Page 6 of Twisted Love

Charles’s name isn’t on it.

Earl’s is.

He takes a deliberate step closer, his voice calm and cutting as he explains, “He has no money left, Raven. Isn’t that what you need? Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted? Is that not why you are marrying him? If it is, then marry me right now. And if it’s not, well then, I will take my leave and you will never see me again.”

My gaze stares unseeingly at the screen as my world spins, tilting wildly.

The church waits. Earl waits.

And yet I can’t find the words to speak. The air feels like it’s pressing in on me, a suffocating weight of silence and judgment. Every gaze in the room is glued onto me, waiting for my response. The scandalized whispers have died down, leaving an oppressive quiet that makes the pounding of my heart almost deafening.

I lift my head and force myself to look at Earl.

His eyes are fixed on mine, sharp and unyielding, daring me to speak, to humiliate myself. Is that what he wants? For me to fall into his carefully laid trap and show everyone here, including him, that I care more about the money than anything else? That I’m the gold-digging liar that he for some reason believes me to be.

I shake my head with confusion.

Why would he even think that? The question pounds in my head. Why would he come here after all these years, just to disgrace me like this? Why disappear without a word, only to reappear in the cruelest way possible?

I should shove him off the altar and spit in his face. God knows he deserves it. But I don’t move. My gaze flies over to the front pew where my father is seated. His ashen face is a stark reminder of why I’m standing here in the first place.

The town’s perception of me has never mattered, and it doesn’t now. Let them think what they want. I’ve never lied to Charles, not once. From the start, I told him exactly what I needed from this marriage—a way to take care of my father. He promised me he could do it, and in exchange, he hoped he could make me fall in love with him over time. I warned him it was unlikely to ever happen, but he was willing to take the risk.

So long as my father gets the treatment he needs, what does it matter whether it is Charles’s money or Earl’s money? I don’t care what anyone thinks of me. For a moment I stand as still as a statue, and the whole world becomes motionless with me like a moment frozen in time … before everything changes forever.

Then I square my shoulders and turn to Earl. My voice is steady, louder and steadier than I thought it would be. “Are you able to provide everything Charles promised me?”

Shock ripples through the crowd like an electric current, the weight of my words hanging heavy in the charged air.

Earl’s smile widens maddeningly. His confidence, his arrogance—it’s like he knew I would say this. He steps closer, his voice dropping low, intimate, but loud enough for everyone to hear. “I am and I will. Everyone right here, right now, is my witness.”

A collective gasp echoes through the church, the murmurs swelling again. Charles’s face flushes a deep, angry red, his mouth opening and closing but no sound comes out.

“You’re out of your mind!” Charles finally shouts, his voice cracking. “This is insane! He’s a mechanic. Someone bought the property and I’ll explain it all to you later, but it is not him. It’s an offshore company in the Cayman Islands. Raven, he’s bluffing. You can’t actually believe him.”

Before I can respond, another voice rises, sharp and cutting through the tension like a blade.

“Raven Moore!”

Charles’s mother’s voice slices through the room, her sharp heels clicking decisively against the marble as she rises to her feet to walk towards us. Her face is a mask of disbelief and indignation, her tone dripping with condescension. “Are you about to do what I think you are?”

My stomach churns. I’ve always loathed her—her sneering, superior attitude, the way she looks at me as if I’m one of the hundreds of slaves her proud ancestors used to own. To her, I’m someone without any appreciable status and should be dismissed without another thought. There is nothing I could do to ever earn her respect, but to her eternal horror, her son is adamant on marrying me so she has resigned herself to subtly mocking me for the amusement of her high and mighty friends while praying he will change his mind.

Today she has her wish, but not in the way she prayed for.

I do the worst thing I could possibly do to her. I glance away from her as if she is irrelevant. Because she is and always has been. I turn my focus back to Earl. My heart is pounding, so loud it drowns out the noise around us. A steady, rhythmic thud that anchors me, pushing me onward even though my legs feel like they might give out.

His gaze has never left me. There’s no hesitation in his eyes, no second thoughts, no hint of doubt. And for the first time today—hell, for the first time since this entire mess began—I feel like I’m finally present at my own wedding. No more autopilot, no more mechanical motions. I feel awake. Alive. My chest tightens with something I can’t quite name.

“Okay,” I say, my voice clear and unwavering. I stare straight into Earl’s dark eyes, daring him to look away. “Okay, I’ll marry you.”

The room erupts into chaos.

The betrayal is too much for Charles. He stands there like a lost sheep, his face twisted with disbelief and hurt until his mother marches towards him. Grabbing his hand, she storms out while muttering curses at me. Their guests follow, trailing behind, some of them murmuring insults under their breath, others are too stunned to speak.

I take a deep breath and turn towards my bridegroom.

CHAPTER5

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