Chapter 2 - The Secret Beneath the Diamond
The silence in the historic church was deafening as Gabriel turned the gold band over in his broad palm. The wedding guests sat frozen in the pews, whispering frantically as Gabriel produced a small jeweler's magnifying glass and a thin silver pin from his inner breast pocket.
"Your groom thought he was clever, Sadie," Gabriel spoke, his low voice carrying smoothly over the stone walls. "He didn't just buy you a diamond. He used your family's heirloom setting to conceal an encrypted micro-drive containing stolen access keys to my syndicate's offshore accounts."
Sadie’s eyes widened in sheer horror. She turned toward Connor, whose pale face was bathed in sweat. "Connor... is this true? Did you use my mother's heirloom ring to stash stolen money?"
Connor took a shaky step back, glancing wildly toward the side exit where two of Gabriel's men in dark suits stood guard. "Sadie, listen to me! I did it for us! I was trying to build a future for us!"
"You did it to pay off your gambling debts to the Vitiello family," Gabriel corrected smoothly, prying open a microscopic compartment behind the diamond setting with his pin. A tiny black microchip slipped into his hand. "And you used Mia to pull it off."
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Sadie whipped her head around to look at her maid of honor. Mia flushed deep red, her hands trembling so hard she dropped her white bouquet onto the altar carpet.
👉 Read PART 3 to see how Mia was involved in Connor's plot against Sadie!
