Chapter 7 - Shattered Contracts"Adrian, get back inside!" Vance shouted, stepping forward to block his path. "You have a multi-million-dollar merger and a high-society marriage riding on this! Don't throw your entire legacy away over a college-town ghost!"
Adrian stopped just inches away from his CEO, towering over the older man by half a head.
"My legacy," Adrian said, his voice terrifyingly quiet, echoing through the sound system that Leo had finally managed to fix, "was stolen from me eight years ago by you and my father. And I've spent every day since building structures on a foundation of lies."
He turned his gaze past Vance, looking straight at Nora.
The entire lawn was dead silent. You could hear the distant rustle of the Ashley River breeze and the frantic whispering of Mrs. Marlow from the second-floor window.
Nora’s breath caught in her throat. She gripped her clipboard so hard the cardboard backing snapped in half.
"Adrian," she whispered, her voice trembling despite her best efforts. "What are you doing?"
"Eight years ago," Adrian said, stepping closer to her, ignoring the gasps from the audience, "you asked me if I had a safety plan."
Nora’s eyes widened. Memories crashed over her like a tidal wave—the rooftop in Richmond, the fifty paper lanterns flickering in the dark, the city lights stretching out below them like a map of their future.
"And I told you," Adrian continued, his voice cracking slightly with raw, unfiltered emotion, "that my safety plan was you."
"Adrian Keller, have you lost your absolute mind?!" Mrs. Marlow shrieked, finally storming down the stairs from the mansion, her face twisted in absolute fury, followed closely by a pale, tear-stained Elise who had ripped her veil off and thrown it onto the gravel.
"Yes, Mrs. Marlow," Adrian said without breaking eye contact with Nora. "I lost my mind eight years ago. And today, I finally found it."
Elise marched right up to him, her eyes burning with pure venom. She looked at Adrian, then turned her poisonous glare toward Nora.
"You planned this," Elise hissed, shaking with rage. "You came here as a vendor just to steal him back!"
"I didn't even know he was the groom until thirty minutes ago," Nora answered coldly, her voice cutting through the chaos like a diamond glass-cutter. "Your mother hired my company. Check the invoices."
"It doesn't matter who hired who!" Vance roared, stepping in. "Adrian, if you walk away from this wedding, Meridian Harbor will strip you of your partnership, sue you for breach of contract, and blacklist you from every major engineering firm in North America!"
Adrian let out a short, humorless laugh.
May you like
"Strip me of my partnership?" Adrian turned to face the CEO, a dangerous, confident smile touching the corners of his mouth. "Vance, my team holds the patent on the structural reinforcement algorithms for every major renewable energy grid you've built in the last five years. If you sue me, I walk away with the patents, and your entire corporation collapses by Monday morning."
Vance’s face turned the color of a bruised plum. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
