A Poor Woman Was Forced to Marry a Sleeping Billionaire — Then the Man Everyone Thought Was Unconscious Revealed He Had Heard Every Word.

PART 10

“Ms. Ashcombe,” Silas’s attorney said, “before this ceremony, what was the largest amount of money you had ever possessed?”

“About twelve hundred dollars.”

“You accepted the name Kade.”

“I was told accepting it would keep my mother alive.”

“Do you consider yourself Weston Kade’s lawful wife?”

Weston’s counsel had prepared a cautious answer. Wren did not use it.

“No,” she said.

A murmur swept through the courtroom. Weston went still.

“I consider the original ceremony morally invalid. Weston could not consent. I consented under threat against my mother’s life. Whatever technical argument the documents permit, neither of us freely chose it.”

“So you admit your claim to his fortune is defective.”

“I renounce any claim arising from that ceremony.”

Silas smiled. Weston did not. Pain crossed his face, followed by understanding.

Wren faced the judge. “But my decision does not make Weston incompetent. It proves the opposite. When he woke, he was the first person with power who did not use it to keep me. A confused man clings to what comforts him. Weston chose the truth even when it might cost him someone he cared about.” She looked toward Silas. “That is why Mr. Bram fears him.”

The courtroom doors opened. Two federal agents entered with an assistant United States attorney.

The encrypted file had been opened. It contained a recording made inside Weston’s car seven minutes before the crash.

Silas’s voice filled the courtroom. “You should have signed the audit, Weston.”

Weston’s recorded answer was clear. “Northgate billed hospitals for devices that do not exist. I am taking this to the board and the FBI.”

“Then you will never reach Boston.”

Marcus rose from his seat. “Silas told me nobody would get hurt.”

Silas did not look at him. He looked at Genevieve.

“I kept this company alive after your husband died.”

“You kept yourself rich,” Genevieve said.

Federal agents moved toward him.

“Weston would have destroyed everything!”

“No,” Wren said. “He would have stopped you from destroying more people.”

The judge denied the competency petition. The proxy marriage was declared void from its beginning.