Chapter 6 - THE MARRIAGE THAT NEVER EXISTED
The document looked real.
That was the terrifying part.
A marriage certificate.
Sadie Mercer.
Trevor Cole.
Filed four years earlier.
Sadie stared at her own forged signature.
"I never married him."
Evelyn nodded.
"We know."
"But legally?"
"Right now, the record exists."
Sadie looked at Roman.
"If that record stands—"
"Our marriage could be challenged."
Roman finished the sentence calmly.
Sadie felt physically sick.
Trevor wasn't trying to win her back.
He was trying to erase Roman's marriage.
And if Thomas Vale had created a trust connected to Sadie, Trevor might claim marital rights to it.
Roman leaned over the table.
"When was this filed?"
"Two months ago."
Sadie frowned.
"Two months?"
Evelyn nodded.
"Someone inserted it into an older county record."
"Grant."
"Probably."
Roman looked at the certificate.
Trevor had made a mistake.
A small one.
But Roman saw it.
"What's that seal?"
Evelyn leaned closer.
Then smiled.
"The county changed seals three years ago."
Sadie looked between them.
"So?"
"This certificate supposedly dates from four years ago."
Evelyn tapped the page.
"But the seal is from the new system."
For the first time all day, Sadie smiled.
"They forged it badly."
"Not badly."
Roman shook his head.
"Quickly."
That mattered.
Trevor was scared.
Scared people rushed.
Rushed people made mistakes.
Sadie looked at Roman.
"What do we do?"
"We let him think it worked."
Evelyn stared at him.
"Roman."
"He wants something."
"Obviously."
"We find out what."
Sadie understood.
"You want to bait him."
Roman looked at her.
"No."
"You absolutely do."
"I'm going to bait him."
"With what?"
Roman's gaze settled on the fake marriage certificate.
"With me."
Two hours later, news leaked.
VALE MARRIAGE MAY BE INVALID.
By evening, every financial blog in the city had picked it up.
Roman's company stock dipped.
Commentators speculated.
Reporters camped outside Vale Tower.
Trevor believed he had landed his first real blow.
At 9:14 p.m., he called Sadie.
Roman sat beside her.
Sadie answered.
"Hello, Trevor."
He laughed.
"Having a bad day?"
"I've had worse."
"Roman must be furious."
"He's devastated."
Roman raised an eyebrow.
Sadie almost smiled.
Trevor continued.
"I can fix this."
"How?"
"Meet me."
"No."
"Then your husband's board finds out what Thomas Vale really did."
Sadie's smile vanished.
"What did he do?"
"Midnight."
"Where?"
"The old Meridian warehouse."
Trevor hung up.
Roman stood.
"You're not going."
Sadie stood too.
"Yes, I am."
"No."
"He asked for me."
"That's why you're not going."
Sadie walked toward him.
"You said you wouldn't put me in a cage."
"I'm trying to keep you alive."
"And I'm trying to stop spending my life running from him."
Roman stared at her.
Sadie softened.
"Come with me."
"He'll see me."
"You're the Ghost."
A faint smile touched her lips.
"Don't let him."
At midnight, Sadie entered the abandoned warehouse alone.
Or at least Trevor believed she did.
He stood beneath a hanging industrial light.
"Hello, sweetheart."
Sadie stopped ten feet away.
"Don't call me that."
Trevor smiled.
"You used to like it."
"I used to like cigarettes too."
His smile faded.
Sadie looked around.
"Where's Rachel?"
Trevor tilted his head.
"Who?"
"Don't."
"Still pretending you're brave."
Sadie stepped closer.
"No."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"I'm finally not pretending I'm weak."
Trevor's face hardened.
He pulled something from his coat.
Not a gun.
A flash drive.
"This contains everything."
"Everything what?"
"Your father's evidence."
Sadie's breath stopped.
Trevor smiled.
"You want the truth?"
He held up the drive.
"Divorce Roman."
"And marry me."
Sadie stared at him.
Then she laughed.
Trevor's smile disappeared.
"You think I'm joking?"
"No."
Sadie's eyes hardened.
"I think you're terrified."
Trevor stepped toward her.
"You don't know anything."
"I know you forged a marriage certificate."
His face twitched.
"I know Grant helped you."
Another twitch.
"And I know whatever is on that drive scares both of you."
Trevor grabbed her wrist.
Sadie didn't flinch.
"Let go."
"Or what?"
A voice came from the darkness.
"Or I break your hand."
Trevor froze.
May you like
Roman stepped into the light.
And for the first time, Trevor realized Sadie had never come alone.
