Chapter 1 – THE TRUTH BEHIND THE GROOM’S HESITATION

The silence in the ballroom was deafening.

Caroline stood in her white gown, waiting for the man she loved to say that none of the money mattered.

But Daniel didn’t say it.

He looked at the floor.

His hands, clenched into fists at his sides, were shaking.

“Daniel?” Caroline’s voice was barely a whisper. “Please. Tell me the money doesn’t matter.”

Lorraine let out a sharp, triumphant laugh.

“Don’t force him to lie, Caroline. He’s a smart boy. He knows exactly what he’s losing.”

“Shut up, Mom.” Caroline didn’t look away from Daniel. “Daniel, look at me.”

Slowly, he raised his head.

His eyes were red.

“Caroline,” he said, his voice cracking. “I love you. More than anything.”

“Then say yes. Tell her we don’t need it.”

“I can’t.”

A collective gasp rippled through the guests.

Patricia, sitting in the front row with the white handkerchief clutched in her hands, let out a soft sob.

“Danny,” she whispered. “Don’t do this. Not for me.”

Caroline took a step back. The bouquet she had set down seemed entirely forgotten.

“You’re choosing the business?” she asked, her voice breaking. “You’re choosing my mother’s money over us?”

“It’s not just a business, Care.”

Daniel wiped a hand across his face. He looked completely defeated.

“Then what is it?” she pleaded.

He looked at Lorraine, who was smiling that same cold, calculated smile.

“Tell her, Daniel,” Lorraine said smoothly. “Tell her why you need my husband’s investment so badly.”

Daniel swallowed hard.

He reached into the inner pocket of his tuxedo jacket.

For a second, I thought he was reaching for a ring.

Instead, he pulled out a faded, yellowed envelope.

It looked old. The edges were frayed, and the paper was crisp with age.

“My dad didn’t just die of a heart attack,” Daniel said quietly.

Patricia froze in her chair. “Daniel, no…”

“He owed money,” Daniel continued, his voice echoing in the silent room. “A lot of money. To people who don’t forgive debts.”

He looked at Caroline.

“The new business wasn’t for us, Care. It was to launder the debt. Your father knew. He offered to cover it through the investment so they wouldn’t come after my mom.”

Caroline’s eyes widened. She turned to her mother.

“You knew about this? You’ve been holding his father’s debt over his head to control him?”

Lorraine shrugged gracefully. “We were protecting our investment. We couldn’t have our son-in-law dealing with loan sharks.”

Luca Moretti, who had been standing silently near the aisle, suddenly stepped forward.

The relaxed, confused demeanor he’d held earlier was gone.

Now, he looked exactly like the man who ran half of Chicago’s underground.

“Which loan sharks?” Luca asked, his voice dangerously low.

Daniel looked terrified. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me, Daniel. Who holds the debt?”

Daniel looked down at the envelope in his hand.

“A man named Thomas Vance.”

Luca stopped completely still.

His eyes locked onto the yellowed envelope in Daniel’s hand.

“Open the envelope, Daniel,” Luca commanded softly. “Tell me what the date on the promissory note is.”

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