Chapter 3
The Betrayal Hidden Behind the Engagement
For three days after Elias revealed the truth, Maeve barely spoke to him.
Not because she hated him.
That would have been easier.
Hate was simple.
Anger was simple.
But disappointment was harder.
Because the worst part was that she understood him.
And she hated that she understood him.
Elias Marchetti had spent his entire life surrounded by people who wanted something from him.
Money.
Protection.
Influence.
Power.
So he created a test.
A cruel one.
But a test born from fear.
Maeve stood in the garden outside the Marchetti estate, looking over the city.
Elias approached slowly.
No wheelchair.
No disguise.
Just himself.
“I know you’re angry.”
She didn’t turn around.
“Yes.”
“I deserve that.”
She looked at him.
“You lied to me for months.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me believe you were helpless.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me defend you.”
Elias lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
Maeve swallowed.
“Do you know what hurts the most?”
He waited.
“I wasn’t angry because you could walk.”
She paused.
“I was angry because you thought I needed to see you weak before you could trust me.”
The words hit him harder than any accusation.
Because they were true.
“I was wrong.”
Maeve looked surprised.
Elias Marchetti rarely apologized.
“I spent my whole life believing weakness was something people used against you.”
He looked toward the city.
“I forgot that sometimes weakness is the thing that allows someone to know the real you.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Maeve quietly said:
“I need time.”
Elias nodded.
“I’ll give you that.”
---
But while Elias and Maeve were trying to rebuild trust…
Someone else was trying to destroy it.
Sienna Ashford.
She had spent months watching from a distance.
At first, she thought Maeve was temporary.
A replacement.
A convenient solution.
But then she saw the photographs.
Elias smiling.
Not the cold expression he gave businessmen.
Not the controlled face he showed enemies.
A real smile.
The kind Sienna had spent a year trying to earn.
And Maeve had received it without asking.
That was what she could not accept.
Sienna returned to her mother’s house.
Margaret was waiting.
“You look upset.”
Sienna threw a magazine onto the table.
The cover showed Elias and Maeve at a charity event.
“She has everything I was supposed to have.”
Margaret glanced at the photo.
“No.”
Sienna frowned.
“What?”
“You had everything.”
Margaret’s voice was cold.
“You threw it away.”
Sienna looked away.
“I made a mistake.”
Margaret smiled.
“Then fix it.”
“How?”
“Find the weakness.”
Sienna laughed bitterly.
“Elias doesn’t have one.”
Margaret looked at her.
“Everyone has one.”
---
Two days later, Sienna appeared at the Marchetti estate.
Maeve was in the library when she arrived.
The moment Maeve saw her, she understood.
This woman was not there to apologize.
“Maeve.”
Sienna smiled.
A fake smile.
“You must be enjoying this.”
Maeve remained calm.
“Enjoying what?”
“My life.”
Maeve stared.
“I didn’t take your life.”
Sienna laughed softly.
“You took my place.”
“No.”
Maeve shook her head.
“You gave it away.”
The answer surprised Sienna.
“You think you’re better than me?”
“No.”
Maeve looked at her.
“I think you were afraid.”
Sienna’s expression changed.
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“You were afraid of losing comfort.”
Silence.
“You weren’t afraid of Elias being unable to walk.”
Maeve continued.
“You were afraid of what staying would cost you.”
Sienna looked away.
Because that was exactly the truth.
Then her expression hardened.
“You think Elias loves you?”
Maeve said nothing.
“He doesn’t.”
Sienna stepped closer.
“He loves the idea that you’re different.”
“That’s not true.”
“Isn’t it?”
Sienna smiled.
“He created an entire test because he didn’t trust anyone.”
Maeve’s face changed slightly.
Sienna noticed.
“You think he’ll suddenly become a different man?”
She whispered:
“He tested me.”
A pause.
“He will test you too.”
---
That night, Maeve sat alone in Elias’s office.
The same place where she had found her file.
The same place where she discovered he knew everything.
When Elias entered, he immediately noticed something was wrong.
“What happened?”
Maeve looked at him.
“Sienna came here.”
His expression became cold.
“What did she say?”
“That you don’t trust anyone.”
Elias looked away.
“She’s right.”
Maeve stood.
“And that you will eventually test me again.”
Silence.
The truth was painful because it was possible.
Elias walked closer.
“Maeve.”
“No.”
She raised her hand.
“Answer honestly.”
He stopped.
“Do you believe people only stay if you give them a reason?”
Elias thought for a long moment.
Then:
“Yes.”
Maeve looked down.
That answer hurt.
“Even me?”
His expression changed.
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
“Not you.”
“Why?”
“Because you already proved it.”
She looked at him.
“How?”
Elias’s voice became quieter.
“When you thought I was powerless, you stood in front of me.”
A pause.
“When you thought I had nothing to offer you, you still protected me.”
He looked at her.
“You were the only person who never cared whether I was the king.”
Maeve’s eyes softened.
“Then stop treating me like someone who might betray you.”
Elias nodded slowly.
“I’ll try.”
---
But before they could finally move forward…
A secret from the Ashford family surfaced.
Gabriel Ferraro entered Elias’s office late at night.
His expression was serious.
“We found something.”
Elias looked up.
“What?”
Gabriel placed a file on the desk.
“About Sienna.”
Elias opened it.
Inside were financial records.
Messages.
Private communications.
His expression changed.
“She was planning to leave before the accident.”
Gabriel nodded.
“But there’s more.”
Elias turned the page.
And froze.
Sienna had not only abandoned him.
She had been sharing information about Marchetti business operations with someone else.
Someone who wanted Elias weakened.
Someone who wanted his empire.
Maeve entered the room moments later.
She saw Elias’s expression.
“What happened?”
He closed the file.
Then looked at her.
“The woman I was going to marry was never afraid of my wheelchair.”
Maeve waited.
May you like
“She was waiting for the right moment to destroy me.”
---
