Chapter 5 - THE SECRET BEHIND THE DEADLINE
Three days later, Lena discovered the truth.
Not from Julian.
From a locked drawer.
She had never intended to search his office.
But she found the drawer open after returning from her mother's clinic.
Inside was an old file.
VALE FAMILY TRUST — CONFIDENTIAL
Lena hesitated.
Then opened it.
The trust wasn't simply about marriage.
There was another condition.
If Julian married before his thirty-eighth birthday, he received control.
If he failed, control passed to Adrian.
But there was more.
A handwritten note from Julian's grandfather.
The heir must marry a woman outside the Vale family circle. Someone who cannot be purchased by power. Someone who can tell him no.
Lena's breath caught.
She understood.
Julian hadn't chosen her because she was convenient.
He had chosen her because she was exactly what his grandfather had demanded.
She closed the file.
Then Julian entered.
He stopped.
“What are you doing?”
“I found this.”
He looked at the document.
“You weren't supposed to see it.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn't want you thinking I chose you because of it.”
“But you did.”
“Yes.”
Her heart hurt.
“So I was an experiment.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Julian approached.
“You were the first person I met who didn't want anything from me.”
“I wanted six hundred thousand dollars.”
“You wanted security.”
He looked into her eyes.
“You didn't want me.”
Lena looked away.
“That isn't romantic.”
“I wasn't trying to be romantic.”
“Good.”
Silence.
Then Julian said:
“I was wrong.”
She looked at him.
“About what?”
“I thought I could control the arrangement.”
He took a breath.
“I can't.”
Her heart began beating faster.
“Why?”
“Because every day I spend with you, this becomes less like a contract.”
Lena didn't know what to say.
Then the office door exploded open.
Security rushed in.
“Mr. Vale!”
Julian turned.
A guard held up a phone.
“Someone transferred forty million dollars from the company reserve.”
Julian's face hardened.
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
He looked at Lena.
The suspicion in his eyes lasted only a second.
But she saw it.
And it hurt.
“You think I did it?”
“No.”
“You looked at me.”
“I was thinking.”
“You were accusing.”
Julian stepped closer.
“I don't accuse people without evidence.”
“Then don't look at me like I'm guilty.”
She walked out.
That night, Lena packed a bag.
She was leaving.
Not because she hated Julian.
Because she had started believing him.
And that frightened her more than anything.
Before she could reach the door, Julian appeared.
“Don't go.”
She turned.
“You don't trust me.”
“I trust you.”
“Then why did you look at me like that?”
“Because I realized something.”
“What?”
“The transfer happened using a security credential.”
“And?”
“Your credentials.”
Lena froze.
“What?”
May you like
Someone had stolen her access code.
And they had made it look as though she had stolen forty million dollars.
