“Does it hurt?”
Ezra reached for my face, but I turned away before his fingers made contact.
Something flickered in his eyes. He sighed.
“Lexi, you're too stubborn. You really need to fix that.”
“Do you have any idea what that social media post did? Everyone at your company is calling Bella a scheming bitch. She nearly slit her wrists!”
“Tomorrow, at the wedding, in front of the press, you're going to publicly apologize to her. You're going to tell everyone you were jealous, that you photoshopped that picture yourself, and that you slandered her.”
I looked at him, almost amused.
“And why would I do that?”
Ezra's expression hardened. He leaned in close and dropped his voice.
“Lexi, did you really think I didn't know where you hid your mother's will?”
“Think about it. Your father never dared bring Scarlett and her son into the house all these years. So why did he suddenly have the nerve today?”
I stared at him in disbelief.
Before my mother died, she left me a will stating that when I turned twenty-five, her shares would automatically transfer to my name. Until then, a professional asset manager would oversee them, and my father had no authority to touch them.
The will was never notarized. She jumped before there was time.
For years my father tried every trick he could think of to find out where it was hidden, but I never gave it up.
To keep me compliant, he never let Scarlett set foot in the house.
Next week, I turn twenty-five.
But I'd hidden it so carefully. How could they possibly……
“Bella studied hypnosis. And a person who's been pulling all-nighters for days, completely exhausted from working on a proposal? That's when hypnosis works best. That's when the truth comes out.”
“Lexi, you're too capable. So capable it worries me. I had no choice but to plan ahead.”
Ezra pried my curled fingers open, one by one.
Not rough—but steady, absolute, the kind of grip that didn't ask permission.
“Relax. All you have to do is apologize to Bella tomorrow, then settle down as Mrs. Stephens and enjoy the good life. I'll manage those shares for you. After all, husband and wife are one, right?”
“Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to hand it over to your father. Destroying an un-notarized will is easy enough. The moment next week arrives, he becomes the first in line to take over. And you know he's been dreaming of transferring every last share to his own son.”
“Are you sure you want to lose the last thing your mother ever left you and end up with nothing?”
I looked steadily at this man I had once pulled out of the mud with my own hands.
And then I smiled.
“Fine. I agree.”
Ezra kissed my forehead, satisfied.
“I knew it. My Lexi never makes a losing deal.”
“Bella's waiting for me. I'll see you at the wedding tomorrow.”
I watched his figure disappear through the doorway, and the smile dropped from my face.
If he was so determined to force me to this wedding, then I'd give him exactly what he asked for.
I picked up my phone and dialed the number I knew by heart.
“Tomorrow, eleven a.m. Rose Manor, Mountain City. Be there to get married.”
“Thirty seconds late, and I'm picking someone else.”
Ezra thought he was still my best option.
He had no idea that from start to finish, he was the losing deal.
The next day at noon, I sat in the bridal dressing room at Rose Manor.
Outside, roses stretched in an endless sea of color, and the outdoor ceremony was set up on a grand, lavish scale.
The door opened and Bella walked in.
The fragile act was gone. She stared at the wedding dress on me with undisguised jealousy.
“You know what, Alexis? Even before I ever met you, I hated you. Why should I get looked down on by his family just because I come from nothing and can't help him? Why should I have to play gracious and step aside for you?”
“So I found my way to you. Became your best friend. And every single time you treated me like an idiot who actually cared, I wanted to laugh in your face.”
“What happened in that private room? Ezra and I have done it plenty of times since then. Your anniversary this year, when he showed up late? That's because he was with me. On the couch in your office. And last night we slept together in your wedding bed.”
“Don't think marrying him means you've won. Let me spell it out for you: the day the bid closed, Ezra and I got our marriage certificate.”
“I'm his real wife. You? You're just a shield he uses to keep those old fossils in his family off his back. So what if you're the heiress? I'm the one who won.”
I finally spared her a glance, my tone flat.
“Congratulations, then.”
Bella didn't get the reaction she wanted. For a second, she just stood there, blank.
Ten minutes before the ceremony, I stepped in front of the press cameras.
“About last night's social media post. I owe an apology to my former best friend, Bella Malone.”
“I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough.”
“She's not just Ezra Stephens's ex-girlfriend. She's a backstabbing, scheming bitch and a shameless homewrecker.”
The smug curve of Bella's lips froze. She burst into tears and threw herself into Ezra's arms.
Ezra's face was even worse.
“Alexis, you've really disappointed me. You forced my hand!”
“Say goodbye to your mother's keepsake!”
He pulled out a yellowed document.
Most of the guests had no idea what it was, but my father, standing closest to him, had a light blazing in his eyes.
He knew that handwriting by heart. It was my mother's will.
Ezra was about to set it on fire right there.
The next second, someone seized the wrist holding the lighter.
And wrenched it in the opposite direction.
The man was tall, immaculate in a tailored suit, with an authority that filled the room.
He had a cigarette clamped lazily between his lips. He leaned in, lit it off Ezra's lighter, and blew a slow ring of smoke right into Ezra's face.
His smile was razor-sharp and lethal.
“My mother-in-law left that for my wife. A little strange for an outsider like you to be holding it, don't you think?”
