Chapter 4 A New Deal

By the time Elena returned to the Vale estate, there were less than six hours left before the wedding.

She'd taken the car Miles arranged, but she hadn't come straight back. Her first stop had been a private clinic her attorney recommended, where she'd had blood drawn, her injuries documented, and a rapid toxicology screen performed.

The preliminary results confirmed two substances: the sedative Richard had authorized, and a second short-acting stimulant that explained the abnormal heat, elevated heart rate, and heightened sensitivity. Elena had already sent the full record and sample information to her attorney.

She asked the driver to stop outside the gates.

Other than the exhaustion still clinging to her body, she looked nothing like the barefoot bride who had run from a wrecked wedding car the day before.

Maya was in the living room.

She wore a soft robe, and when Elena walked in alive and unharmed, the first thing that crossed her face wasn't relief.

It was disappointment.

"You actually came back."

Elena stopped in front of her.

"Disappointed?"

Maya's gaze moved over the cut at Elena's temple, then dropped to the clothes she was wearing—clothes that clearly hadn't come from the Vale estate.

"Where were you last night?"

"None of your business."

"Do you have any idea how long you've kept both families waiting? The Blackwoods have already—"

"You drugged me yesterday."

Elena pulled a folded toxicology report from her bag and tossed it onto the coffee table.

Richard frowned. "I approved the sedative the doctor gave you."

"I'm not talking about the sedative."

Elena looked directly at Maya.

"There was something else in my blood. Something that raised my heart rate and body temperature and made my senses more sensitive."

For the first time, Richard's expression truly changed.

"What?"

Maya's smile faded slightly.

"She's standing right here, isn't she?"

"And the men you hired." Elena kept going. "They didn't take me to the Blackwood estate. They drove me into the mountains."

Richard turned toward Maya, his face darkening.

"I told you to get her to the wedding. Not destroy her."

Maya shrugged.

"But she came back."

"Who were those men?"

Maya didn't answer.

Richard's voice turned cold.

"From now on, your people stay away from her."

Elena felt no relief.

Richard wasn't angry because she'd nearly been hurt.

He was angry because Maya had nearly ruined the investment.

She stopped looking at either of them.

"I want my things back."

Richard was silent for a moment before reaching for a dark blue jewelry box and setting a thin file beside it.

Elena's breath caught.

Inside the box was Claire's sapphire ring.

As a child, Elena had once stolen it from her mother's jewelry box just to try it on. It had been too large and slipped from her finger, striking the edge of the vanity.

She'd burst into tears.

Claire had only hugged her and said one scratch couldn't ruin something that truly mattered.

After her mother's death, the ring had disappeared.

Richard had always claimed Claire had gotten rid of most of her personal jewelry before she died.

Apparently not.

Elena reached for it.

Richard put his hand over the lid first.

"There's more."

He pushed the file toward her.

Elena looked down.

CLAIRE VALE FAMILY TRUST.

Claire had left behind a trust and a small stake in Vale Holdings. But because of old debt guarantees and the Vale Family Office's role as trustee, Richard had kept control of those assets for years.

Elena had already asked an attorney to look into it.

She could fight him in court.

It could also take years.

"The Blackwood investment includes a debt restructuring," Richard said. "Once the financing goes through, the old guarantees tied to Claire's assets can be released. The trust can then be transferred to an independent trustee."

Elena slowly lifted her eyes.

"So you've always had a way to give me back what she left me."

Richard didn't deny it.

"Complete the marriage, and the ring is yours. The trust will be separated from the Vale family as well."

Elena looked at the documents on the table.

For the first time, there was something in this marriage she actually wanted.

Not just the ring.

A clean break.

For Claire's assets.

And for herself.

"Wasn't the wedding canceled?"

"Postponed." Richard leaned back. "The Blackwoods agreed to move it to this afternoon."

Elena studied him.

"They know you changed the bride?"

"Their attorneys demanded a new identity review last night. Maya's documents are void. The new marriage agreement and registration papers will use your name, Elena Vale. You review them. You sign them."

"So no one is putting Maya's name in front of me today?"

"No."

At least that solved one problem.

She still didn't know exactly how he was connected to the Blackwoods.

But she knew why she was willing to walk into that estate now.

"My attorney reviews everything."

"Elena—"

"If you still want me at that wedding, listen."

She faced Richard again.

"First, the ring and the documents releasing Claire's trust go into third-party custody today. I sign the new marriage agreement and attend the ceremony, and the Vale family releases the old guarantees and begins the transfer to an independent trustee at the same time."

“The ring stays in escrow until the transfer is formally completed. Once that happens, it gets released directly to me."

Richard's expression hardened.

"You know what you're asking for?"

"Yes."

Elena held his gaze.

"You need me to complete the marriage. I need you to return what never belonged to Vale Holdings in the first place."

She paused.

"That's called a deal."

"Second, from today on, the Vale family stays out of my bank accounts, my job, my home, and my private communications. You don't send people to follow me. Maya doesn't send anyone near me."

Her eyes shifted to her sister.

"If anything like yesterday happens again, I won't come back here to negotiate. I'll take the medical records and everything else straight to the police."

Maya gave a sharp laugh.

"You really think marrying into the Blackwood family means they'll protect you?"

Elena finally looked at her.

"At least they didn't drug me yesterday."

Maya's face tightened.

Elena didn't bother giving her more attention.

"Third, the marriage agreement, the financial arrangements, and every registration document use my real name. I sign them myself. Anything tied to yesterday's identity switch—old documents, promises, liabilities—stays with the people who created them."

Richard stared at her.

"You don't have the right to renegotiate this agreement."

Elena glanced at the jewelry box.

"Then don't."

She turned toward the door.

"You can put Maya back in the dress. Or you can explain to the Blackwoods why the Vale family failed to produce a bride two days in a row."

"Stop."

Elena did.

Maya looked worse than she had at any point the day before.

Because she'd finally understood the difference.

Yesterday, Elena had been shoved into the car.

Today, the Vale family needed her to walk into that marriage willingly.

Elena returned to the table.

"One more condition."

Richard's eyes narrowed.

"Say it."

"After the wedding, where I live, what work I do, and whether I have any relationship with this family are my decisions."

Her voice stayed calm.

"You get the alliance you want. I get the ring, Claire's trust, and everything that belongs to me."

She looked at Richard.

"After that, I owe the Vale family nothing."

Silence settled over the room.

Finally, Richard picked up his phone.

"Draft an addendum."

Maya shot to her feet.

"Dad!"

Elena didn't feel victorious.

She was still going to marry a man she'd never met.

The difference was that this time, no one was delivering her to him.

"The attorney will be here in an hour," Richard said. "The ceremony starts at four."

Before heading upstairs, Elena took back her phone, ID, and the rest of her personal belongings.

Elena nodded and turned toward the stairs.

"One more thing, Elena."

She stopped.

"The Blackwoods are already extremely unhappy about yesterday." Richard's voice followed her across the room. "Don't create another problem today."

Elena glanced back.

Aiden's kiss flashed through her mind without warning.

His hand at her waist.

The way he'd waited for her to move first every single time.

If Richard knew what his precious replacement bride had done the night before, he probably wouldn't be standing there so calmly.

Elena pushed the thought aside.

"Don't worry."

She looked at her father.

"This time, I'm going to the wedding."

Then she added, just as calmly,

"But I'm getting married on my terms."