Chapter 12 - Madison’s Last Weapon
Madison reached beneath the lace at her waist and pulled out a folded legal paper.
“I have a contract.”
Julian stared at it.
“What contract?”
“A family commitment agreement.”
King Edmund extended his hand.
Madison refused to release it.
“It guarantees the marriage ceremony proceeds if either side withdraws after the official announcement.”
The royal legal adviser stepped from the guests.
“No such agreement permits a forced marriage.”
“It includes financial penalties.”
Julian’s expression hardened.
“You were planning for me to leave you?”
“I was protecting our future.”
Avery recognized the signature at the bottom.
It belonged to their late mother.
But the handwriting was wrong.
Their mother’s B’s curved left.
This one curved right.
“Mom didn’t sign that.”
Madison’s eyes flashed.
“You don’t know everything.”
Nora opened the cedar box again and removed their mother’s final medical records.
The date on Madison’s agreement was three days after their mother had lost the ability to hold a pen.
A document examiner among the King’s advisers compared the signatures.
“This appears traced.”
Madison crushed the page in her fist.
Julian looked physically ill.
“You forged your dying mother’s signature?”
“She wanted me to be happy.”
Avery’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“No. She wanted you to stop.”
Madison tore the agreement in half.
The guards immediately collected both pieces.
May you like
Destroying it only made her look guiltier.
👉 Then the King ordered the wedding estate sealed—not to imprison the guests, but to preserve evidence Madison had hidden throughout the property.
