MARIECLAIE.

"I have a proposition for you. Let's get married," I said.

Xavier Morello stared at me as though I had grown a second head. Of course, he would—I had just barged into his office and proposed marriage without any prior appointment.

Xavier's lips curled up in dark amusement as he stared me down, even though he was sitting and I was standing. "I'm fairly certain you know who I am, Ms. Marieclaie."

"Of course, I do. Xavier Morello of the Morello Tech Empire."

And my parents' murderer...

But I wasn’t going to tell him that little part.

"I need a powerful man by my side so I can secure my father's tech company before investors successfully steal it."

It was true—I needed someone like Xavier as my husband. My parents had died a month ago, and those hungry sharks hadn't hesitated to jump in on my father's company. Good thing my brother and I were the only ones in his will.

But my brother couldn’t take over.

"What's in it for me?" he drawled, twirling in his office chair while I leaned over with both my palms resting on the surface of his sleek black table.

"You need this," I began, staring straight into his eyes. "You need a wife for public appearances. A woman who's up to your par."

I was up to his par. In fact, my father's tech business was even higher than his, which was why we had always been rivals. The moment I came of age—thirteen—I had been taught who our friends and foes were.

The Morellos were at the top of that list of foes.

That’s why I suspected him. That’s why I was certain it was him.

"True," he nodded softly. "I need a wife for public appearances, indeed. But I don't know why it should be you," he said, staring up at me.

I chuckled. "I am as power-driven as you. Ambitious and smart. If you're not looking for all that, then I don't know what you would be looking for."

Xavier chuckled, his voice deep. "Your father and I were rivals, Ms. Marieclaie. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes," I answered without hesitation. I was going to do this. I was going to ruin him the way he had ruined me—by murdering my parents. By making me lose my brother.

"Alright then," he said, picking up the emergency telephone by his side. He tilted his head toward the seat beside me, and I suddenly realized I had been standing this whole time. I sat slowly as he said, "Prepare a marriage agreement contract, Kelvin. I'll send you the details."

He said the last part while staring at me too intensely. I cleared my throat. I hadn't expected him to be this fast. I had expected him to think it over and get back to me the next day or so. But then again, he was making his incoming death easier and quicker, and I had never been more grateful.

Xavier offered me coffee. Normally, I wouldn’t have accepted—not knowing if he had poisoned it—but I had watched him make it, and I was thirsty as hell. An hour later, a younger-looking man than Xavier knocked and slipped inside the office, staring at me first before his eyes went to Xavier. He dropped two enveloped files on the desk. My heart palpitated.

I was doing this. I really was.

Xavier took out both files, and after reading through the agreement—which didn't particularly have anything I should complain about—we both signed each other's copy.

"Well then, Ms. Marieclaie. I guess we're done?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. I nodded.

"We are," I responded, standing up from the seat with the file. "Here's my personal number in case there's anything else you'd like to say." I slid my card toward him, then nodded one last time before turning on my heels and leaving his office.

"So, you'll be getting married soon?" Beth, my best friend, peered up at me from the rim of her coffee mug.

"Yeah, probably." I twitched my lips. I had been ready for this a week ago—after the month my parents had died—but now, I was all nerves. "It's nothing, anyway," I shrugged. "I'll play the role of a wife for fuck knows how long, then complete my mission and leave."

Beth sighed, rolling her eyes. "It's not as easy as you make it sound, Marie."

That was the problem. It wasn’t easy at all. I had never killed an animal, let alone a man. But I needed to do it.

I had to do it.

"But are you certain, though? That Xavier Morello is the one?" she asked hesitantly.

"He is, Beth. I'm certain he is. All my investigations, all angles point to him. And this isn’t just about my parents and avenging them, anyway. It’s about my brother, too."

Beth knew about my parents' deaths. We had been friends for six months. I had met her in college, and we had bonded quickly. She had told me her mother was dead and her father was in Europe, occasionally sending her funds as a means of checking up on her. My mother had liked her a lot and taken her in as her own daughter, playing the mother figure for her.

I had told her the day my parents died. We had gone over to the venue of the incident. It was nighttime. A big truck had smashed into their Porsche. The aftermath was so insane that I knew they couldn’t have survived.

But another thing was my twin brother. He had been their driver that night while I had stayed with Beth. But when we reached the scene, Lucas was nowhere to be found. The driver’s seat was clean and spotless, as though no one had been driving them.

There were only two theories: either Lucas had fled the scene before the accident, or he had been kidnapped. But then again, I knew for a fact that Xavier wouldn’t kidnap my brother, so I would obviously go with the former.

But where had Lucas fled to?

Was he threatened? Did he know something about our parents’ deaths?

The questions remained unanswered, but I knew one thing for sure—marrying Xavier Morello would open all those doors and answer every single one of them.