The Thorne family estate, an imposing building draped in ivy, was undergoing its final transformation into a wedding venue. The day before the ceremony was filled with chaos rather than calm. Every corner of the sprawling grounds buzzed with frantic preparations. White vans from high-end event companies lined the driveway, with their crews rushing to put the finishing touches on the setup. The air was thick with the scent of thousands of imported white roses and the sharp, metallic smell of ozone from the overworked climate control units. The sound of wedding planners speaking in clipped accents was nearly drowned out by the rhythmic snipping of shears as they shaped the hedges around tomorrow's aisle.
Elara found Seraphina deep inside the large, humid conservatory. It was a glass and steel structure that smelled faintly of damp earth and rare, fragrant orchids—a place where life was preserved in a controlled environment. Seraphina stood beneath an enormous, custom-made bridal arch, a complicated arrangement of gardenias and lilies. She looked stunning in a pearl-grey silk rehearsal dress, but her beauty appeared strained, masking her internal turmoil. She was arguing heatedly with a young man holding a clipboard, her tone laced with impatience.
"I told you, the lighting must hit the central marble plaque at precisely a thirty-degree angle," Seraphina insisted, running her finger along the dusty frond of an exotic palm. "If we lose the shadows on the aisle, the whole effect is ruined. And where are the emerald satin ribbons for the pew ends? I specifically asked for a unique shade of—"
"Seraphina, stop," Elara interrupted, her voice calm but firm, cutting through the surface chatter. "I don't care about the lighting or the ribbons. We need to talk. Now. It's about Julian."
Seraphina straightened slowly, annoyance filling her bright eyes. She dismissed the planner with a quick wave of her hand. "Can it wait, Elara? You're interrupting the flow. Everything is on a strict schedule—very expensive, I might add. If you're just here to criticize my choices or offer more cryptic warnings about his character—"
"I'm here to tell you that Julian knows everything," Elara said, delivering the harsh truth. She took two steps closer, closing the distance, forcing Seraphina to put aside her dramatic posture and meet her gaze. "He knows about Leo. He knows about the plan. He is not just an indifferent fiancé, Seraphina. He is a predator, and you are walking straight into a trap he set months ago."
Seraphina's practiced smile wavered for a moment, but she quickly masked her fear with a nervous laugh. It was a high, jarring sound against the soft hum of the conservatory's humidifier. "Knows what? That I sometimes prefer champagne to his family's ancient Bordeaux? You're projecting your paranoia, Elara. You're desperate to see Julian as the villain because you want to justify your guilt over Alistair, and maybe… your own growing feelings for Julian."
"He told me he knew you were having an affair. He dismissed it," Elara countered, refusing to take the bait. "He said he didn't care because he knew you valued his 'resources and power' more than any temporary distraction. Seraphina, he isn't blind; he's uninterested in your betrayal because he controls the outcome of the entire event. He let you believe you had the upper hand, that the asset you're chasing is the final piece of the Thorne Gallery ownership. He wants you to steal it."
Seraphina shook her head violently, gripping the back of a nearby wrought-iron bench for support. Her voice fell to a strained whisper. "No. That's impossible. Leo—Leo has confirmed the document's chain of custody through Alistair Chen's final accounts. It is the final proxy signature. When I take it, I void Julian's entire claim. It's the key."
"It's a poison pill," Elara replied, her tone softening slightly as she appealed for reason. "It's a legal document drawn up by Julian's team months ago. Julian is exploiting a loophole in the Thorne/Vance merger agreement that requires an active attempt to transfer the asset without authorization to trigger a penalty. Your theft won't stop the transfer; it will confirm it."
Elara stepped closer, lowering her voice to a quiet, conspiratorial whisper. "The document you are after—the one Julian has deliberately made accessible—is structured to automatically transfer full legal control of the Thorne Gallery proxy to The Elara Foundation upon your interference. Your plan to seize it is the final, fatal step in his legal strategy. You will be handing him the gallery, wrapped in a bow, allowing him to achieve his goal of legitimizing the acquisition through a complicated, but legal, shell game."
Seraphina's jaw dropped slightly. The color drained from her face, leaving her looking pale and shocked. The realization of being outplayed was a heavy blow to her ego. Her meticulously planned heist was Julian's final, perfect move.
"Leo is compromised, Seraphina. He's a fool who has been fed lies, and you are risking everything for him," Elara pleaded, taking her sister's cold, trembling hands. "Julian has been running this deep game for months to clear his name and acquire all of Chen's holdings. It's all about the marriage contract, the asset's legal location in the prenuptial agreement, and the timing of your attempt. He needed you to be arrogant enough to try to steal it on the wedding day."
"What do you want me to do?" Seraphina spat, pulling her hands free, the shock turning to anger. "Do you want me to call off the wedding now? You want me to let him know I failed, and then watch him seize the gallery anyway? He might even use my attempted theft to ruin my reputation and destroy our mother's name."
"You have to expose him. That is the only option left," Elara urged, grasping for hope. "You need to run before the ceremony. Get a lawyer. Reveal what you know about the paper trail linking Julian to Chen's false holdings, and force the Vance Corporation into a public audit. The only way to save the gallery is to create enough scandal and legal instability to void the entire contract. Run now, and you save the gallery."
Seraphina stared at her sister, her chest rising and falling rapidly, the air thick with years of toxic competition. The accusation Elara feared most finally surfaced.
"You're telling me to sacrifice everything—my reputation, my lifestyle, my entire future—because you suddenly have a conscience?" Seraphina whispered, bitterness lacing her words. "Because you finally see the man you let die as an innocent pawn? Or is it because you are genuinely scared about what will happen to your plans with Julian if I succeed in ruining his life? You're worried about him, Elara, not me."
Elara felt the accusation strike home, painful because of her mixed feelings for Julian. He had been manipulative, but he had also been honest about Seraphina's plan, and he had set the final transfer up in Elara's favor—a deliberate complication she couldn't ignore.
Seraphina took a deep breath, smoothing the front of her expensive dress. Her expression hardened, becoming a mask of cold determination. The fear faded, replaced by a steely resolve—the only true strength Seraphina possessed: an absolute refusal to be seen as a loser.
"Thank you for the warning, Elara. But you underestimate my ability to improvise," Seraphina said, a dangerous smile returning. "You see Julian as someone who controls the timeline, but I see a man who showed his hand too early. He told you his final move, which means he isn't ready for my real final move."
She shot Elara a final, challenging glance, her eyes burning with a promise of destruction. "I'm still getting married tomorrow. I will walk down that aisle, but I won't be stealing the document. If taking the document validates his claim and transfers control to your foundation, then the answer is simple: I will destroy the document. I will do it publicly, during the ceremony. I will void the asset entirely and leave him with nothing but a failed contract and a huge scandal."
Seraphina's smile grew wider, a true sign of vengeful triumph. "Julian Vance planned a wedding to legitimize a theft. I will use the wedding to commit corporate arson. You worry about the clock, Elara? The clock is running out on his reputation."
Without another word, Seraphina turned her back on Elara and walked out of the conservatory toward the noise of the wedding preparations, leaving Elara alone with a chilling realization. Seraphina had taken the information, not as a warning to retreat, but as a blueprint for a new, even riskier plan. If she destroyed the document, the entire asset would be dissolved—not just blocking Julian, but erasing the last trace of the Thorne Gallery's independence.
The wedding was less than twenty-four hours away, and Elara knew with sickening certainty that she was the only one standing between Julian Vance's carefully planned endgame and Seraphina Thorne's self-destructive act.
Elara's heart raced. Seraphina was about to sabotage the entire Thorne legacy in a single act of revenge. Julian intended for Elara to gain control, a calculated gift that forced her complicity. But Seraphina was about to set the gift on fire.
There was only one option left: Elara had to secure the document herself, not to steal it, but to hide it and stop her sister's reckless plan. She had to break into the Thorne safe, retrieve the document, and replace it with a decoy before Seraphina could act.
The clock was ticking down to the moment Seraphina would step onto the altar, document in hand. Elara had only hours to decide where her loyalty lay: to protect the man who had manipulated her or to save the future of the gallery from her own reckless sister.
The safe was downstairs, in the library. Elara needed to get the document before the morning staff arrived. And she had to do it without Julian or Seraphina noticing. It was the only way to save everyone—but it meant becoming a thief herself.