Gerald's POV
"You're making a mistake."
I don't look up from the contract I'm reading. My assistant Marcus stands in my office doorway, arms crossed, wearing his disappointed face. The one he uses when he thinks I'm being an idiot.
"It's just business, Marcus." I sign the bottom of the page without reading it. Nothing matters anymore anyway.
"Marrying your dead fiancée's sister is not 'just business,' Gerald." Marcus walks in and slams a folder on my desk. "It's insane. It's cruel. It's—"
"Necessary." I finally meet his eyes. "Whitmore Luxury is bleeding money. We need Rivera's distribution channels or we lose everything my grandfather built. Victor Rivera offered a solution. I took it."
"The solution being his other daughter? The one you've never even had a conversation with?"
I shrug. "I don't need to have conversations with her. She signs the papers, I save my company, everyone wins."
"Except Rosa," Marcus says quietly. "She's a person, Gerald. Not a business asset."
Rosa. I barely remember what she looks like. Brown hair? Quiet? Always in the background at Rivera events, hovering behind Julie like a shadow. Julie never talked about her much. When she did, it was usually complaints. "My boring little sister" she'd say with a laugh.
Julie. My chest tightens just thinking her name.
Three years she's been gone. Three years and it still feels like yesterday. I can still see her smile, hear her laugh, feel her hand in mine. She was everything—beautiful, brilliant, alive in a way that made everyone else seem dull.
Then one night she drove off a cliff and took my whole world with her.
"Gerald." Marcus's voice pulls me back. "You can't keep doing this. You can't keep destroying yourself over Julie."
"I'm not destroying myself. I'm saving my company."
"By marrying a woman you don't love and don't even know? How is that saving anything?"
I lean back in my chair, suddenly exhausted. "What do you want me to say, Marcus? That I'm excited to marry Rosa Rivera? That I'll magically fall in love and live happily ever after?" I laugh, but it sounds harsh even to me. "Julie was it for me. She was the only woman I ever loved. Without her, there's just... nothing. So yeah, I'll marry Rosa. At least the company survives."
Marcus looks at me for a long moment. Then he sighs. "You're going to hurt that girl."
"She'll get a rich husband and social status. I think she'll survive."
"Will you?"
Before I can answer, my phone buzzes. A text from Victor Rivera: Meeting confirmed. Tomorrow, 2 PM. Bring the ring.
The ring. Right. I need to give Rosa an engagement ring.
The thought makes me feel sick. Julie's ring is still in my safe. A massive diamond I spent three months choosing. She wore it for exactly six months before she died.
I can't give Julie's ring to Rosa. Even I'm not that much of a bastard.
"I need you to pick up an engagement ring," I tell Marcus. "Something appropriate. I don't care what it looks like."
Marcus stares at me. "You're not even going to choose it yourself?"
"Why would I? It doesn't matter."
"It matters to her!"
"She's getting a multi-million dollar ring and marriage to one of the richest men in New York. Trust me, she'll be fine." I stand up, done with this conversation. "Get the ring. Schedule the announcement for next week. And Marcus?" I meet his eyes. "Stop trying to make this into something it's not. It's a business deal. Nothing more."
Marcus leaves without another word. I'm alone in my office, surrounded by glass and steel and money. Everything I thought would make me happy.
It's all meaningless without her.
I pull out my phone and scroll to Julie's contact. I never deleted it. Sometimes I still text her number, knowing no one will answer. Pathetic, probably. But I can't let go.
My finger hovers over her name when a new text comes through. Unknown number.
"You don't know the truth about Julie. But you're about to marry her sister without knowing what really happened that night. Are you sure you want to tie yourself to that family? Are you sure Julie's death was an accident?"
My blood runs cold.
What the hell?
I stare at the message, my heart pounding. Who sent this? What do they mean Julie's death wasn't an accident?
The police investigated. Car accident. She was drinking at a party, drove too fast on that coastal road, went over the cliff. Tragic but straightforward.
Wasn't it?
Another text buzzes through.
"Check Julie's phone records from the week before she died. Check who she called the night of the accident. Then ask yourself why Victor Rivera is so eager to lock you into this marriage. What's he really protecting?"
My hands start shaking.
Julie's phone was destroyed in the crash. The police gave me her personal effects but there was no phone, no records. I assumed everything burned.
Unless someone has copies.
I dial my head of security immediately. "I need you to pull phone records. Julie Rivera. The week before her death. Every call, every text, I want it all."
"Sir, that was three years ago—"
"I don't care if it was ten years ago. Find it." I hang up and pace my office.
This is crazy. Julie died in an accident. A horrible, tragic accident that destroyed me.
Right?
But that text... Are you sure you want to tie yourself to that family?
What does that mean? What don't I know?
My phone rings. It's Victor Rivera.
My finger hovers over the answer button. Suddenly I'm seeing everything differently. The way Victor pushed for this marriage so quickly. The way he offered Rosa like she was just... available. The urgency in getting the contracts signed.
What if Victor knows something about Julie's death? What if that's why he wants me locked into this family?
What if Julie didn't die in an accident?
The phone keeps ringing. Victor's name flashing on the screen.
And I realize with cold, creeping horror that I might be about to marry into the family that killed the woman I loved.
I answer the call.
"Gerald." Victor's voice is smooth, friendly. Too friendly. "Just confirming our meeting tomorrow. Two o'clock. I'll bring Rosa. We'll make this official."
I close my eyes. "Actually, Victor, I need to ask you something first."
Silence. Then: "What's that?"
"The night Julie died. Where were you?"
The silence that follows is too long. Too heavy.
"That's an odd question," Victor finally says. His voice has changed. Colder now. Careful.
"Humor me."
Another pause. "I was at home with my wife. Why are you asking about this now, Gerald? I thought we were moving forward."
"We are," I lie. "I just... I've been thinking about her lately. With the wedding coming up."
"I see." Victor's tone relaxes slightly. "Well, tomorrow we'll discuss the future, not the past. Two o'clock. Don't be late."
He hangs up.
I stand there holding my phone, my mind racing.
Victor's lying. I heard it in his voice. The hesitation. The deflection.
He knows something about Julie's death.
And tomorrow I'm supposed to meet Rosa Rivera and put a ring on her finger, binding myself to whatever secrets her father is hiding.
My phone buzzes one more time. Same unknown number.
"Last warning, Gerald. Walk away now or discover the truth the hard way. Your choice."
I look at the message for a long time.
Then I text back: "Who are you?"
The response comes immediately.
"Someone who knows what Julie knew before she died. Someone who knows why she was murdered. And someone who knows Rosa's life is in danger the moment she becomes your wife. See you at the meeting tomorrow. I'll be watching."
The phone slips from my hand.
Julie was murdered.
And I'm about to marry her sister into the same trap.