Chapter 10 - The Price of a Marriage
Warren’s expression did not change.
Coraline continued anyway.
“The Hail development was failing. Evelyn needed six hundred million dollars before the banks discovered the losses.”
Garrett looked at his mother.
“You told me the project was secure.”
“It became secure.”
“Because Warren financed it?”
Evelyn said nothing.
Coraline’s laughter sounded broken.
“My father agreed to save the company if I married Garrett.”
Warren stepped toward her.
“You are distressed.”
“I was useful,” Coraline snapped. “That’s what you called me.”
She looked at Garrett.
“When Mave became pregnant, the marriage plan was impossible. Your father would never have approved it while you were in love with someone else.”
“So you forged the test,” Garrett said.
Warren’s voice remained calm.
“A claim from an unstable bride does not establish facts.”
“She wasn’t unstable when you arranged the wedding.”
Garrett turned to Mave.
“What happened after my mother showed you the report?”
Mave fought through the shame.
“She threatened to take Posie. She had documents claiming I abused medication. They were false, but I was pregnant and alone.”
Evelyn lifted her chin.
“You were emotionally unwell.”
“You sent a psychiatrist I had never met to declare me unfit.”
Garrett stared at his mother in disbelief.
Mave continued.
“The settlement agreement you saw was forged. The photographs of me with another man showed my cousin helping me move.”
Garrett’s face twisted with pain.
“I believed them.”
“You were supposed to.”
“I should have found you.”
“You tried.”
He looked at her.
Mave’s voice broke.
“They made sure every road led somewhere else.”
Police vehicles finally turned onto Fifth Avenue.
Warren checked his watch instead of looking frightened.
Judge Cole noticed.
“You expected them later.”
Warren gave her a cold smile.
“I expect competent officers to evaluate facts instead of theatrics.”
The first detective stepped from the vehicle.
Warren relaxed when he recognized him.
“Detective Sloan.”
Garrett saw the familiarity.
Then another car stopped behind the police cruiser.
A woman in a federal windbreaker stepped out.
Warren’s smile disappeared.
She approached Daniel’s assistant, who had arrived with a sealed evidence case.
“We recovered this from Mr. Reece’s vehicle,” she announced.
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Inside the case was Thomas Hail’s missing investigation file.
👉 Garrett’s late father had preserved proof of the conspiracy—and someone had tried to steal it after Daniel’s crash.
