The Silent Bride's Forced Tech Marriage

p, satisfying snip as

ight of the Victorian conservatory. It was poisonous, deadly if inge

h. Liquidity crisis. Winters Trust under investigation. The words meant nothing to the plants, but they meant everything

d open. The vibration traveled through th

the shears hovering over a particul

like gunshots. She looked at her daughter-really looked at

snapped, though Alessandra couldn't hear the wo

her neck. The silence of the greenhouse was replaced by the ang

hing the shears from Alessandra's hand. The metal blades clattered onto the

s were pale, the veins visible beneath the skin like a road

. The movements were fluid, sarc

ed the sign language. She hated that it required

er mother, smelling the cloying scent of C

ate was a mausoleum of dark wood and darker secrets. When she entered

n a lifetime. He didn't look up. He slid a thick document across

gravel grinding on glass. "The audit from '09 is re

rt. She'd memorized it when she was twelve, right before the silence took her. That knowledge was her only

rcado," Sil

shark of Silicon Valley. New money, ruthless, and currently look

s continued, his eyes finally lifting to meet hers. They were cold

eath her ribs. She reached into the pocket of her apron an

ce filled the room. "I am a

t sounded like dry leaves crumbling

refuse, the payments to the care facility stop today. Your nurs

y person who had held her when she cried, before the silence took

uff. Silas Winters did

nt. Transfer of Assets. Her nam

of her, replaced by a cold, heavy stone in h

ea

f the Mercado Group headquarters, Florian Mercado

lorian asked, no

ian respected, sat on the white leather sofa. "Silas

ut a potential partner, but about the piece on the board. He'd crossed paths with Chloe Gutierrez, a sharp-witted executive fr

A strategist. A worthy opponent, perhaps even a useful partner f

a fraction of a second. "He

didn't like ambiguity. "Fine. As long as I get the ledger. That fam

rriage?" Ar

desk. He pressed the intercom button. "Get legal to draf

darkened monitor of his computer.

is voice devoid of emotion, "I'll liquidat