CHAPTER 7 — HE MARRIED ME FOR THE MONEY
CHAPTER 7 — HE MARRIED ME FOR THE MONEY
The sentence stayed with me long after Robert left.
You were supposed to disappear.
I couldn't stop hearing it.
Not because I believed him.
Because some part of me had always feared it.
My father had hidden my past.
My mother had vanished.
My sister had been stolen.
My brother had died.
Another sister had been raised under a different name.
And Julian—
the man I had loved for nine years—
had entered my life according to a plan I had never been allowed to see.
But there was one question I could no longer avoid.
Why me?
Why had Julian chosen me?
Why had Robert chosen Julian?
And why had everyone spent so much time trying to control a woman they claimed was nothing more than an innocent heir?
The answer came from the one person I least wanted to hear it from.
Julian.
He was waiting outside the estate.
Alone.
No lawyers.
No security.
No driver.
Just a man standing in the rain beneath a black umbrella.
When I walked toward him, he didn't move.
He looked exhausted.
His expensive suit was wrinkled.
His hair was wet.
His eyes were red.
For the first time since I had met him, Julian looked like an ordinary man.
Not a billionaire.
Not a chairman.
Not my husband.
Just Julian.
The stranger I had somehow loved.
He looked at me.
"I knew you'd come."
"I didn't come for you."
"I know."
I stopped several feet away.
"Tell me why you married me."
He lowered his eyes.
I waited.
"I want the truth."
"I married you for the money."
The words landed exactly as I expected.
And somehow they still hurt.
I laughed softly.
"Say it again."
He looked at me.
"I married you for the money."
I nodded.
"Good."
I turned away.
"Now I can finally stop wondering whether any of it was real."
"Elena."
I stopped.
"Not all of it."
I turned around.
He looked broken.
"I married you because of the money."
A pause.
"But I stayed because of you."
I shook my head.
"That's supposed to make me feel better?"
"No."
He took a breath.
"It won't."
"Then don't."
He walked closer.
"I was twenty-seven when Robert approached me."
"Where?"
"London."
"What did he want?"
"You."
My jaw tightened.
"I didn't know who you were."
"He showed me photographs."
I looked at him.
"How many?"
"Dozens."
My stomach turned.
"He knew where I worked."
"Yes."
"Where I lived."
"Yes."
"Who my friends were."
"Yes."
"And you still agreed."
"I needed the money."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
He looked away.
"My father had destroyed our family."
"What does that mean?"
"He had debts."
"How much?"
"More than we could ever repay."
"And Robert paid them."
"Yes."
"In exchange for what?"
Julian's eyes met mine.
"A marriage."
I laughed bitterly.
"So that's it."
He nodded.
"I would marry you."
"Stay married for five years."
"Never tell you about the trust."
"And eventually convince you to transfer control."
"Yes."
I felt sick.
"How much were you promised?"
He hesitated.
"Three hundred million dollars."
Silence.
I stared at him.
"Three hundred million."
"Yes."
"That's what my marriage was worth."
"To Robert."
"Not to you?"
Julian closed his eyes.
"At the beginning."
I looked at him.
"When did it change?"
He didn't answer.
"Julian."
"Six months."
"Six months after we married?"
He nodded.
"What happened?"
"You got sick."
I frowned.
"I had the flu."
"You were in bed for three days."
I remembered.
Julian had stayed beside me.
He had made soup.
He had slept on the couch.
He had canceled meetings.
At the time, I thought he was being a good husband.
"You remember?"
"Every minute."
He looked at me.
"You were lying there apologizing for being sick."
I swallowed.
"You said you hated being weak."
"I remember."
"You said you were afraid I'd get tired of you."
My chest tightened.
"I remember."
Julian's voice broke.
"That was the first time I realized I was already in love with you."
I looked away.
I didn't want to believe him.
Believing him would be dangerous.
Because if he was telling the truth, then the worst part of our marriage wasn't that it had been a lie.
It was that something real had grown inside the lie.
"Why didn't you leave?"
He stared at me.
"What?"
"If you loved me, why didn't you leave Robert?"
"Because I couldn't."
"You could."
"No."
His voice became harder.
"Robert had evidence against me."
"What evidence?"
"My father's financial crimes."
I froze.
"What did your father do?"
"He stole from Laurent subsidiaries."
I stared.
"How much?"
"Millions."
"And Robert knew?"
"He had everything."
Julian swallowed.
"He told me if I disobeyed him, my father would go to prison."
"Did your father know about me?"
"No."
"Did he know you married me?"
"Yes."
"Did he know why?"
"No."
I looked at him.
"So you sacrificed me to save your father."
"At first."
"And later?"
"Later I was trying to protect you."
I shook my head.
"You don't get to call betrayal protection."
"I know."
I turned away.
"Did you sleep with Sophia because Robert ordered you to?"
Julian's silence was answer enough.
I looked at him.
"Yes."
"I was supposed to make you jealous."
"And?"
"It worked."
I almost smiled.
"Very well."
He looked ashamed.
"I hated myself."
"But you did it."
"Yes."
"Repeatedly."
"Yes."
"While coming home and sleeping beside me."
"Yes."
"While telling me you loved me."
"Yes."
His voice cracked.
"I was a coward."
I stared at him.
At least he was finally saying the truth.
"You weren't a coward."
He looked surprised.
"You were selfish."
He lowered his eyes.
"You wanted the money."
"Yes."
"You wanted your father safe."
"Yes."
"You wanted me."
"Yes."
"You wanted everything."
He nodded.
"And you thought you could have it all."
His eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
I stepped closer.
"That's why you married me."
He nodded.
"For money."
I shook my head.
"No."
He looked at me.
"You married me because you thought I was money."
He didn't speak.
"You never bothered to discover that I was a person."
His face collapsed.
"Until it was too late."
My father had been listening from the doorway.
He stepped forward.
"He's telling the truth."
I turned.
"You knew?"
"About the contract."
"Yes."
"You knew Julian was being paid."
"Yes."
"And you still allowed him to marry me."
"I did."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
My father looked at Julian.
"Because I needed to know whether he could be trusted."
I laughed.
"You used my marriage as an experiment."
"Yes."
"And when he failed?"
"I planned to remove him."
I looked at both men.
"You all treated me like a business transaction."
Neither defended themselves.
That silence hurt.
I walked past them.
But Julian called after me.
"Elena."
I stopped.
"There is something you still don't know."
I turned.
He pulled a small envelope from his coat.
"I found this in Robert's files."
He handed it to me.
I opened it.
Inside was a contract.
Not our marriage contract.
Another one.
The title read:
PROJECT LAURENT HEIR
My blood ran cold.
The first page contained my name.
The second contained Julian's.
The third contained Sophia's.
Then Maria's.
Then Emma's.
There were notes beside each name.
ELENA — PRIMARY HEIR
MARIA — SECONDARY HEIR
EMMA — UNKNOWN
SOPHIA — OPERATIVE
I stared at the last line.
"Operative?"
Julian nodded.
"Sophia was never simply my mistress."
"What was she?"
"A spy."
"For Robert?"
"No."
I looked at him.
"Then who?"
Julian hesitated.
"Your mother."
My heart stopped.
"Isabella?"
He nodded.
"Your mother hired Sophia."
"Why?"
"To protect you."
I laughed.
"Then why did she help you destroy me?"
"Because she believed the only way to keep you alive was to make Robert think you were no longer useful."
I stared.
"What?"
"Robert had started planning to eliminate you."
"And Sophia?"
"She was trying to make him believe you had lost control of the empire."
I looked toward Sophia's direction.
She had spent months humiliating me.
She had worn my necklace.
She had stood beside my husband.
She had made me believe she wanted my life.
And all along—
she had been trying to protect me.
I didn't know whether to scream or cry.
Then Julian said something that changed everything.
"The three hundred million was never mine."
I frowned.
"What?"
"Robert never intended to pay me."
"Why?"
"Because the money was tied to the trust."
I stared.
"The contract was a trap."
"Yes."
"What kind of trap?"
"If I succeeded in taking control from you, the money would be released."
"And if you failed?"
Julian smiled bitterly.
"I would get nothing."
I looked at the contract.
"Then why did Robert bother?"
"Because he needed someone close enough to make you sign."
My heart sank.
"Julian."
He nodded.
"Exactly."
I looked at him.
"Did he ever expect you to love me?"
"No."
"Then what happened?"
Julian's voice became quiet.
"I ruined his plan."
"How?"
"I couldn't do it."
"You couldn't make me sign."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because by then..."
He swallowed.
"...you were more important to me than the money."
I stared at him.
It was the cruelest confession he could have made.
Because it came nine years too late.
I returned to the study.
Victor was waiting.
"Elena."
I placed the contract on the desk.
"What is this?"
He read it.
His expression changed.
"This shouldn't exist."
"Why?"
"Because this is the original succession manipulation agreement."
"What does that mean?"
"It means Robert wasn't trying to steal the empire."
I stared at him.
"Then what?"
Victor pointed toward the contract.
"He was trying to create a new heir."
I frowned.
"Who?"
Victor looked at me.
"Your child."
My heart stopped.
"I don't have children."
"Not yet."
He pointed to another clause.
ANY CHILD BORN TO ELENA LAURENT DURING THE TERM OF THE AGREEMENT SHALL BECOME A DIRECT BENEFICIARY OF THE LAURENT TRUST.
I stared at it.
The contract had been written before my marriage.
Before I had even met Julian.
My blood ran cold.
"They planned my children before I even had them."
Victor nodded.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Robert believed controlling your children would be easier than controlling you."
I felt sick.
Then I noticed something.
A handwritten note in the margin.
I recognized the handwriting.
My grandmother.
It said:
If Elena ever becomes pregnant, activate the final protection.
I looked at Victor.
"What protection?"
He hesitated.
"Your grandmother never told us."
At that exact moment, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
"Elena."
I recognized it immediately.
Maria.
"Where are you?"
"Not far."
"Did you find the contract?"
My heart tightened.
"Yes."
"Then you know."
"Know what?"
"Why Julian was chosen."
I closed my eyes.
"Tell me."
Silence.
Then Maria whispered:
"Because Robert knew something about your blood."
"What?"
"You weren't the only Laurent child with a claim."
"I know."
"No."
Her voice became urgent.
"You don't understand."
"What don't I understand?"
"The Laurent trust doesn't recognize you as the first heir."
I froze.
"What?"
"The trust recognizes your mother."
"But she's gone."
"Exactly."
I swallowed.
"What happens if she comes back?"
Maria's voice dropped.
"She doesn't get the empire."
"Then what?"
"She gets the right to choose who does."
My blood ran cold.
"Who?"
Maria didn't answer.
Instead, she said:
"Julian was never supposed to be your husband."
I frowned.
"Then what was he?"
A pause.
"Your replacement."
My heart stopped.
"What does that mean?"
"Robert had a contingency."
"Which was?"
"To make Julian the legal father of your future child."
I couldn't breathe.
"He wanted my child?"
"No."
Maria whispered:
"He wanted your child to be his."
The call ended.
I stood frozen.
Then I looked down at the contract again.
The words blurred.
A child.
A trust.
A legal father.
Julian.
Robert.
Everything suddenly connected.
Julian hadn't merely been sent to marry me.
He had been sent to become the father of the next Laurent heir.
And if I had ever had a child—
Robert would have had another way into the empire.
I looked toward the window.
Outside, the city was waking.
Nine years ago, I had married Julian because I thought he loved me.
He had married me because he believed I was worth three hundred million dollars.
But neither of us had known the real price.
The real price was my bloodline.
My future children.
My inheritance.
My identity.
And somewhere in the shadows, Robert was still waiting.
Because even though Julian had failed to steal the empire—
the plan had never truly depended on him.
It depended on what came after him.
My phone vibrated again.
A message.
One sentence.
YOU SHOULD ASK JULIAN WHO THE REAL FATHER OF YOUR FUTURE HEIR WAS SUPPOSED TO BE.
I stared at the screen.
Then I looked at Julian.
He was standing across the room.
He had read the message over my shoulder.
His face turned white.
"Elena..."
I raised my hand.
"Don't."
He stopped.
I stared into his eyes.
"For nine years, you told me you married me because you loved me."
He said nothing.
"Then you told me you married me for money."
Still nothing.
I took one step toward him.
"Now tell me the last truth."
His eyes filled with fear.
"Who was I supposed to have a child with?"
Julian closed his eyes.
And when he finally answered—
May you like
his voice was barely audible.
"Robert."
