Chapter four- A marriage of secrets

Jackson POV

The office was silent, save for the rhythmic tapping of my fingers against the mahogany desk. The city skyline stretched beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, but my mind was miles away—back at the art gallery, back to the moment I saw him.

Harris Liam. I immediately recognized him but he was too fast as he disappeared into the crowds.

The CEO of Liam Enterprises. My greatest business rival. A man who had spent the past five years trying—and failing—to bring Blackwell Industries to its knees. And last night, he had been standing too close to my wife. Whispering something in her ear. Slipping her a card.

My grip on the pen tightened until the plastic casing cracked. What the hell was he doing talking to Anna?

A knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts. Cole Grayson, my right-hand man, stepped in, his expression unreadable. “You asked for me?”

I leaned back in my chair, forcing my muscles to relax. “Find out everything about Harris Liam’s movements last night. I want to know why he was at the gallery, who he came with, and most importantly…” I paused, my voice darkening. “Why he was speaking to Anna. Find out what they were talking about?”

Cole’s brows lifted slightly, but he didn’t question me. “Understood.”

He turned to leave, but I wasn’t done. “And Cole?”

He glanced back.

“If Harris has been anywhere near Anna before last night, if he’s been watching her I want to know.”

Cole gave a sharp nod. “I’ll handle it.”

The door shut behind him, but the unease in my chest didn’t fade.

Anna was different. She was like a totally different person.

I had seen it from the moment we left the gallery. The way she carried herself. The way she spoke. The fire in her eyes that hadn’t been there before our wedding.

The Anna I had known was delicate, breakable. She had flinched under my touch, swallowing her words in my presence. But now… now she looked at me like she was my equal. Like she wasn’t afraid anymore.

And that terrified me more than I cared to admit.

Because people changed for two reasons: pain or purpose. And I wasn’t sure which one had shaped this new version of her.

A sharp buzz from my phone broke my thoughts.

Cole’s name flashed across the screen.

I answered immediately. “Tell me you have something.”

“Harris Liam has been watching Anna for weeks,” Cole said, his voice clipped. “He was seen near her house before the wedding. And last night, he left the gallery minutes after we did—alone.”

Rage licked up my spine. Weeks? Harris had been lurking in the shadows, tracking my wife even before our wedding and I hadn’t noticed?

That wasn’t just a coincidence.

“He wants something from her,” I muttered, half to myself.

“That’s not the worst part.” Cole hesitated. “Liam Enterprises just acquired a small tech company—one that used to be contracted with Blackwell Industries before you cut ties last year.”

I stiffened. “Meaning?”

“Meaning he might have access to information you don’t want him to have.”

A cold realization settled over me.

Anna had been holding something when I approached her at the gallery. Her fingers had curled around it too fast—too deliberately. And when I pressed her, she had deflected.

Was it Harris’s personal card? Or had he given her something else she was hiding from me?

Something dangerous?

I shot up from my chair. “Track her phone.”

Cole hesitated. “Jackson—”

“Do it.” My voice was sharp, leaving no room for argument.

If Anna was hiding something—if she was being pulled into Harris’s game—then I needed to know.

And I needed to stop it.

Later That Night,

The house was quiet when I arrived. Too quiet.

I loosened my tie, stepping into the dimly lit foyer. Anna wasn’t in the living room. Not in the kitchen either.

I found her upstairs, sitting on the edge of our bed, staring at her phone.

She didn’t notice me at first. Her fingers were white-knuckled around the device, her expression unreadable. But when she finally looked up, something flickered across her face. Guilt.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice deceptively calm.

She pressed the phone against her thigh, forcing a smile. “Nothing. Just thinking.”

Thinking.

That was a big lie.

I stepped closer, slow and deliberate. “About what?”

Anna’s posture shifted slightly—almost imperceptibly, but I caught it. The barest hint of unease. “The wedding. The future.”

Lies.

I stopped in front of her, staring down, my gaze sharp. “I know you’re hiding something from me.”

She exhaled, her jaw tightening. “And if I am?”

The air between us thickened.

She was challenging me.

Before, Anna had always shrunk under my scrutiny. Now, she met it head-on.

A slow smirk curved my lips. “Careful, Anna. You won’t like what happens when you start keeping secrets from me.”

She didn’t flinch.

Instead, she stood, leveling our heights, her green eyes burning with something close to defiance.

“And you won’t like what happens when you keep treating me like I’m the same fragile girl you married.”

My breath hitched.

Damn her.

Damn this new version of her that was unraveling everything I thought I knew.

Damn you.

But before I could say another word, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

Cole.

I answered without looking away from Anna. “Talk.”

“We have a problem.”

A chill crawled up my spine. “What kind of problem?”

“Harris Liam is at the Blackwell building. He’s demanding a meeting.”

Anna’s fingers curled slightly.

She wasn’t surprised.

And that told me everything I needed to know.

I exhaled slowly, my eyes locking onto hers. “Looks like your new friend couldn’t stay away.”

Her expression didn’t waver. But her silence spoke volumes.

And for the first time, I realized something dangerous.

Anna wasn’t just keeping secrets.

She was playing a game of her own.

And I had no idea if I was still the one in control.

The air between us crackled with unspoken tension. Anna’s silence was louder than any confession, and for the first time, uncertainty crept into my chest.

My grip on the phone tightened. “I’ll be there in ten,” I told Cole, then ended the call without another word.

Anna tilted her head, her lips curving into something too close to amusement. “Running off to handle business?” she murmured. “Or is this about me?”

I stepped forward, invading her space, watching as her breath hitched—but she didn’t step back.

“You tell me,” I said, my voice low, dangerous. “Because I’m starting to think Harris Liam isn’t just after my company. Maybe he’s after something far more personal.” I let my gaze flick down, then back to her eyes. “Maybe he’s after my wife or maybe my wife is out frolicking with my business rival.”

A flicker of something—hesitation? Guilt?—crossed her face before she masked it. “I’m not some pawn in your war, Jackson.”

I let out a dark chuckle. “You’re right. You’re the queen.” I leaned in, my lips brushing her ear. “But even queens can be captured.”

She didn’t reply.

She didn’t have to.