The Blind Box That Cost Me Everything Chapter 07

The Blind Box That Cost Me Everything Chapter 07

That night.

After transferring the 1.88–million–dollar settlement, Gavin drank himself unconscious in a VIP lounge at a

club.

He’d always believed what happened next was his own drunken mistake.

That belief held until his assistant pulled the club’s transaction records and surveillance footage.

The camera in the lounge showed Bianca walking in.

She didn’t hesitate. She already had a hotel key card in her hand.

Twenty minutes before that, she’d bribed a server to drug his drink.

He thought she was Maren.

She did it again later. That’s how she got pregnant.

“There’s one more thing, sir.”

His assistant laid two marriage certificates side by side on the desk.

“The marriage license between you and Maren is a forgery. It doesn’t exist in the state records. The one with

Bianca is the legally binding marriage license.”

Gavin stared at the paper.

He remembered the day at the county clerk’s office. Bianca had been waiting outside.

She told him that Maren had been held up by an emergency and slid the paperwork in front of him to sign

first.

He’d been drinking for a week straight. He was too wrecked to read the names.

He thought he was signing a marriage license with Maren.

Bianca had written in her own name.

Gavin pressed both hands flat against the desk. His arms were shaking.

“And Talia? What’s her connection to Bianca?”

His assistant pulled another file.

“Three years ago, Talia defaulted on a co–signed loan. She was about to be sued. Bianca used your money to

pay it off. In return, Talia monitored Maren and reported everything back to Bianca. Weekly.”

“Every time Maren opened up to Talia, every word ended up on Bianca’s phone the next morning.”

Gavin closed his eyes.

Everyone around her had betrayed her. Her parents. Her sister. Her best friend. And him.

He shoved his chair back and threw open the window.

Night air rushed in, cold and dark.

He couldn’t breathe.

“Where is she?” He turned to his assistant. “Where did she go?”

“She flew to Marlowe three days ago. The car that picked her up is registered to a Wesley Mercer.”

Wesley.

Gavin knew the name.

Twelve years ago, there was a fire. Maren ran inside to save someone. She came out with a scar across her back that never faded.

“Find her.”

“Sir, Wesley’s security is…”

“I said find her.”

His assistant stopped talking.

Gavin stood at the window while the wind scattered papers across the room.

The journal lay open on the desk, turned to its last page. The ink was barely visible under the light.

Those faint words weighed more than anything in the room.

Marlowe was quiet at night.

Gavin stood outside the white apartment building from before dawn until the sun came up.

The sea breeze was damp and salty. His shirt was a wrinkled mess.

At seven, the front door opened.

Maren came out in a ponytail, no makeup. She’d lost so much weight her collarbones cut sharp lines beneath

her skin.

She saw him.

No surprise. No anger.

She looked at him the way you look at someone you don’t know. “Go home, Gavin.”

She stepped around him and crossed the street toward the corner store.

He followed. “Maren.”

She didn’t stop.

“I know about the mystery boxes now. Your parents did it behind your back. I found the proof. Maren, I know

everything.”

She picked up a carton of milk and got in line.

“Bianca too. She set up the marriage certificates and that night at the bar.”

Maren paid for her milk and walked out.

“Maren. Look at me.”

She stopped. Turned. Her eyes were steady. “Okay. And then what?”

His mouth opened. “I was wrong.”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “You were.” And she kept walking.

He stood there in the blinding sun.

She never looked back.

The next day, he wired one million dollars to her account. She sent it back.

On the third day, five million. She sent that back too.

On the fourth day, he sent delivery trucks filled with gifts to the building.

Flowers, jewelry, clothes, supplements. They filled half the lobby.

Wesley’s security found him outside. “Ms. Halstead is asking Mr. Ellison to stop. She doesn’t want to be contacted again.”