Chapter 8
Garrett did not draw a weapon.
No one did.
That was important.
Violence would give the arriving convoy an excuse.
Fear could be used in court.
Chaos could become headlines.
A frightened child could be photographed and rewritten into a custody problem.
Garrett understood the machinery now.
So he stayed still.
Controlled.
Protective.
His body placed between Mave, Posie, Coraline, the guests, and the unknown people inside the black SUVs.
The bride he had nearly married stood behind him.
The woman he had never stopped loving stood against him.
The daughter he had never known clung to both.
Mave whispered, “She’ll say I came for money.”
Garrett answered without hesitation.
“Then I’ll say I came for you.”
“She’ll say I lied.”
“Then I’ll ask why Coraline knew you weren’t supposed to return.”
Coraline’s face hardened.
“Careful, Garrett.”
He turned slightly.
“You keep saying that like I still belong to the room you built.”
Her eyes flashed.
“You do. You always will.”
“No.”
He looked down at Posie.
“I belonged to a lie.”
The words landed under the cathedral awning.
Mave’s breath shook.
A guard moved closer with an umbrella, but Garrett waved it away. He did not want the rain hidden. Not yet. Let everyone see them soaked. Let everyone see what had arrived outside the polished wedding.
Wesley stepped forward toward the curb, palms visible, body relaxed but ready.
“Hold position,” he called calmly to the guards.
The convoy did not move.
The limousine remained blocked.
Rain fell between both sides like a curtain.
Then Coraline spoke softly, almost tenderly.
“Mave, you know what happens when you embarrass powerful women.”
Mave’s body went cold.
Garrett heard the sentence for what it was.
Not a warning.
A memory.
He looked at Coraline with a calm so sharp it made the nearest guests step back.
“What happened to her?”
Coraline smiled faintly.
“Ask your mother.”
Mave’s grip tightened painfully on his lapel.
“Garrett, don’t.”
But the name had already entered the rain.
Not the woman herself.
Only her shadow.
May you like
And that shadow was enough.
Read Chapter 9 👉 Because Coraline did not reveal Garrett’s mother, but she confirmed the fear Mave had carried for three years.
