Chapter Seven: The Wedding That Never Happened

The cassette tape sat between them on the table, small and silent and heavier than it should’ve been.

Lucas had kept it buried in his bag since the morning it arrived. He wasn’t sure Elias was ready. Honestly, he wasn’t sure he was ready either. But after the nightmare, after Elias remembered a car instead of a plane… it felt wrong to keep waiting.

He slid it across the table slowly.

Elias stared at it like it might bite him. “Where’d this come from?”

“No name. No note. It just… showed up,” Lucas said. “In the mail. A plain package.”

Elias leaned forward, squinting at the worn label.

June 12  Wedding Audio (Uncut)

“June twelfth,” Elias murmured. “That’s... two days before the wedding.”

Lucas nodded once, then crossed the room to the old bookshelf where their half-broken cassette player sat. He hadn’t touched it in years. Left it behind after the memorial because he couldn’t bear to throw it away. It still smelled faintly of old wood and regret.

He slipped the tape in. Hit play.

There was a crackle of static. Then a voice.

Elias’s voice.

> “Test okay, this thing’s on? Uh, right. So, Lucas, if you’re hearing this... something went wrong. Really wrong.”

Elias’s whole body stiffened. His mouth parted, but no words came out.

> “This isn’t a love letter. It’s a confession.”

The air seemed to go still.

> “I’m not just marrying you because I love you. I mean, I do. God, I do. But I’m doing this to protect you. From them. From the people in my family who’d do anything to erase you. Maybe even from yours.”

Lucas sat frozen.

> “There are things you don’t know. About the trust. About the company. Your name on the documents, in the clauses it wasn’t just for show. It was my way of making sure they couldn’t touch you. Couldn’t cut you out. As long as we were married... they’d have no legal ground.”

Static hissed for a second.

> “If you’re listening to this, and I’m gone... just know I meant it. I loved you. That was the only part they couldn’t manipulate.”

Then click.

Silence.

The tape didn’t rewind. It didn’t end neatly. It just stopped. Like everything had been yanked away before it could finish.

Lucas sat back slowly, the air too thick to breathe properly.

“You married me… to protect me,” he said, barely above a whisper.

Elias was still staring at the cassette player, his expression hollowed out. “Yeah. I think… I think someone made sure I disappeared before I could explain it.”

Lucas stood, pacing a few steps. The cabin suddenly felt smaller. The walls too close.

“They said it was a plane crash,” he said. “But you… you remember being in a car. Someone was chasing you.”

“I wasn’t imagining it,” Elias murmured. “It’s real. It happened.”

Lucas’s jaw tensed. His fists curled at his sides. “Dorian.”

Elias looked up sharply.

Lucas nodded, eyes hard. “He stepped into everything when you vanished. The company. The board. The trust. He never liked that you chose me over them.”

Elias’s mouth pulled into a grim line. “And now I’m back. And his control is slipping.”

Lucas stopped pacing. “Then we confront him. Today. We bring the tape, we bring everything.”

Elias stood slowly and placed a steady hand on Lucas’s chest. “Not yet.”

Lucas frowned. “Why not?”

“Because we’ve got something now we didn’t have before.”

“What?”

Elias’s gaze didn’t waver. “Time. And the truth.”

Lucas’s chest rose and fell in silence.

“You once told me,” Elias said gently, “that love wasn’t about flowers or fireworks. It’s about waking up and choosing the same person, even when it’s hard.”

Lucas looked down.

Elias stepped closer. “Well… I’m choosing you. Even if I never remember everything. Even if it hurts.”

Lucas swallowed hard. “I never stopped choosing you.”

And just like that, they kissed.

There was no performance. No music cue. Just two people trying to piece something real back together. The way their lips found each other like muscle memory, like home told Lucas all he needed.

Two days later, they were back in the city.

Lucas walked beside Elias through the front doors of the Ward corporate tower. People turned. Phones slid from hands. Conversations stopped mid-sentence. It was like a ghost had walked in dragging another one behind him.

Lucas leaned toward Elias, whispering, “They’re looking at us like we climbed out of our own graves.”

Elias smirked faintly. “Maybe we did.”

They walked straight into the boardroom. No knocking. No apologies.

Inside, Dorian stood at the head of the table, mid-sentence in some meeting. He froze, mouth open for a second, then snapped it shut.

“Well,” he said coolly. “If it isn’t the long-lost heir. Back from the dead.”

Elias didn’t waste time. “We have the tape.”

Silence fell over the room like fog.

Dorian’s jaw twitched. Just barely. But it was enough.

Lucas stepped forward. “We know what you did. You tried to erase him. You almost pulled it off.”

“You’ve got no proof,” Dorian snapped.

Elias pulled the cassette from his pocket and let it hit the table with a dull thud.

“Then let’s play it. Right here. For everyone.”

Dorian didn’t move. Didn’t blink. But his grip tightened around the edge of the chair.

“You were always too sentimental,” he sneered. “Love makes you weak. This company doesn’t care about your vows. It cares about power.”

Lucas crossed his arms. “Exactly. Which means they’ll do anything to avoid a scandal. And when that tape hits the press? You lose everything.”

Elias didn’t blink. “I’m reinstating full control. Effective immediately.”

“You don’t have the votes,” Dorian hissed.

Elias turned to Lucas. “Actually… he does.”

Dorian’s brow furrowed.

“As my legal spouse,” Elias said, “Lucas holds my proxy vote. It was never revoked. Maybe next time, pay closer attention before declaring someone dead.”

Lucas gave a small, sharp smile. “Hi again.”

Dorian looked like he wanted to flip the table. But he didn’t say a word.

“You’re finished,” Elias said quietly. “Step down. Or that tape goes wide.”

Dorian didn’t argue. He didn’t yell. He just turned, slow and stiff, and walked out.

Gone.

Later that night, back at the penthouse, the city lights glowed through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Elias sat on the edge of the bed, elbows resting on his knees, staring out at the skyline like it might give him answers.

Lucas came up behind him. Wrapped his arms around his waist. Held him.

Elias leaned back into him without a word.

“I remembered something,” he said after a while.

Lucas didn’t speak. Just listened.

“Not a feeling. Not a dream. A memory,” Elias said. “From our wedding night.”

Lucas’s breath caught.

“You wore blue,” Elias continued. “You kept laughing, trying to calm your nerves. And I looked at you and said”

He turned around. His eyes were wet, but steady.

“I said, ‘This is the best decision I’ve ever made.’”

Lucas touched his face. Softly. “It still is.”