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The Secret
Last Updated:
2025-12-28 17:44:02
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MARRIED BY MISTAKE The Aftermath
The paparazzi were waiting outside the penthouse at dawn.Aria woke to the sound of camera shutters clicking like machine guns. She moved to the window and immediately retreated—dozens of photographers lined the street below, telephoto lenses aimed at every window."Don't go near the glass." Leon appeared behind her, already dressed in a suit. "Marcus hired extra security overnight. They're keeping them at the perimeter, but they're relentless.""How did they find us so fast?""The arrest warrant is public record. Claire's death certificate was filed. Your name is on both." He handed her a phone showing the morning headlines.MURDER, LIES, AND BILLIONS: THE HALE-CHEN SCANDAL EXPLODESSecret Daughter. Dead Lover. Murder Confession. The Story That's Rocking New York's Elite.Who Is Aria Chen-Mercer? The Heiress Who Brought Down An EmpireBelow the headlines were photos. Aria is leaving the hospital. Leon is holding her. James is in handcuffs. Claire's body is being removed from the hosp
MARRIED BY MISTAKE The Letter
The Hale mansion looked different at night.Aria sat in Leon's car, staring at the house she'd grown up in but never called home. Every window was dark except one—her father's study upstairs.James was awake, working—likely planning his legal assault."We could come back tomorrow," Leon said. "During the day. when he's working.""No." Aria's heart pounded, but her voice stayed steady. "I want him to know I was here. I want him to know I've overcome my fear.""You have a key?""I've had a key since I was sixteen. I rarely used it."Never felt welcome enough."It was a small brass key on a simple ring that she took out of her purse. However, it belongs to me. I have equal legal ownership of this house with him. Maybe more after the DNA test confirms what we already know.Leon gave her a firm squeeze. "I'm right behind you."They exited the vehicle. Marcus, Leon's, was waiting with Sophia in a second car. They had both insisted on attending as backup.Marcus said, "We're recording everyt
MARRIED BY MISTAKE The Secret
The detention centre smelled like disinfectant and desperation. Aria sat in a grey visiting room, her hands clasped tight in her lap. Leon stood behind her, one hand on her shoulder. Marcus waited by the door with his recording equipment, ready to document everything. The door buzzed. Opened.Ariana entered the room wearing an orange jumpsuit that, for some reason, looked good on her. She had her blond hair pulled back into a ponytail.No makeup. But her smile was as sharp as ever. "Hello, little sister." Ariana sat across the table, her cuffed hands resting on the metal surface. "Thanks for coming. I know you're very busy playing house with your billionaire.""What do you want, Ariana?" Even though Aria's stomach was churning with anxiety, her voice remained steady. "What is so important that you'd use our dying mother as leverage?""Dying?" Ariana pretended to be surprised as her eyes grew wide."Oh no. Is Mother unwell? How tragic." "You knew. You planned this." Leon's voice was ic
MARRIED BY MISTAKE The Honeymoon
"We're going to Santorini."Aria looked up from her laptop, reviewing the deposition schedule for Ariana's case. "What?""Santorini. Greece. You, me, and absolutely no one else for one week." Leon stood in the doorway of his office, the temporary one at home since his actual office was still being repaired, looking determined. "We are leaving tomorrow.""Tomorrow? Leon, I have the DA meeting on Thursday.""Rescheduled to next week. Marcus handled it.""And the Hale Industries board wants me to attend.""Also rescheduled. Your father's secretary was surprisingly cooperative once I mentioned legal action."Aria closed her laptop slowly. "You are kidnapping me?"Aria closed her laptop slowly. "You are kidnapping me?""What about your business deal? The Singapore investors.""Can wait. Or they can't, and I will lose the deal. Either way, I am choosing you over work," Leon said, voice raw. His hands cupped her face, his thumb brushing a stray tear from her cheek. "I want to wake up with yo
MARRIED BY MISTAKE The Reckoning
Claire Hale recovered from her shock faster than Aria expected."Get out." Her mother's voice was ice wrapped in silk. "This is a private meeting.""Nothing about this family has ever been private." Aria walked further into the suite, Leon and Elena flanking her like bodyguards. Marcus positioned himself by the door. "Besides, I am family. Remember? The daughter you gave birth to?"Ariana set down her champagne glass with exaggerated calm. "How dramatic. Did you rehearse this entrance, little sister? Practice in the mirror?""No. But I did spend all night compiling evidence of your crimes." Aria pulled out her phone. "Want to see? There's quite a collection."Claire's composure cracked. "Evidence of what?""Embezzlement. Fraud. Identity theft. Wire fraud." Marcus's voice was clinical as he opened his briefcase. "Shall I continue? I have a list.""You can't prove anything," Ariana said, but her voice wavered, and her fingers twisted the napkin in her lap."Actually, we can." Leon moved
MARRIED BY MISTAKE The Truth
Aria could not sleep.Surrounded by papers, phone logs, and digital forensics software, Sophia's contact delivered at three a.m., Aria spent the night in Leon's penthouse office—the one he'd told her never to visit.She was still wearing the emerald necklace.A reminder. A weapon. A promise.By sunrise, she had proof.The messages Vanessa showed were fake. The metadata was altered. The phone number listed as Aria's belonged to a burner phone registered in New Jersey, where Ariana had been hiding for the past month.But it was the financial records that made Aria's blood run cold.Ariana had been systematically draining Aria's trust fund since she turned eighteen. Small transfers at first, then larger ones. Hidden behind shell companies and fake investment accounts. Over seven years, she'd stolen nearly $40 million.Forty million dollars that could have changed Aria's life. That could have saved her from student loans, from roommates, from wearing thrift store clothes while her sister
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