Chapter 6 - The Mother’s Last Will
Noah felt the air leave his lungs. The jigsaw puzzle pieces that had haunted him for the past year suddenly snapped together with terrifying clarity.
His mother, Eleanor, had spent the final months of her life battling terminal illness and Grant’s ruthless divorce attorneys. In her final days, she had desperately tried to secure Noah’s future, leaving him the inheritance from her own family’s estate.
“You never wanted the wedding to happen,” Noah whispered, staring at his father.
Grant smiled faintly—a cruel, satisfied curl of his lips. “On the contrary. I gave Allison two choices. Option A: convince you to marry her, sign over the software patents to my holding firm, and split the five million consulting fee. Option B: sabotage the wedding at the altar, ensure you remained single past your thirtieth birthday, and let the twenty-million-dollar trust revert back to me.”
Noah slowly turned his head to look at Allison.
She was trembling, her veil now crooked, tears cutting trails through her foundation. She looked like a cornered animal caught in the crosshairs of two predators.
“She chose Option A,” Grant continued ruthlessly, not caring that he was incinerating his co-conspirator. “She got greedy. She wanted the five million fee and the status of being Mrs. Noah Holloway. But your clever little sister figured it out before the vows could be exchanged. And Allison panicked.”
“You locked me in a closet because you didn't know which payoff you were going to get!” Rachel shouted at Allison, her voice trembling with righteous fury. “If Noah found out before the ceremony, you’d lose both! You were going to force the wedding through today, take the trust money, and leave Noah with nothing!”
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“Noah, he threatened my father’s business!” Allison cried out, completely breaking down, falling to her knees on the marble floor, her ivory gown spreading around her like a pool of spilled milk. “Grant said he would ruin my family if I didn't help him! I had no choice!”
“You always had a choice,” Noah said, his voice deadly quiet. “You chose to look me in the eye every morning and lie.”
