Forced Marriage, Hidden Scandal

round her. Aidan had always been an enigma to her, but now, as she stood there facing him, she realized she had only seen the surface of a much darker ocean beneath. He w

y but edged with something dangerous, something she

he had come this far, peeling away the layers of deception, unearthing truths she wasn't prepared to face. She couldn't stop now

?" she asked, her v

rets. "Somewhere you'll understand. Somewhere you'll see what your father and I were really

unease. She kept her eyes on Aidan, watching the way his jaw clenched, the way his hands tightened around the steering wheel. His usual confi

ara asked again, her voi

r before returning to the road. "One of the last places my father and I

anged," Elara said so

e outskirts of the city. The landscape outside the car window shifted from the towering skyscrapers of the metropolis to the quie

ng, almost invisible if you didn't know where to look. The walls were covered in ivy, the windows shuttered, and the front door was o

smooth motion. The air inside was thick with dust and age, but there was an underl

eter now, the walls seemingly closing in on both of them. "Before my father's death, before everything spiraled out

t was heavy, iron-bound, and looked more like a vault than

large map was pinned, and in front of it, several filing cabinets sto

nd your father worked together. They weren't just businessme

coast of Somalia, a military base in the mountains of Tibet, a quiet village in Colombia. Each location had a red dot drawn beside it. But what struck her the most were the da

ts. They were trying to control the flow of information-secret technology, weapons deals, and covert political influence. They did things... things that w

"And my father? He... he w

he wounds of the people involved in these operations. His medical expertise wasn't just for savi

hitching. "You're telling me...

much bigger operation. And when he found out too much-when he realized how deep the corrupti

always known as kind, as devoted to helping others-was shattering. He had been hiding a life

" Elara's voice trembled as she l

death wasn't an accident, Elara. And once I married you, I became part of the web he created. The mome

k, her mind racing. "

er. From the people who will come aft

roat. "And you're telling m

. "Because you can't walk away from this an

on Elara's chest. Her life, her marriage, had never been what she thought it was. The man she had marr

ere was no

this for years, Elara. But now, you have to decide. Are you going

marriage, she understood just how deep their bond really was-not ju

oice w

ice did she