Chapter 5 - The Woman They Expected to Break
By Monday morning, Mave Callahan's failed wedding was everywhere.
A guest's video had reached social media.
The clip showed Mave saying no at the altar, Brandon grabbing her wrist, Theodore announcing that she was represented, and Roman Vescari standing in the back row like a man attending someone else's execution.
The internet invented the rest.
Mave had been having an affair with Roman.
Roman had kidnapped her.
Brandon had cheated.
Mave had cheated.
Gemma was secretly married.
Someone even claimed Roman was Mave's biological father.
That one made her laugh.
For approximately four seconds.
Then Brandon went on television.
Mave watched from Roman's library.
He sat beside a crisis consultant and looked devastated.
“I love Mave,” Brandon told the reporter. “She's under tremendous emotional pressure. Certain people exploited that.”
Certain people.
Roman.
Brandon continued.
“She has struggled with anxiety since losing her father.”
Mave went still.
He was weaponizing her grief.
Then he delivered the blow.
“I only hope she gets help before people with dangerous reputations isolate her further.”
Roman switched off the television.
“I'll destroy him.”
Mave looked over.
“No.”
Roman's expression was cold.
“You're becoming irritatingly attached to that word.”
“Because you keep offering solutions that sound like federal charges.”
“I have lawyers.”
“So does prison.”
Roman's mouth twitched.
Mave stood.
“I want to answer him.”
“Publicly?”
“Yes.”
“Bad idea.”
“Why?”
“Because you're angry.”
“I am.”
“Anger makes excellent fuel and terrible steering.”
Mave stared.
“Did my father say that too?”
“No. I did.”
“Annoying.”
“So I've been told.”
She waited three hours.
Then recorded a statement.
No tears.
No accusations she couldn't prove.
She explained that she had canceled her wedding after discovering serious personal and financial deception. Legal proceedings had begun. She asked for privacy.
Then she added one sentence.
“I am not confused, unstable, missing, kidnapped, or in need of a man to explain my own decisions.”
The clip exploded.
Women shared it.
Divorce attorneys shared it.
Bridal designers shared it.
By evening, orders at Callahan Bridal had tripled.
Mave stared at the numbers.
“This is absurd.”
Roman glanced at the screen.
“You refused to marry a thief while wearing your own dress.”
“Apparently feminism is good for bridal sales.”
“Put that on a billboard.”
She laughed.
It surprised both of them.
But the laughter didn't last.
Lena called.
The original ledger contained evidence of bribery, extortion, fraudulent acquisitions, and payments to a mechanic who had worked on Patrick's vehicle days before the crash.
The mechanic was alive.
His name was Raymond Pike.
They found him in Wisconsin.
He agreed to speak.
Then disappeared before investigators reached him.
Mave stood by Roman's windows that evening watching Lake Michigan turn black.
“He knows we're close.”
“Yes.”
“Franklin?”
“Probably.”
“Brandon?”
Roman hesitated.
“You still want him to be less involved than his father.”
She hated him for noticing.
“Yes.”
“That's human.”
“Don't be kind to me.”
“I wasn't aware I was.”
She turned.
Roman had removed his jacket. His white shirt sleeves were rolled to his forearms.
For the first time, he looked less like Chicago's whispered nightmare and more like a tired man.
“Why aren't you married?”
His eyebrows rose.
“That was abrupt.”
“I've had a bad week with marriage. I'm collecting data.”
Roman looked back toward the lake.
“I was.”
Mave hadn't expected that.
“What happened?”
“She died.”
Her humor disappeared.
“I'm sorry.”
“Cancer. Fourteen years ago.”
“Children?”
“No.”
A quiet sadness entered his face.
“We tried.”
Mave didn't ask more.
Roman looked at her.
“What about the ultrasound?”
“What about it?”
“You've never used it publicly.”
“It's Gemma's medical information. And the baby didn't do anything.”
Roman studied her.
“You could destroy Brandon's reputation with it.”
“I can destroy his case with evidence. That's enough.”
Something changed in Roman's eyes.
Respect, maybe.
That frightened her more than attraction would have.
Then Theodore entered.
“We have a problem.”
Mave sighed.
“Of course we do.”
“The Callahan building is on fire.”
Everything inside her stopped.
They reached West Monroe in eleven minutes.
Flames poured from the upper floor.
Firefighters blocked the street.
Mave tried to run forward.
Roman caught her around the waist.
“My studio!”
“No.”
“My father's letters are in there!”
“The evidence is secured.”
“My dresses—”
“Mave.”
She fought him once.
Then stopped.
Years of work burned behind his shoulder.
Her machines.
Sketches.
Photographs of her parents.
The measuring table her father built.
Roman held her as the windows exploded.
She didn't cry.
Not until she saw the sign.
CALLAHAN BRIDAL
Flames curled through the letters.
Then she broke.
Roman said nothing.
He simply stood there while she cried against his coat.
Hours later, the fire marshal approached.
“Ms. Callahan?”
She wiped her face.
“Yes?”
“We found evidence of accelerant.”
Roman became still.
“Arson?”
“Looks that way.”
Mave closed her eyes.
Franklin hadn't only tried to take her building.
Now someone had tried to erase it.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Roman looked at her.
“Don't.”
Mave answered.
Silence.
Then Brandon's voice.
“Mave.”
She nearly hung up.
“Wait.”
“What?”
His breathing was ragged.
“You need to get away from Vescari.”
“That's your concern tonight?”
“You don't understand.”
“My building is burning.”
“I know.”
She froze.
Roman saw it.
“How?”
Brandon said nothing.
Mave's voice dropped.
“How do you know, Brandon?”
“I didn't do it.”
“I didn't ask whether you did.”
Another silence.
Then Brandon whispered something that changed everything.
“My father thinks the ledger burned with the building.”
Mave's pulse slowed.
“You told him it was there?”
“No.”
“Then how did he know?”
Brandon breathed shakily.
“Because Gemma told him.”
Mave turned toward Roman.
“No.”
“Mave, listen to me. Gemma isn't who you think she is.”
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
His next words came quickly.
“But you should believe this.”
A car door slammed on his end.
Brandon lowered his voice.
“My father knows the ledger survived.”
“How?”
“Because somebody inside Vescari's house just told him.”
The line went dead.
Mave stared at Roman.
Behind them, her building burned.
But suddenly the flames were no longer the most dangerous thing in front of them.
May you like
Someone inside Roman's house was working for Franklin Hale.
And whoever it was knew exactly where Mave slept.
