Chapter 5 She Married a Familiar Stranger

At 2:40 that afternoon, Elena put on a wedding dress for the second time.

The one from yesterday was probably still somewhere near the wrecked wedding car, stained with mud, blood, and shattered glass.

This one was only a backup the Vale family had found at the last minute—simple ivory satin, with the waist altered barely two hours earlier.

Before leaving, Elena checked the latest email from her attorney one final time.

Claire's sapphire ring had already been placed with an independent third party. The documents releasing the trust were under review.

Until the trustee transfer was formally completed, however, the ring would remain in escrow.

Most importantly, the marriage papers submitted that day listed the bride as Elena Vale.

Yesterday, she'd been shoved into a wedding car.

Today, she was walking into the marriage on her own.

The Blackwood estate was quieter than she'd expected.

No reporters. No crowd of guests.

Only the core members of both families and their attorneys.

When Richard got out of the car, he offered her his hand.

"Remember. Today, you represent the Vale family."

Elena gathered her own skirt and walked past him.

"I represent myself."

Adrian Blackwood was already waiting at the far end of the ceremony room.

Black suit. Half his face hidden behind a dark mask.

Elena had heard all the stories about him—the car accident, the disfigurement, the loss of power, the whispers that he'd long since been pushed out of the real center of the Blackwood family.

But when she finally walked toward him, she wasn't afraid.

Adrian didn't ask why she'd failed to show up the day before.

He simply watched her approach, his gaze settling first on the healing cut at her temple.

Elena's step faltered.

Yesterday, Aiden had done the same thing.

The first thing he'd noticed hadn't been her wedding dress.

It had been her injuries.

Ridiculous.

She pushed the thought away.

Aiden was simply connected to the Blackwoods somehow.

The man standing in front of her was Adrian Blackwood.

The ceremony was brief.

It wasn't until they exchanged rings that the strange sense of familiarity returned.

Adrian took her left hand and slid the ring onto her finger.

The warmth of his hand.

The pressure of his fingers.

Even the way his thumb rested against her knuckle.

For one sharp second, Elena was back in that room the night before.

"Does it fit?" Adrian asked.

Her head snapped up.

Even the voice.

The mask covered most of the left side of his face, leaving only his eyes and the line of his jaw visible.

Elena stared at him for two seconds.

The resemblance should have faded the closer she looked.

Instead, it grew stronger.

"Something wrong?"

"No."

She pulled her hand back.

"It fits."

"Good."

After the ceremony, the attorneys from both families returned to a long table to finalize the paperwork.

Elena's attorney sat to her right.

She checked every page carefully—her name, date of birth, identity information.

Nothing still listed Maya.

Just as she thought they were finished, the Vale attorney slid a separate two-page document across the table.

"There's one more."

Elena's attorney frowned first.

"This wasn't included in the final documents we reviewed at one."

Richard didn't react.

"It's only a supplemental family obligations agreement."

Elena picked it up.

The second clause required her, after the marriage, to reasonably participate in public appearances, charity events, business functions, and "other necessary family matters" for both the Vale and Blackwood families.

She put the document back down.

"I'm not signing it."

Richard lowered his voice.

"Elena, don't make a scene."

“Our agreement this morning was clear.My work and personal life remain my decisions. 'Other necessary family matters' can mean whatever you want it to mean."

"These responsibilities were agreed on between the families long ago."

Elena looked straight at him.

"Then let the person who originally agreed to this marriage handle them."

Richard's expression darkened.

Elena stopped there.

She'd already said enough.

"Don't forget why you're standing here."

"That's exactly why I remember what I agreed to."

Her voice stayed calm.

"And what I didn't."

Adrian, who hadn't spoken once during the exchange, held out his hand.

"Let me see it."

He skimmed the second page.

"Did Blackwood request this?"

His attorney answered immediately.

"No. Vale's counsel submitted it this afternoon."

Richard cut in.

"This is an internal Vale matter."

Adrian slid the document back across the table.

"Then put it in a Vale agreement."

His tone stayed even.

"Not in my marriage."

Richard's expression finally shifted.

"Adrian, you barely know your bride. There are responsibilities she can't simply refuse because she doesn't like them."

"You're right."

Adrian glanced at Elena.

"I barely know her."

Then he looked back at Richard.

"Which is exactly why I won't agree to things on her behalf."

One of the older Blackwoods clearly didn't approve.

He still said nothing.

Elena noticed.

A man who had truly lost all standing in his family shouldn't have that kind of weight.

Maybe the rumors about Adrian Blackwood weren't as reliable as she'd assumed.

The official documents were reviewed again.

Just before Elena signed, the Vale attorney looked at her and said automatically,

"Maya, one last confirmation—"

He stopped.

Elena's pen froze for less than a second.

"Elena," her attorney corrected sharply. "The bride is Elena Vale."

"Of course."

The Vale attorney's expression tightened.

"A slip of the tongue."

Elena signed her own name.

Adrian had seen the entire exchange.

He asked nothing.

Instead, he pushed the remaining pages toward her.

"Read them first."

Elena looked up.

Even that felt like Aiden.

Once the paperwork was finished, they left the table together.

They had barely reached the side corridor when Elena finally asked,

"Why did you help me back there?"

"I didn't."

"You had them remove the agreement."

"Because it was part of my marriage paperwork."

Adrian looked at her.

"I don't like people making promises for my wife."

His gaze dropped suddenly to her right foot.

"Still hurting?"

"I can walk."

"There's a doctor on the estate."

"I don't need one."

"Fine."

Elena looked at him more closely.

"Do you always take no that easily?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"A doctor? You can say no."

He paused.

"Yesterday's wedding car? Different story."

Her expression changed.

"You know about the car?"

"Wedding vehicles were connected to both families' security systems. We knew when yours left the approved route."

"What did the Vales tell you?"

"Traffic accident."

"You believe that?"

Adrian glanced at her.

"Do you think I should?"

Elena was quiet for a moment.

Her eyes settled on the ones visible above his mask.

"Have we met before?"

Adrian's step paused.

Only for a second.

"What do you think?"

"I'm asking you."

"Then no."

Too fast.

Elena narrowed her eyes.

"You remind me of someone."

A faint smile touched his mouth.

"Good thing or bad thing?"

"I haven't decided yet."

"Tell me when you do."

Later that evening, Adrian returned to his study.

Miles was already waiting.

"We found the two men from yesterday."

He placed a file on the desk.

"They work through a private security contractor. The payments went through two intermediary accounts and eventually trace back to a company that regularly handles Maya Vale's private arrangements. So far, we can prove a connection, not that she personally gave the order."

"Keep digging."

Miles slid over another file.

"Elena's identity is confirmed too. Claire's daughter. She was largely separated from the Vale family after seventeen. After Claire died, Elena's public presence almost disappeared."

Adrian turned to the last page.

"The marriage documents?"

"Every original alliance agreement named Maya Vale. At 1:12 this afternoon, the Vale family resubmitted the paperwork and formally changed the bride to Elena."

Miles paused.

"Richard also had that supplemental agreement drafted after Elena returned home."

The room went quiet.

So when Elena had gone back to the Vale estate that morning, she hadn't simply changed dresses.

She'd renegotiated the entire deal.

"Don't alert the Vales."

Adrian closed the file.

"Keep looking into Claire. Follow the wedding-car payments back to Maya. And find out why Richard changed the agreement at the last minute."

Miles nodded.

"What do you think they're hiding?"

Adrian's gaze dropped to the old photograph on his desk.

Claire stood beside a younger woman with the same face as his new wife.

The caption beneath it read:

Elena Vale.

Then he remembered Elena staring at his mask in the hallway.

Have we met before?

A low laugh escaped him.

"I'm more curious about something else."

His fingers rested on the edge of the photograph.

"How much longer is my wife going to take before she realizes who she slept with last night?"