Chapter 13 - THE WEDDING PLAN
The file contained more than a nondisclosure agreement.
It contained a strategy.
Andrew had created notes about what would happen after our wedding.
My apartment would be sold.
My salary would be deposited into a joint account.
I would leave Carter Global within six months.
Publicly, the explanation would be that we were starting a family.
Privately, Andrew had written one sentence that made my hands go numb.
REMOVE CARTER ACCESS.
I read it twice.
Ethan stood across the room.
He said nothing.
Naomi scrolled farther.
There were draft emails.
One written in my name.
It announced my resignation from Carter Global.
Another was addressed to my mother.
It said Andrew and I were moving to Connecticut and needed privacy.
Neither had been sent.
Yet.
“He was going to isolate me completely.”
My voice sounded distant.
Naomi nodded.
“Yes.”
There was also a prenuptial agreement.
One I had never seen.
Under its terms, Andrew would control nearly every financial asset acquired during marriage.
A clause required disputes to remain private.
Another imposed penalties if either spouse publicly harmed the other’s professional reputation.
“This can’t be enforceable.”
Naomi shook her head.
“Some provisions likely aren’t.”
“That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t use them to frighten you.”
I looked at the wedding date.
November 22.
Less than three months away.
Andrew had spent months asking me about flowers.
Menus.
Music.
He had pretended to care about invitation paper.
Meanwhile he had been planning how to eliminate every exit.
I walked to the window.
“I thought the wedding would make things better.”
Nobody spoke.
“He always said he was stressed because we weren’t settled.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He said once we were married he would feel secure.”
Ethan’s voice came gently.
“Ava.”
“I know.”
I turned.
“I know how stupid that sounds now.”
“It doesn’t sound stupid.”
“Yes, it does.”
“No.”
He came one step closer.
“It sounds like someone kept moving the line.”
I looked at him.
He continued.
“First he needed you to prove loyalty.”
“Then he needed an engagement.”
“Then marriage.”
“Then your job.”
“After that it would have been something else.”
I stared at him.
“You really did read everything.”
“Yes.”
Naomi’s phone buzzed.
She read a message.
Then looked up.
“Andrew has been arrested.”
My breath stopped.
“For what?”
“Violation of the protection order and suspected involvement in the Carter Tower fire alarm incident.”
“Suspected?”
“The access badge, surveillance footage from a nearby garage, and a vehicle connected to one of his employees.”
I sat down.
“Is he in custody?”
“For now.”
Relief did not arrive.
Fear did.
“What if they release him?”
Naomi did not lie.
“They probably will pending further proceedings.”
My hands became cold.
Ethan crouched several feet away.
He stayed outside touching distance.
“Look at me.”
I did.
“If he walks out of that courthouse, you still won’t be alone.”
I swallowed.
“I don’t want to spend the rest of my life surrounded by security.”
“You won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t.”
His honesty steadied me.
“But I know tonight isn’t the rest of your life.”
That evening, news helicopters hovered above Manhattan Criminal Court.
Andrew appeared in handcuffs for less than thirty seconds.
He looked calm.
He even smiled.
By midnight, he had posted bail.
At 12:18 a.m., I received no call.
No message.
No flowers.
No threats.
May you like
Nothing.
And somehow the silence frightened me more.
