Chapter 2 - ELEANOR'S WARNING
Cedric read the first line twice.
My son, if Portia Vale is standing beside you when you read this, do not sign anything else.
His hands went cold.
Portia stepped forward. “Cedric, your mother was sick when she wrote that.”
He kept reading.
The Vale family has been using the proposed marriage to gain control of Blackwood Holdings. The document Martin Shaw calls a marital protection agreement is not what he says it is.
Cedric looked toward Martin, the family attorney.
Martin’s face had gone gray.
“What agreement?” Alonzo asked.
Cedric knew exactly which one.
Three weeks earlier, Martin had brought him a stack of estate-planning papers. Portia had sat beside him, smiling, telling him the paperwork would protect both families after the wedding.
Cedric had signed.
The letter continued.
If the ceremony is completed before the independent audit on Monday, the proxy transfer becomes effective immediately.
Cedric stopped breathing.
“What proxy?”
Portia said, “This is ridiculous.”
Martin backed toward the service hallway.
Alonzo noticed.
“Stay where you are.”
Martin froze.
Cedric read the final paragraph.
There is proof. The key is where your father proposed to me. Trust Flora. Trust Alonzo. Do not trust anyone who tells you I died confused.
Cedric slowly lifted his eyes.
His mother had died after a sudden neurological collapse. Doctors had blamed a rare stroke.
Portia reached for the letter.
Cedric pulled it away.
“You knew this existed.”
“No.”
“You tried to take it before I opened it.”
“I saw your mother’s handwriting and panicked.”
“Why?”
Portia’s father, Graham Vale, rose from the front row.
“This wedding is over if you keep humiliating my daughter.”
Cedric looked at him.
“No, Graham.”
He folded the letter.
“The wedding is already over.”
A shocked murmur swept the ballroom.
May you like
Portia’s expression hardened.
Then Martin Shaw suddenly ran.
