Chapter 1: The Last Page
Chapter 1: The Last Page
The church remained frozen in silence.
No one moved.
No one even dared to whisper.
The attorney carefully placed the thick folder before Mariana.
"Miss Mariana," he said respectfully, "your father's final instructions require that you read the last page before signing."
Mariana's fingers trembled as she opened the document.
The first pages listed assets that stunned everyone present.
Five manufacturing companies.
Three commercial buildings.
Hundreds of employees.
Investment accounts worth tens of millions.
The guests gasped.
The groom, Victor, felt the color drain from his face.
His parents exchanged nervous glances.
They had spent months mocking Mariana's modest clothes, her old apartment, and her quiet lifestyle.
Now none of it made sense.
Mariana slowly turned to the final page.
The room became perfectly still.
Her father's handwritten letter appeared beneath the legal text.
"My beloved daughter,
I never told you the truth because I wanted you to be loved for your heart, not for my wealth.
If the man standing beside you truly loves you, these companies will become yours on your wedding day.
But if he abandons you because of money, then he has already proven he is unworthy.
There is one final instruction.
Any individual or business that attempts to obtain these assets through marriage, deception, coercion, or public humiliation shall forever lose every commercial partnership our family controls."
The attorney closed the folder.
"I'm afraid that instruction has already taken effect."
Victor frowned.
"What does that even mean?"
The attorney looked directly at him.
"It means your family's businesses have just lost every contract they held with your father's corporation."
Victor laughed nervously.
"That's impossible."
"It became effective the moment you publicly canceled this wedding."
Then the attorney handed Victor another envelope.
"This one is addressed to your father."
May you like
Victor suddenly felt cold.
Very cold.
