Chapter 26
Chapter 26:
1. Protection: Gaston Collins assumes full legal and physical responsibility for Jocelyn Wolfe-Collins.
2. Assets: Jocelyn retains 100% ownership of the Wolfe Estate and Trust.
3. Support: Unlimited access to a designated family account. A venture capital fund will be established in Jocelyn’s name for her architectural firm.
4. Residency: Cohabitation in the Penthouse is mandatory.
5. Public Image: A public wedding ceremony will be held within three months.
Jocelyn looked up. “A wedding? We’re already married p>
“The world needs a show,” Gaston said. “A spectacle. It cements your position. It tells Kieran Douglas that you are untouchable p>
“And the sleeping arrangements?” she asked, pointing to clause four.
“There are five bedrooms in this apartment,” Gaston said. “I’ll take the guest suite. You take the master. It has the panic room and the best locks p>
He was giving her the master bedroom and putting himself in the guest room.
It was a gesture of respect. Of distance. It confirmed everything she had suspected. He wanted a wife in name only.
𝘛𝗁o𝘶s𝗮ո𝗱s o𝖿 r𝗲а𝗱𝘦𝗿𝘴 𝗼n 𝗀а𝘭ոo𝘃еl𝘴.𝘤𝘰𝗺
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I don’t want you to think I bought you for your body,” Gaston said. “I’m investing in your potential. Your talent.” He slid the recovered hard drive across the desk. “I’ve followed your career for some time, Ms. Wolfe. You’re undervalued. I intend to correct that p>
Jocelyn looked at him. He was tired — shadows beneath his eyes, the lines of his face drawn taut. He had fought for her tonight. He had broken a man’s wrist for her.
She picked up the pen.
She signed her name. Jocelyn Wolfe-Collins.
It looked permanent. It looked powerful.
“Done,” she said.
Gaston took the paper. He didn’t smile, but the tension in his shoulders eased.
“Go to sleep, Jocelyn. The press release goes out tomorrow. Your life changes tomorrow p>
She stood and walked to the door.
“Gaston p>
“Yes p>
“Thank you,” she whispered. “For the dress. And the rescue p>
“Goodnight, wife,” he said.
Jocelyn went to the master bedroom. The bed was enormous, the sheets silk. She climbed in, exhausted, and let the darkness take her.
In the study, Gaston picked up his phone and dialed his PR chief.
“It’s done,” Gaston said. “Release the statement. ‘Reclusive financier Gaston Collins weds society heiress Jocelyn Wolfe in surprise ceremony.’ Make it romantic. Make it front page p>
He hung up.
He walked to the window and looked out at the city spread below him. Then he reached up and touched the spot on his chest where, beneath his shirt, a tattoo of the initials J.W. sat over his heart.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered to the empty room. “I finally got you p>
Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse, hitting Jocelyn’s face with an unfamiliar, aggressive brightness. She blinked, her hand instinctively reaching out for a pillow that felt like a cloud.
This wasn’t her bed.
The mattress was too firm, the sheets too cool, the scent of the room too sterile — sandalwood and expensive detergent.
Memory flooded back in a rush. The contract. The signature. Jocelyn Wolfe-Collins.