I Married My Mother's Secret Lover

“Do you accept Adrian Blackwood as your lawful husband?”

The priest’s voice cut through the cathedral and forced me to lift my head.

Through the white veil, I could see hundreds of faces watching me. My family’s guests sat in the front rows, dressed in their finest suits and gowns, pretending this was a day of celebration. Reporters waited outside, ready to turn my wedding into the headline of the week, while Hart Enterprises’ investors anxiously waited to discover whether the union between the Harts and the Blackwoods meant our company was finally safe.

Everyone expected me to say yes.

No one knew I was about to marry the man who had destroyed the image I had of my own mother.

No one knew that three months earlier, I had opened a door and found Adrian Blackwood in Victoria Hart’s bedroom.

And no one knew that after that night, my life had begun to fall apart.

My fingers tightened around the bouquet as I stared at the man standing before me. Adrian wore an immaculate black tuxedo and had such a calm expression that anyone would have thought this marriage was simply another business negotiation. He was in his thirties, with a fortune that seemed to grow every time someone tried to calculate it, and a reputation that made even the most powerful men measure their words before confronting him.

To the world, Adrian Blackwood was a business genius, a man who had built an empire from nothing and never allowed his emotions to interfere with a decision.

To me, he was the man I had seen in my mother’s bedroom.

The man who, even after our eyes met that afternoon, had shown neither shame nor fear.

Only an unsettling calm.

“Miss Hart,” the priest reminded me gently. “Do you accept?”

I swallowed.

I didn't want to.

I wanted to pull off my veil, walk toward the exit, and tell everyone that this was a lie. I wanted to confront my mother in front of everyone and ask her why she had turned my life into a farce. I wanted Adrian to admit what he had done and disappear from my world forever.

But Hart Enterprises was on the verge of bankruptcy.

My father had built that company over decades, and after his death, my mother had done everything she could to keep it alive. Now, sixteen years later, I was about to lose it.

Adrian was the only man who could save it.

And he had made one condition.

Me.

“Yes,” I finally answered.

The word came out so quietly that I barely recognized myself when I said it.

The guests breathed sighs of relief, and some began to smile. The priest continued with the ceremony, but I barely heard the rest.

When it was Adrian’s turn, I expected him to answer with the same coldness he had used when negotiating our agreement.

He didn't.

He looked directly at me.

“Yes,” he said.

His voice was firm, but there was something strange in his eyes. Something I couldn't interpret.

The priest smiled.

“You may kiss the bride.”

Adrian stepped closer.

My body tensed when his face came in front of mine. I expected him to pretend affection for the cameras, but instead of kissing me immediately, he lowered his head and murmured something no one else could hear.

“I know what you're thinking.”

I stared at him.

“You don't know anything about me.”

A shadow crossed his expression.

“I know more than you think.”

Then his lips barely brushed mine, just long enough for the guests to applaud.

I smiled for the cameras.

Inside, I wanted to scream.

Three months earlier, I still believed I knew my mother.

Victoria Hart had never been an affectionate woman. She never had been. After my father died, she became much stricter and more reserved, but I had learned to interpret her small gestures as signs of love. If she left my breakfast prepared before going to work, it meant she cared about me. If she called to ask where I was, it was because she wanted to protect me. If she avoided talking about my father, I thought it was simply because remembering him hurt too much.

I never imagined that one of the reasons she avoided talking about him was because she was hiding something.

That afternoon, I went to her house without warning her.

Hart Enterprises had been struggling financially for months, and I thought having lunch together might distract her from her worries. However, the moment I walked in, I noticed something was wrong. The security guard let me pass without asking questions, two employees avoided my gaze, and from the second floor, I heard a man's voice.

At first, I assumed it was one of my mother's business partners.

Then I heard Victoria laugh.

I stopped halfway up the stairs.

It was a laugh I hadn't heard in years. It wasn't the polite laugh she used during meetings or the cold smile she showed reporters. It was soft, intimate, and completely different.

I slowly climbed the stairs.

Her bedroom door was slightly open.

I should have left.

I should have called my mother.

Instead, I moved close enough to look through the opening.

And my world changed.

A man stood by the window with his shirt partially unbuttoned. Victoria was standing behind him, far too close for there to be an innocent explanation.

Then he turned around.

I recognized his face immediately.

Adrian Blackwood.

The man my family had treated as a business rival for years.

The man whose company had begun buying shares in Hart Enterprises.

The man who was now standing in front of my mother.

My mother saw me.

All the color drained from her face.

“Evelyn…”

I don't remember saying anything. I only remember slowly stepping backward, trying to understand what I was seeing.

Adrian looked at me too.

And it was his reaction that disturbed me the most.

He didn't look surprised.

He looked as though he had always known that one day I would discover the truth.

Three weeks later, Adrian appeared in the Hart Enterprises boardroom.

The company's situation had deteriorated to the point where the banks were threatening to seize our assets. Investors demanded answers, and my uncle had spent days talking about selling the remaining shares to avoid a public bankruptcy.

When Adrian walked in, everyone stood.

I remained seated.

He placed a folder on the table.

“I can save Hart Enterprises.”

My uncle looked at him suspiciously.

“And what do you want in return?”

Adrian didn't answer immediately.

His eyes moved toward my mother.

For the first time, I saw fear on Victoria's face.

Then he looked at me.

“I want Evelyn.”

I stood.

“Excuse me?”

“I want you to marry me.”

No one breathed.

I stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

“The woman you're sleeping with is my mother.”

My uncle looked away. My mother closed her eyes.

But Adrian remained motionless.

Only his fingers tightened slightly against the table.

“I know what you think happened,” he said.

“And you're not going to deny it?”

“No.”

That answer left me stunned.

“Then why should I marry you?”

Adrian held my gaze.

“Because your family needs you to.”

I let out a bitter laugh.

“That isn't an answer.”

“It's the only one I can give you right now.”

“And what do you get?”

For the first time, something resembling pain appeared in his eyes.

“The chance to correct a mistake I made many years ago.”

I didn't understand those words then.

But I would remember them later.

Because six weeks later, I was walking toward him down the aisle of a cathedral.

When the ceremony ended, Adrian and I walked out amid camera flashes and applause.

The moment we entered the limousine, the smile disappeared from my face.

We sat across from each other as the city passed behind the dark windows.

“Tell me the truth,” I demanded.

Adrian slowly loosened his tie.

“About what?”

“My mother.”

His gaze hardened.

“This isn't the time.”

“When will it be the time? After our honeymoon? After we have children? Or after you've completely destroyed my life?”

“I don't want to destroy your life, Evelyn.”

“Then tell me what you wanted when you walked into my mother's bedroom.”

Adrian remained silent for several seconds.

Finally, he answered.

“Your mother isn't the reason I married you.”

I frowned.

“Then what is?”

His eyes met mine.

“Your father.”

I felt the air leave my lungs.

“Don't talk about him again.”

“You should listen to me.”

“My father died sixteen years ago.”

“I know.”

“He died in an accident.”

Adrian slowly shook his head.

The certainty in his expression sent a shiver through me.

“That’s what they told you.”

“What do you mean?”

The limousine stopped in front of the Blackwood mansion.

Adrian opened the door, but before getting out, he looked at me again.

For the first time since I had known him, he didn't look like a man who had all the answers.

He looked like a man who had been carrying a truth for far too long and didn't know how to give it to me.

“Evelyn, there is something your mother has been hiding from you since you were a child.”

“What?”

Adrian held my gaze.

“Your father didn't die in an accident.”

My heart began pounding against my chest.

“Then how did he die?”

Adrian lowered his voice.

“He was murdered.”

And as I stared at him, I realized something that made my blood run cold.

My husband hadn't chosen to marry me to get revenge on my mother.

He had chosen to marry me because he knew who had killed my father.