Chapter 9 - The Wedding That Never Happened

The invitations had already been sent.

Four hundred guests expected Victor Blackwood and Serena Montigue to marry on Saturday beneath crystal chandeliers in the Grand Blackwood Ballroom.

By Friday, every gossip column in Chicago knew the wedding was cancelled.

No one knew why.

That was intentional.

Victor’s lawyers released one sentence.

Due to a private family matter, the ceremony will not proceed.

Serena remained in protective custody.

Damian remained in county detention after a judge denied emergency release.

Dr. Brent had begun negotiating.

Owen Pike had been found in Indiana.

The machinery was moving.

But one problem remained.

Someone inside the organization had accessed the ballroom security plan after Damian’s arrest.

Marco placed the report on Victor’s desk.

“Three minutes of unauthorized access.”

Victor looked up.

“From where?”

“An external terminal.”

“Who?”

“Unknown.”

Lily sat by the window feeding Ethan pieces of banana.

“You think someone believes the wedding is still useful.”

Marco nodded.

Victor said, “Cancel the entire event staff.”

“Already done.”

Lily wiped Ethan’s hands.

“Why not close the house?”

Victor looked at her.

“Because someone is expecting us to.”

She frowned.

Marco smiled.

“I know that face.”

“What face?”

“The one where you have an idea I will dislike.”

Victor stood.

“We let the ballroom appear active.”

Lily’s eyes narrowed.

“No.”

Victor looked surprised.

“You do not even know the plan.”

“I know enough.”

Marco coughed to hide a laugh.

Victor continued.

“No guests. No ceremony. Security only.”

“And you.”

“Yes.”

“Absolutely not.”

Victor folded his arms.

“Lily.”

“Damian is in jail. Whoever is still moving is doing it because they think they can finish his plan.”

“Exactly.”

“Then let police handle it.”

Victor looked toward Marco.

Marco said, “I am staying out of this one.”

Lily stood.

“You said daylight.”

“Yes.”

“Daylight includes not playing bait in your own ballroom.”

Victor’s expression softened.

“The person may be after records, not me.”

“Then give Halloran the records.”

“We did.”

“Then let them steal empty folders.”

Victor paused.

Marco pointed at Lily.

“That is actually better.”

Victor looked offended.

“You are both impossible.”

Miriam entered carrying a medical report.

“Good. Maybe impossible keeps you alive.”

Victor stared at all three of them.

“This used to be my house.”

Lily said, “That was the problem.”

He could not argue.

Halloran approved a controlled operation.

The ballroom would remain lit.

A small team would occupy adjacent service rooms.

Several sealed boxes marked BLACKWOOD CONTINUITY TRUST would be placed inside the old wedding office.

They contained blank paper.

At seven that evening, the mansion glowed as if preparing for celebration.

Lily stayed in the secure downtown suite with Ethan and Miriam.

Victor hated being separated from them.

Lily hated that she noticed.

At eight twelve, a catering van approached the service gate with old credentials.

Marco let it through.

Three people exited.

One wore a florist jacket.

One carried a tool case.

The third remained in the van.

Halloran’s team watched.

The florist moved directly toward the wedding office.

Not the ballroom.

Not the kitchen.

The office.

Victor observed from a monitor room.

“That person knows the layout.”

Marco nodded.

The intruder opened the office with a copied key.

Halloran waited until the boxes were touched.

Then officers entered.

The intruder ran.

A second person pulled a fire alarm.

Sprinklers activated.

Chaos filled the service corridor.

Victor stayed where he was.

Every instinct told him to chase.

He remembered Lily’s voice.

Daylight includes not playing bait.

Marco glanced at him.

“You are learning.”

“Do not ruin it.”

Halloran’s voice came over the radio.

“Two detained.”

“Third?”

“Van fled.”

Marco checked traffic cameras.

“Tracking.”

One suspect was a junior accountant from Vale Strategic.

The other was Victor’s wedding planner.

Victor stared at the screen.

“Marianne?”

Marco looked equally surprised.

“She has worked with us for seven years.”

Halloran brought them into separate rooms.

The accountant asked for a lawyer.

Marianne cried.

Victor watched behind glass.

“I did not know about the baby.”

Halloran sat across from her.

“What did you know?”

“That Mr. Vale wanted files removed.”

“Why?”

“He said they contained private family material that could destroy people who had nothing to do with his arrest.”

“What were you paid?”

“Fifty thousand.”

“When?”

“Yesterday.”

“By whom?”

“A company.”

“Name.”

Marianne hesitated.

Victor knew the company before she said it.

“Montigue Events.”

Serena’s family company.

Victor felt cold.

Halloran looked through the glass.

Victor shook his head.

He did not believe Serena had ordered it from custody.

Someone was using her accounts.

Halloran returned to the interview.

“Who controls Montigue Events?”

“Serena and her brother.”

Victor froze.

“Her brother.”

Marco’s eyes sharpened.

“Julian Montigue.”

Victor had met Julian at dinners.

Quiet.

Polite.

Always distant from Serena’s ambitions.

Marco pulled financial records.

Within minutes, they found transfers from Montigue Events to Vale Strategic.

Older than Serena’s engagement.

Lily answered Victor’s call on the second ring.

“Is it over?”

“Not yet.”

“What happened?”

“We found another account.”

“Damian?”

“Julian Montigue.”

Lily was silent.

“Serena’s brother?”

“Yes.”

“Did she ever mention him?”

“Rarely.”

“What does he do?”

“Commercial property.”

Marco shook his head.

“Not exactly.”

Victor looked at him.

Marco turned the monitor.

Julian controlled three warehouses, two freight companies, and a private medical transport provider.

One company name appeared in Thomas Cole’s files.

Lily heard Victor stop breathing.

“What?”

Victor said, “Julian owned the transport company that serviced the route where Adriana died.”

Silence.

Lily whispered, “Then Serena may not have known the whole truth.”

Victor closed his eyes.

“No.”

For the first time, the conspiracy around Adriana’s death shifted again.

Damian may have ordered the interception.

Pike may have executed it.

But someone else had provided the vehicle, timing, and route access.

Julian.

Halloran obtained a warrant.

Julian was not at home.

His office was empty.

His phone was off.

The fleeing van from Blackwood House was found abandoned near the river.

Inside was a wedding envelope.

On the front, written by hand, were two words.

FOR VICTOR.

Halloran opened it.

Inside was a photograph of Adriana standing beside Serena and Julian at a charity gala years earlier.

On the back:

ASK SERENA WHO REALLY CHOSE THE ROAD.

Victor felt his anger return.

Lily, still on the phone, heard him breathing.

“Do not go to her alone.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“You were thinking about it.”

“Yes.”

“Victor.”

“I said I wasn’t going.”

Marco murmured, “Growth again.”

Victor glared at him.

At the station, Serena saw the photograph and began shaking.

Halloran placed it on the table.

“Who chose the road?”

Serena covered her mouth.

Victor stood behind the observation glass with Marco and Lily on video call.

Halloran repeated the question.

Serena whispered, “Julian.”

“Your brother?”

“Yes.”

“Explain.”

Serena cried silently.

“Adriana called me because she needed a driver she could trust.”

Victor closed his eyes.

Halloran asked, “And?”

“I told her Julian would send one.”

Victor’s face emptied.

Serena continued.

“I did not know Julian was working with Damian.”

Halloran said, “You were working with Damian.”

“Not like that.”

“You gave him Adriana’s location.”

“Yes.”

“And you sent Adriana into your brother’s car.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I thought Julian was helping her.”

Halloran stared at her.

“You were betraying her to Damian and helping her escape at the same time?”

Serena laughed through tears.

“I was a coward trying to keep every door open.”

Lily whispered into Victor’s phone.

“That sounds true.”

Victor said nothing.

Serena continued.

“I wanted Damian’s money. I wanted Victor. But I did not want Adriana dead.”

Halloran asked, “What did Julian know?”

“Everything.”

“How?”

“He handled logistics for Damian.”

“Did he cause the crash?”

Serena shook her head.

“I don’t know.”

Victor’s phone buzzed.

A message from an unknown number.

ONE HOUR. OLD LAKE TERMINAL. BRING THE ORIGINAL RED LEDGER OR YOU WILL NEVER KNOW HOW ADRIANA DIED.

Marco read over his shoulder.

“Julian.”

Victor looked at Halloran through the glass.

Then at Lily on the screen.

Lily said, “You are not going alone.”

Victor nodded.

“No.”

“And you are not bringing the real ledger.”

“No.”

“And you are not deciding this without Halloran.”

Victor almost smiled.

“Anything else?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“Come back.”

The two words hit harder than every warning.

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Victor looked at Ethan sleeping against Lily’s shoulder.

“I will.”