed a live broadcast.
A man sat in a studio, holding a stack of documents.
Behind him was the logo of Callaway Global Holdings.
The headline appeared.
*BILLIONAIRE NATHANIEL CALLAWAY ACCUSED OF STEALING HIS SISTER'S INHERITANCE.*
Nathaniel stared.
“What have you done?””
Victoria smiled.
“While you were busy playing family, I sent the original documents to every major news network.””
The screen changed again.
A second headline appeared.
*ROSE CARTER IDENTIFIED AS THE WOMAN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CALLAWAY FAMILY FIRE.*
I felt my stomach drop.
Grace grabbed my hand.
“They're lying.””
Victoria laughed.
“Not entirely.””
Then she looked at me.
“Tomorrow morning, the entire world will know your name, Rose.””
She stepped closer.
“And by tomorrow night, you will be the most hated woman in America.””
Before Nathaniel could respond, her phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed.
“What?””
A man's voice came through the speaker.
Victoria listened.
Then she slowly lowered the phone.
For the first time, she looked genuinely frightened.
Charles began laughing.
Nathaniel turned toward him.
“What is it?””
Charles smiled.
“The person who controls the trust has finally arrived.””
A knock sounded at the front door.
Marcus checked the security monitor.
His face went pale.
Standing outside was a woman in an expensive black suit.
She looked exactly like Eleanor.
But she was twenty years younger.
And she was holding a document bearing Rose Carter's signature.
Eleanor whispered:
“That's impossible.””
Grace stepped backward.
Then she said a name none of us had heard before.
“Margaret.””
May you like
The woman outside smiled at the camera.
And the door unlocked by itself.
