She Asked Me to Be Her Fake Fiancé at Her Ex’s Wedding… Then Kissed Me in Front of Everyone
Chapter 8
Olivia ran toward her mother.
Gabriel raised the gun.
“Stay where you are.”
Olivia stopped.
Her mother looked terrified.
“Mom?”
“I’m sorry.”
“What did you do?”
Her mother began crying.
“I was trying to protect you.”
Gabriel laughed.
“Everyone says that.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Not until I get the trust.”
Olivia held up the ring.
“Take it.”
Gabriel smiled.
“You still don’t understand.”
He wanted the trust, but not the money.
He wanted the network of companies hidden inside it.
Transportation.
Ports.
Warehouses.
Healthcare investments.
Control.
The trust was worth billions.
But the real power was what it controlled.
Olivia’s mother had known.
Thomas had known.
Ethan’s father had known.
Daniel had known.
Everyone except Olivia.
Gabriel wanted her to sign.
She refused.
“I won’t.”
He raised his gun.
Her mother stepped forward.
“Don’t!”
Gabriel turned toward her.
That distraction was enough.
Daniel attacked.
I grabbed Olivia.
Her mother ran.
Chaos erupted.
Gunfire.
Broken glass.
People shouting.
Gabriel escaped.
But he left the trust documents behind.
Olivia looked at her mother.
“You lied to me.”
“I had to.”
“You always say that.”
Her mother cried.
“I watched your father die.”
Olivia froze.
“You saw it?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He wasn’t killed in an accident.”
“Then?”
Gabriel’s men sabotaged his car.
Olivia’s mother had tried to save him.
She failed.
Afterward, she accepted Gabriel’s terms to protect Olivia.
She pretended to abandon her daughter.
She let Daniel break her heart.
She helped hide the trust.
All so Gabriel would believe Olivia didn’t know.
Olivia shook.
“I hate all of you.”
Her mother nodded.
“You have every right.”
She looked at me.
“You were the one thing I didn’t plan for.”
“What?”
“Ethan.”
I stared.
She smiled sadly.
“Your father chose you.”
“What does that mean?”
“He believed you would protect Olivia.”
I looked at Olivia.
Her eyes filled with tears.
Her mother continued:
“He told me that if Olivia ever needed someone, you would stay.”
Olivia looked at me.
I suddenly understood.
The fake engagement hadn’t started the connection.
It had revealed it.
Her mother had known who I was years ago.
My father had known.
But nobody had told us.
Gabriel was still out there.
The trust still wasn’t secure.
And Olivia’s mother had one final secret.
She pulled a small envelope from her coat.
Inside was a photograph.
Thomas Hart.
My father.
And a baby.
I stared.
“Who is that?”
Olivia’s mother whispered:
“Daniel.”
Everyone froze.
Daniel was not Daniel’s father’s biological son.
He was Thomas Hart’s son.
Olivia’s half-brother.
And the wedding had never been what anyone believed.
