Chapter 2 - The Art of the Mask
The next morning, the sun broke over Lake Michigan in a pale, freezing wash of gray. I woke up at 5:00 AM, ran five miles on my treadmill to burn off the residual adrenaline, and dressed in my sharpest charcoal St. John pantsuit. When I looked in the mirror, the wide-eyed, compliant fiancée was gone. In her place stood Danielle Sterling-to-be—at least on paper, for now.
At 8:30 AM, my phone buzzed on the kitchen island. It was Marcus.
"Good morning, beautiful," his voice purred through the speaker, warm and velvety, completely masking the sadistic monster I had watched smoking a cigar in the dark shadow of a storage shed twelve hours earlier. "Did you sleep well? I missed you last night after you left so abruptly."
I forced a soft, breathless laugh into the receiver. "I’m sorry, sweetie. I had a terrible migraine when I got home. Must have been something I ate at dinner. I'm still recovering."
There was a brief pause on the line, just a fraction of a second where his guard slipped. "Oh... right. Well, drink some water, darling. Listen, my mother called. She wants to finalize the catering and guest list for the rehearsal dinner this Thursday at the country club. She’s also hoping we can go over the preliminary corporate merger paperwork together tonight. You know how eager Dad is to get your agency integrated under the family umbrella before the wedding."
There it is, I thought, my grip tightening around the phone. He couldn't even wait forty-eight hours after nearly beating his sister-in-law to push the corporate takeover.
"I'd love to," I said, pitching my voice to sound hesitant, sweet, and slightly overwhelmed. "Marcus, you know how nervous I get about merging the books. Forty-six employees... it's a lot of moving parts. Are you sure your father's legal team won't try to strip my voting shares?"
"Trust me, baby," Marcus chuckled, a rich, patronizing sound. "We’re family now. Your assets are my assets. Besides, you won't have to worry about running anything once we’re married. You can finally relax."
"Okay," I sighed softly, playing the part to perfection. "Let's review the papers tonight at your parents' house. Around seven?"
"Seven sounds perfect. Love you, Dani."
"Love you too, Marcus."
I hung up and immediately dialed Vince. "Did you pull the files on Julian?"
"That’s why I called," Vince said, his voice tense. "Julian Sterling never went on a business trip, Danielle. According to hospital records, property tax filings, and missing persons databases, Julian hasn't been seen publicly in over eighteen months. Six months after he married Clara, he supposedly suffered a 'severe nervous breakdown' and was sent to a private wellness retreat in upstate New York. But public records show his cell phone was permanently deactivated the same week his father transferred all of Julian’s voting trust shares directly into Marcus’s name."
My blood ran cold. "He didn't have a breakdown. They locked him away, or worse."
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"We're looking into it," Vince said. "My investigators are driving out to the retreat facility this afternoon. But Danielle, be careful tonight. If these people eliminated or locked away their own flesh and blood for corporate shares, they won't hesitate to do worse to you if they suspect you know anything."
"They don't suspect a thing," I replied coldly. "They think I'm a bride ready to be sheared."
