The Matriarch Slapped the Bride—Then the Missing Heiress Called

Chapter 06 - Julian’s Marriage Contract

The wedding license had not been filed.

Julian told Clara the officiant would submit it after the reception. Instead, the license sat unsigned inside his attorney’s case.

A separate contract was scheduled to activate at midnight.

If Clara married into the Marlowe family while wearing the Aurelia Tiara, a new company called Aurelia Cultural Holdings would claim combined family rights to the collection.

Clara’s signature appeared on incorporation papers.

She remembered signing a vendor agreement for the wedding exhibition.

The final pages had been replaced.

Julian’s plan required proof that Clara was Amelia’s daughter. He had obtained her DNA from a wineglass months earlier and compared it with stored family samples.

He knew before proposing.

At a recorded interview, he admitted the truth.

“I loved her before I knew.”

“Why not tell her?” Isaac asked.

“Grandmother would have moved the tiara and Amelia.”

“So you married Clara to trigger the trust?”

“I planned to use the transfer to remove Eleanor.”

“And control the collection yourself?”

“Temporarily.”

Temporary control had justified almost every Marlowe crime.

Julian believed he was different because he intended to expose some fraud after consolidating power. He planned to restore selected works, protect the museum, and avoid public collapse.

He did not intend full restitution.

Too many Marlowe institutions depended on the collection’s value.

Clara met him once under legal supervision.

“Were you going to tell me after midnight?”

“Yes.”

“Before or after I signed away my mother’s claim?”

“You would still have been protected.”

“By you?”

“Yes.”

She almost laughed.

“I chose you because you seemed unlike Eleanor.”

“I am.”