One month before my fiancé and I were set to get our marriage license, my three brothers gathered my adopted sister, Ivy, and me in our parents’ memorial room. They told us we were to draw lots to decide our husbands.
“Whoever draws the card with Hayden Grant’s name marries him,” Adrian said. “The other one signs a prenuptial agreement with Sebastian Quinn, the terminally ill heir to the Quinn family.”
Sebastian Quinn was dying. Marrying him meant becoming a young widow, bound to the Quinn family for life.
This time, I stepped back and let Ivy draw first.
The room filled with relieved sighs.
Adrian turned to comfort me. “You’re a true Sterling. Even if you’re widowed, you’ll still be able to make a suitable match.”
“But Ivy is different,” Julian added. “Her position in this family has always been delicate. We can’t rest easy unless we secure her future with someone we trust.”
Hayden chimed in. “If it comes to that, after Sebastian dies, I can maintain a marriage in name only with Ivy and keep you by my side. I’ll make sure you want for nothing.”
I didn’t argue. I didn’t make a scene. I just nodded.
None of them knew I had already discovered that both cards in the box had Hayden Grant’s name on them. Whoever drew first was guaranteed to get him.
They also didn’t know that after the wedding, the Quinns would move their entire business operation to Miami. Once Sebastian died, I would be silenced by their illicit family customs.
Later, on the day I was meant to return for a family dinner after the wedding, my three brothers waited outside for me.
But the car that was supposed to bring me home never arrived, not even after the New York snow piled past their knees.
The Widow’s Fate They Chose Was My Escape Plan Chapter 28 When the report was projected on-screen, the last of the color drained from the chairman’s face. It not only detailed the Sterling family’s manipulated card draw and the forced marriage, but it also recorded Eleanor’s private meeting with me and her disclosure of the
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The Widow’s Fate They Chose Was My Escape Plan Chapter 27 “Then what about this?” I turned to the last page of the family settlement agreement. Ethan’s signature was scrawled in the acknowledgment box. “Before the wedding, I irrevocably gave up my rights to the Sterling family trust. After arriving in Miami, I completed a
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The Widow’s Fate They Chose Was My Escape Plan Chapter 26 It was as if I were back in the Sterling family’s memorial room. Back then, Ethan had used my suffering to prove I was rotten to the core. But this time, I didn’t clench my fists. I didn’t lower my head. “Chairman, may I
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The Widow’s Fate They Chose Was My Escape Plan Chapter 25 Five days later, Hudson Crest’s directors, outside lawyers, and creditor representatives gathered in Miami. The chairman sat at the head of the long table. When he saw me, a trace of contempt flashed in his eyes. “Lena Sterling. Long time no see.” “My name
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The Widow’s Fate They Chose Was My Escape Plan Chapter 24 The short-acting sedative had been administered by the physician under strict monitoring, and the records were real. But if we handed them over now, the chairman would insist we had deliberately misled the board. If we didn’t, he could still take over Quinn Industries
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The Widow’s Fate They Chose Was My Escape Plan Chapter 23 “Hudson Crest just issued a special notice to the board.” Sebastian sat down across from me and pushed another document over. Three years ago, one of the grounds on which the board had approved Quinn Industries’ relocation was Sebastian’s critical condition and the stabilizing
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The Widow’s Fate They Chose Was My Escape Plan Chapter 22 But I only looked at him coolly. “You have the wrong person, sir.” “I have nothing to do with the Sterling family.” The two of them stood there, stunned. I waved a hand, signaling for the Quinn family security to escort them out. After
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The Widow’s Fate They Chose Was My Escape Plan Chapter 21 They were both much thinner. When they saw me, their faces lit up. “You’re okay. Thank God, you’re really okay!” They hurried toward me as if to take my hands, but I sidestepped them. Ethan paused, then gave a bitter smile. “I know we
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The Widow’s Fate They Chose Was My Escape Plan Chapter 20 I lowered my eyes. “Then let the doctor administer a small amount of a short-acting sedative,” I said quietly. “It can make you drowsy and create fluctuations in your vitals. They can reverse it with an antagonist later.” Eleanor and Sebastian exchanged a look
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The Widow’s Fate They Chose Was My Escape Plan Chapter 19 I shook my head. “Thank you,” I said softly, “but I think I should go to Miami.” After getting lost as a child, I had spent two years learning basic first aid from an elderly doctor at a neighborhood clinic. During the trip, I
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