Chapter 48 The Leak
The morning news broke the story before Harper and Sebastian even made it to the police station.
"Seattle CEO's Contract Marriage Exposed: New Documents Reveal Shocking Timeline"
Harper stared at her phone in the back of Sebastian's car, watching the story spread across every major outlet. Someone had leaked everything. The original contract with dates. Photos of their City Hall wedding. Financial records showing the five million dollar payment. Text messages between Sebastian and his lawyer discussing "asset protection strategies."
Everything that made their marriage look exactly like what it had started as: a business transaction.
"How did they get this?" Harper's voice shook. "These are private legal documents. Privileged communications."
Sebastian's face was stone. "Someone with access to my lawyer's files. Or the bank records. Or both." He was already dialing. "This is a coordinated attack. Professional."
The story painted Sebastian as a manipulative billionaire who'd essentially bought a wife to appease his board. Harper was portrayed as either a willing gold digger or a desperate woman exploited during financial crisis, depending on which outlet you read.
Neither version was flattering.
Harper's phone exploded with calls. Jessie. Claire. Reporters. Former classmates she hadn't spoken to in years suddenly wanting to know if the story was true.
She turned off her phone entirely.
"We need to get ahead of this," Sebastian said, still on his phone with his PR team. "Draft a statement. Schedule a press conference. Control the narrative before it controls us."
But Harper heard the strain in his voice. This wasn't like fighting Marcus or Vanessa or Richard. Those were private battles. This was public humiliation broadcast to millions of people.
They reached the police station to find reporters already camped outside. Cameras flashed as their car pulled up. Questions shouted from all directions.
"Mr. Colton, did you buy your wife?"
"Harper, were you coerced into marriage?"
"Is the Adriatic Hotel part of a real estate scam?"
Sebastian's security team cleared a path, but Harper felt every lens trained on her face, capturing her shock and fear for tomorrow's headlines.
Detective Morrison looked grim when they finally reached his office.
"I assume you've seen the news," Morrison said.
"Hard to miss," Sebastian replied tersely. "What's the new development you mentioned? Because our day just got significantly worse."
Morrison pulled up files on his computer. "James Hartwell's plane didn't crash due to mechanical failure. It was sabotaged. Someone planted an explosive device in the fuel line, timed to detonate mid-flight."
Harper felt cold. "Someone murdered him?"
"We believe so. And we think whoever did it is the same person who leaked your private documents this morning." Morrison turned the screen to show them surveillance footage. "This was taken at your lawyer's office building two nights ago."
The footage showed a figure in maintenance uniform entering the building after hours, going directly to the floor where Sebastian's lawyer had offices, and leaving forty minutes later with a briefcase.
The figure's face was obscured by a baseball cap, but their build and movements were familiar.
"We're still identifying them," Morrison said. "But Harper, there's something else. We found communication on James's recovered phone. Messages with someone he called 'The Investor.' They were planning something big. Something that would, in James's words, 'eliminate all obstacles permanently.'"
Sebastian leaned forward. "What kind of obstacles?"
"You. Harper. The Adriatic. Anyone standing between them and a multi-billion dollar development deal." Morrison pulled up encrypted messages. "We can't decode most of it, but the timeline suggests they were planning to move forward with or without James. His death might have accelerated their plans."
"So James was working for someone else all along," Harper said quietly. "Someone bigger than Richard Hyland."
"We believe James and Richard were both working for this Investor. A silent partner who's been funding everything from the beginning." Morrison looked between them. "And whoever they are, they just declared war by leaking your private information."
Harper's mind raced. "The leak makes us look like liars. Destroys our credibility. So when something happens next, no one will believe us or care."
"Exactly," Morrison confirmed. "They're isolating you. Turning public opinion against you before they make their final move."
Sebastian's phone buzzed. He glanced at it and went pale. "The board just called an emergency meeting. They want to discuss the leaked documents and whether my position as CEO is still tenable given the public scandal."
"They're moving fast," Morrison observed.
"Because whoever's behind this has influence with the board. Someone feeding them information, pushing them to act." Sebastian stood abruptly. "We need to find out who The Investor is. Today. Before they destroy everything we've built."
Morrison nodded. "We're working every angle. But Mr. Colton, you should prepare for the possibility that this goes beyond business. The Investor has already committed murder to protect their interests. They won't hesitate to hurt you or Harper if you become too much of a threat."
They left the station through a back entrance, avoiding the press. In the car, Sebastian made rapid-fire calls. His lawyer. His head of security. His PR team. All trying to contain damage that was spreading faster than they could respond.
Harper watched Seattle pass by the window, wondering how many of the people they passed had already read the stories. How many believed she'd married for money. How many thought Sebastian was a manipulative monster.
"I'm sorry," Sebastian said after hanging up his latest call. "I never wanted you exposed like this. Your private life dissected by strangers."
"It's not your fault. Someone's orchestrating this. Someone who wants us destroyed." Harper turned to him. "Sebastian, what if we just tell the truth? Hold a press conference and explain everything. How we started, how we fell in love, what we're facing."
"The truth sounds worse than the fiction. We did start with a contract. I did pay you five million dollars. Those are facts they can twist no matter how we explain the context."
"So we just let them control the narrative?"
"We fight back with evidence. With proof that whatever they're planning is illegal and dangerous. We expose The Investor before they can make their next move." Sebastian took her hand. "But Harper, this is going to get ugly. The press, the public scrutiny, the board pressure. Are you prepared for that?"
Harper thought about the past eight months. About everything they'd survived. "I've been through worse. We both have."
"This is different. This is your reputation. Your future. If the Adriatic's reputation is destroyed by association with me, if your career is damaged because of this marriage—"
"Then we rebuild. Together. The same way we've rebuilt everything else." Harper squeezed his hand. "I'm not running, Sebastian. Not from the press, not from The Investor, not from you."
His phone buzzed again. This time his expression shifted from stress to confusion.
"What is it?" Harper asked.
"An email. From an encrypted address. Subject line says: Want to know who's destroying you? Meet me at Pike Place Market in one hour. Come alone or the next leak will be worse."
Harper felt ice settle in her stomach. "It's a trap."
"Probably. But it might also be our only chance to identify The Investor." Sebastian forwarded the email to Morrison. "I have to go."
"Not alone you don't. That's what they want."
"Harper, if this is The Investor reaching out, I can't risk them disappearing because I brought company."
"And I can't risk you walking into an ambush." Harper's voice was firm. "We're partners now, remember? We handle threats together."
They argued about it all the way to Pike Place Market, but Harper refused to back down. Finally, Sebastian agreed she could come but had to stay at a distance with Ryan's security team nearby.
The market was crowded with tourists and locals, the usual chaos of vendors and street performers. Sebastian walked through the crowd toward the specified meeting point near the fish throwers, Harper trailing thirty feet behind with security surrounding her.
A figure in a hooded jacket stood by the railing overlooking Elliott Bay, their back to the crowd.
Sebastian approached. Harper watched, her heart in her throat.
The figure turned.
Harper's breath caught.
It was someone they knew. Someone who'd been there from the beginning. Someone neither of them had suspected.
The figure pulled back their hood, and Harper felt her entire understanding of the past eight months shatter.
Because standing there, smiling coldly at Sebastian, was someone who should have been on their side.
Someone who'd pretended to help them while orchestrating their destruction all along.
And now, in the middle of Pike Place Market with hundreds of witnesses, they were about to reveal why.