Chapter 7
I dragged Mom beneath a desk and covered her mouth with my sleeve.
Maya crawled toward the control panel.
The keypad rejected every code.
Smoke thickened.
My eyes burned.
Dad’s recorded voice continued playing through the speakers.
On the screen behind him, a row of numbers appeared on a laboratory board.
I recognized them.
They were the date of my birth.
I entered the numbers.
The emergency door opened.
Federal agents pulled us into the corridor.
Paramedics gave Mom oxygen.
She regained consciousness outside.
The toxic gas had come from canisters hidden during the laboratory’s construction.
Someone knew the archive existed long before Samuel gave us the key.
Investigators traced the remote signal.
It came from Florence’s detention center.
A guard had smuggled a phone into her cell.
The guard was arrested.
Florence was placed in isolation.
But the call records revealed something unexpected.
Before activating the gas, she contacted Jonathan.
Their conversation had been recorded by the jail.
“You said Alexandra would never find the archive,” Jonathan snapped.
“Samuel betrayed us.”
“Then destroy it.”
“She may be inside.”
There was a pause.
Jonathan answered, “Do it anyway.”
He had known I might die.
He ordered the attack without hesitation.
Any remaining question about whether he loved me ended there.
The trial began two months later.
Florence and Jonathan were tried together after prosecutors proved their crimes were part of the same conspiracy.
The wedding assault was only the smallest charge.
They faced attempted murder, financial fraud, kidnapping, intellectual-property theft, arson, witness intimidation, and responsibility for Dad’s death.
The courtroom remained full every day.
Mercer Dynamics employees attended.
So did the inventors whose work had been stolen.
Jonathan watched me as though I still belonged beside him.
When I testified, his attorney focused on my hidden identity.
“You told my client you were a consultant.”
“I did consulting work for companies in our portfolio.”
“You never said you controlled a multibillion-dollar fund.”
“I did not discuss private financial information while dating.”
“Why conceal such an important part of yourself from the man you planned to marry?”
“Because wealthy women are often targeted for money.”
Several jurors looked toward Jonathan.
His attorney changed direction.
“You withdrew the investment hours after a personal argument.”
“I reported leadership misconduct. An independent committee terminated the proposal.”
“You wanted revenge.”
“I wanted my investors’ money protected.”
“You dumped dirty water over my client and his mother.”
“After he slapped me and she praised him for it.”
The hotel recording played again.
The jury watched Florence place the bucket beside my wedding dress.
They heard Jonathan demand obedience.
They saw his hand strike my face.
Then they watched me empty the bucket over both of them.
Jonathan’s attorney called my reaction violent.
The prosecutor asked one question during redirect.
“Did you ever strike Jonathan before he hit you?”
“No.”
“Did you prevent either defendant from leaving?”
“No.”
“Who locked the hotel door?”
“Jonathan.”
The prosecution presented the forged guarantee, altered prenuptial agreement, laboratory footage, kidnapping evidence, and jail recording.
Mom testified about Florence’s threats.
Maya explained the false technology tests.
Lily described her kidnapping.
Samuel told the jury about the laboratory fire.
Then Lewis Grant took the stand.
He admitted setting fire to Mom’s house.
He also admitted delivering the drug used in Dad’s wine.
“Who ordered the payment?” the prosecutor asked.
“Florence.”
“Who approved it?”
“Jonathan.”
Florence shouted that Lewis was lying.
The judge ordered her removed.
As deputies pulled her toward the door, she looked at me.
“Your father destroyed my life!”
“No,” I said. “He discovered what you were.”
The jury heard closing arguments the following week.
Before deliberations began, Rebecca received a call.
Jonathan had filed a separate claim against Vanguard from jail.
He alleged that our relationship gave me illegal access to Mercer Dynamics’ trade secrets.
If the claim succeeded, the restructuring could stop.
Thousands of employees would lose their jobs.
May you like
Jonathan knew he could not save himself.
So he was trying to destroy everyone who had escaped him.
