Chapter 3
The cathedral doors opened wider behind them.
More guests spilled onto the steps, drawn by the impossible scene.
A bride in white.
A groom in soaked black.
A missing woman in pale pink.
A child with the groom’s eyes.
And a line of black SUVs approaching through the rain like a verdict.
Coraline stood slightly behind Garrett now, but not defeated.
Not yet.
Her veil clung to her blonde hair, diamonds flashing coldly at her throat.
“Garrett,” she said, voice sharpened by humiliation, “do not turn this into a spectacle.”
He looked over his shoulder.
“You chose a five-hundred-guest wedding.”
Her mouth tightened.
“For our families.”
“There is no our.”
That cut deeper than the ring on the pavement.
Coraline’s eyes flicked to Mave.
“She timed this perfectly.”
Mave flinched.
Garrett saw it.
So did Posie.
The child’s fingers tightened around his.
Garrett stepped closer to Coraline, but his body still blocked her from Mave.
“Do not speak about timing when she is shaking in the rain with a child.”
Coraline’s expression hardened.
“You don’t know what she wants.”
Garrett’s voice dropped.
“I know what Posie is holding.”
He lifted their joined fingers slightly.
Coraline looked at the child’s hand around his.
Something in her face cracked—not heartbreak, but fury at being unable to deny what everyone could see.
The eyes.
The trust.
The bloodline.
Mave whispered, “Garrett, please. We have to move.”
Wesley stepped closer, earpiece glistening with rain.
“Boss, the lead SUV is slowing.”
Garrett nodded once.
“Bring the limousine up.”
“It’s blocked.”
That made Garrett turn.
The black armored limousine stood near the curb, but two SUVs had angled into the street beyond it, not touching, not ramming, not attacking—just placed well enough to become a wall.
Controlled.
Elegant.
Familial.
Garrett knew the style.
His stomach turned cold.
Mave saw recognition cross his face.
“You know,” she said.
He did not answer quickly enough.
Her lips trembled.
“You still don’t understand, do you? I didn’t leave you, Garrett.”
The rain struck his face.
Posie looked up at him.
Mave’s voice broke.
May you like
“I was removed.”
Read Chapter 4 👉 Because Mave finally said the word Garrett’s family had buried: removed.
