The Mafia Boss Brought His Secretary as His Fake Date—Then Got Jealous When Every Man Wanted Her
Chapter 14
Three months into their marriage, Elena finally learned why the Black Rose mattered.
The organization had existed for decades.
Unlike Adrian’s network, it had no public face.
No headquarters.
No leader whose name appeared in records.
It operated through people who looked respectable.
Lawyers.
Judges.
Politicians.
Bankers.
Businessmen.
And one of them had been inside Adrian’s company for years.
Elena discovered the truth accidentally.
She was reviewing old contracts when she noticed a signature.
It belonged to Adrian’s former financial adviser.
The man had retired eight years ago.
But the signature appeared on documents dated only three months earlier.
“Elena?”
She looked up.
Adrian was in the doorway.
“You’re still working.”
“I found something.”
He came closer.
She showed him the papers.
His expression changed.
“That name.”
“You know him.”
“He trained under my father.”
“Could he be involved?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Damien never mention him?”
Adrian looked thoughtful.
“Because Damien wasn’t the leader.”
Elena felt a chill.
“Then who was?”
They spent the next several hours tracing hidden transactions.
By dawn, they found something.
A private account.
Owned by a trust.
The trust had one beneficiary.
Elena Brooks.
She stared at the screen.
“What?”
Adrian frowned.
“This is impossible.”
The account had existed since Elena was six.
It contained millions of dollars.
Money deposited every year.
Her father had created it.
But there was one strange condition.
The money could only be accessed after Elena married Adrian Blackwell.
She stared.
“That can’t be a coincidence.”
“No.”
“Why would my father do this?”
Adrian read the final clause.
His face went pale.
“The money isn’t for you.”
“What?”
“It’s bait.”
“For who?”
He looked at her.
“For anyone who married you.”
Elena’s stomach dropped.
Her father had created a trap.
A test.
Anyone who married her for money would gain access to the account.
And the account itself contained evidence capable of exposing the Black Rose.
“This whole thing was planned.”
“Yes.”
“By my father.”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
Adrian stared at the screen.
“To force the organization to reveal itself.”
Elena suddenly understood.
The fake date.
The attacks.
The pendant.
The ledger.
Her father hadn’t simply left clues.
He had designed a chain of events that would force the enemy into the open.
And marrying Adrian had accidentally activated the final stage.
A new message appeared on the computer.
WELCOME, MRS. BLACKWELL.
Then another.
YOU HAVE 72 HOURS.
Elena looked at Adrian.
“What happens in seventy-two hours?”
The screen changed.
A list of names appeared.
Judges.
Police chiefs.
Bank executives.
Members of Congress.
And finally, one name at the bottom.
Adrian Blackwell.
Elena’s blood ran cold.
Someone was planning to destroy Adrian publicly.
But the final message was worse.
Unless he gives us Elena.
Adrian’s face hardened.
“They’re offering a choice.”
“No.”
“They want me to surrender you.”
“Elena.”
She looked directly at him.
“What are you going to do?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Then he reached for her hand.
“I won’t give them the woman I love.”
She squeezed his fingers.
“And I won’t let them destroy the man I married.”
Together, they looked at the countdown.
Seventy-two hours.
No more pretending.
No more running.
This time, they were going after the Black Rose themselves.
