Chapter 3 - The Best Man’s Betrayal and the Hidden Motive
Lucas slowly turned his head away from the frantic shouting match between Elena and her disgraced father. His eyes locked onto the front of the altar, where the best man stood.
Marcus Thorne had not moved an inch. While the rest of the guests were in an uproar, Marcus stood with his hands neatly folded inside the pockets of his tailored tuxedo. A faint, almost imperceptible smile played at the corner of his lips. He didn't look panicked; he looked like a chess grandmaster watching his opponent walk directly into a checkmate.
"Marcus," Lucas said, his voice dropping to a low, lethal register that cut through the chaos of the room.
The room slowly quieted down. Every head turned to look at the best man.
Marcus calmly removed his hands from his pockets, adjusted his silk tie, and stepped forward. "Looking for answers, old friend?" he asked smoothly, his voice devoid of any remorse or guilt.
"You drafted this," Lucas stated, holding up the custody and asset-transfer papers. It wasn't a question.
"I did," Marcus admitted openly, shocking the remaining guests who gasped in horror at his brazen confession. He walked down the altar steps, his polished leather shoes clicking rhythmically against the floor. "And I must say, Elena was supposed to wait until after the honeymoon to file it. Impatient girls always ruin the best-laid plans."
"Why, Marcus?" Lucas growled, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. "We built Miller Tech from the ground up together. I trusted you with my company, my finances, and as a brother!"
"Brother?" Marcus laughed, a cold, bitter sound. "You never saw me as a brother, Lucas. You saw me as the sidekick. The guy who did the paperwork while you played the visionary hero. You took the credit, you took the majority shares, and when you married Sarah... well, you took everything that mattered."
"Sarah?" Lucas frowned in utter confusion. "What does my late wife have to do with this?"
"Everything," Marcus said, his eyes flashing with a deep, twisted obsession. "Sarah and I were engaged before you swept in with your charm and your startup money. She chose you because you were the rising star. But she realized her mistake too late. Before she passed away, she left half of her personal trust fund to me in a secret codicil—a codicil that you legally blocked by contesting her will using a technicality."
May you like
Lucas stared at his best man in absolute horror. "Sarah never loved you, Marcus. She left you because she found out about your illegal embezzlement of the company accounts back in college! I covered for you, I saved you from prison, and this is how you repay me? By plotting to steal my daughter and destroy my life?"
"I'm not going to destroy your life, Lucas," Marcus said smoothly, pulling a sleek tablet from his jacket pocket. "I’m simply going to repossess what was always mine. And as of three minutes ago, while everyone was distracted by the little girl's dramatics, my automated legal algorithms executed the corporate hostile takeover of Miller Tech. You are no longer the majority shareholder. You are ruined."
