He Jilted Me at the Altar. I Married His Enemy by Midnight. Chapter 04

He Jilted Me at the Altar. I Married His Enemy by Midnight. Chapter 04

I signed.

At 11:47 p.m., In a judge’s chambers one floor down, still wearing the wedding dress another man had abandoned me in, I became Mrs. Damian Cross.

And at 11:49, he kept his promise.

48 Cays
‘Your grandmother’s will, he said, “left you thirty percent of Hale International. The single largest block

of shares. Vesting on one condition: that you be lawfully married before your twenty-eighth birthday.J

The room tilted.

“If you weren’t-if you were unmarried at midnight tonight-every share would transfer to the next eligible

granddaughter.J

Sienna, I breathed.

‘Sienna. He nodded once. Who would then sign them straight over to the man who’s been quietly borrowing against your inheritance for three years to cover his losses. The man who paid Julian Whitmore ninety million dollars to propose to you, stall you past every wedding date, and finally destroy you publicly enough that no man would touch you before midnight.J

‘Say the name, I whispered, even though I already knew. Even though my whole body was screaming.

fYour father.j

Take off the dress. It was never going to fit you anyway.

He hadn’t been cruel today. He’d been counting down.

My knees gave out. Damian caught me-one arm, effortless, like he’d been ready for it-and held me while three years of my life rearranged themselves into a lie. The proposal. The delays. Let’s push the wedding to

| spring, baby. Every kiss, invoiced. My sister’s white dress, a business expense.

[Why do you care? I choked out. What do you get?]

Thirty percent of Hale International just married into my house,

been blocking my acquisition of his company for two years. As of-

ago, my wife is his largest shareholder.j

Damian said calmly. Your father has

he checked his watch, -one minute

He looked down at me, and for a second something older and darker moved behind his eyes-something that had nothing to do with shares. Then it was gone.

Rest tonight, he said. “Friday, we have a party to attend.J

Friday. The engagement gala.

The Hale ballroom glittered with everyone who’d watched me shatter on their phone screens Sienna held court in gold, my father beaming beside Julian, toasting the merging of two great families.

Then the doors opened.

I walked in wearing black, my hand on Damian Cross’s arm.

The orchestra actually stopped.

I watched it hit them in waves-my mother’s champagne flute freezing halfway to her lips. Julian’s face

draining gray. My father recognizing Damian and going very, very still, like a man hearing his own bones crack.

[Dad. My voice carried across the silent ballroom, clear and sweet. You didn’t RSVP to my wedding.

Understandable-short notice. Tuesday night. Before midnight.J

I lifted my left hand. The Cross diamond caught the chandelier light and threw it across the room like a

blade.

my

The shares vested, by the way, I said. You can call my lawyers. Or my husband. We’re very hard to

reach.j

[Aria, my father’s voice strangled, what have you done-J

‘Exactly what you taught me. I smiled, and it didn’t hurt, and that was the most beautiful part. [Family

needs the right marriage. Which daughter wears the ring is irrelevant. Right?J

Sienna shoved through the crowd, mask cracking, voice shrill: ‘You planned this, you pathetic-you couldn’t

stand me being happy for ONE-J

‘Sienna.J Damian spoke for the first time. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to. The temperature of

the room dropped ten degrees. “You’re speaking to my wife.J

Choose your next word, he said, ‘like your family’s credit line depends on it. Because it does.J

Silence. Absolute.

Sienna’s mouth opened. Closed.

We turned to leave, four hundred phones filming a very different video this time-and that’s when Julian

caught my wrist at the door, his breath sour with champagne and panic, his whisper meant for me alone.

“You think you won? You think he’s your savior?]

His eyes glittered with something ugly.

Ask your new husband why the east wing of his house has been locked for nine years, Aria.J

Ask him whose shrine you just married into.J