Chapter 45 The First Night
"It was in the original contract," Sebastian said, his voice strained. "But Harper, I had it removed before we signed. I swear."
Harper stared at him, James's text burning in her mind. "You had it removed? Or you're saying that now because you got caught?"
"I'm saying it because it's true." Sebastian stood and went to his office, returning with a folder. "Here. The original draft from my lawyer. You can see the clause. And here's the version we actually signed. No clause. It's gone."
Harper took the documents with shaking hands. She read through the legalese, finding the clause in the first version: "In the event of marriage dissolution by mutual agreement or petitioner default, all properties enhanced with funds provided by Respondent shall transfer to Respondent's ownership."
The Adriatic. He would have owned the Adriatic.
But in the signed version, the clause was absent. Completely removed.
"When did you take it out?" Harper asked.
"The day before we signed. My lawyer included it as standard asset protection. I saw it during the final review and told him to remove it immediately." Sebastian's eyes were desperate. "Harper, I never wanted the hotel. I wanted you to have something that was truly yours. Not conditionally yours. Just yours."
"But you considered it. At some point, you thought it was reasonable to have that clause."
"My lawyer thought it was reasonable. I never agreed with it." Sebastian ran his hands through his hair. "Harper, please. James is trying to poison what we have. He's using a clause that doesn't exist to make you doubt me."
Harper looked at the contracts again. The dates matched his story. The signed version had no ownership transfer clause. He was telling the truth.
But the fact that it had ever been suggested, that his lawyer had thought Sebastian needed that kind of protection against her, made something crack inside Harper's chest.
"What else haven't you told me?" she asked quietly.
"Nothing. I swear, nothing." Sebastian reached for her hands but she pulled away. "Harper, you have to believe me. I removed that clause because it was wrong. Because even then, before I knew I'd fall in love with you, I knew the hotel had to be yours."
"Why?"
"Because taking it would have made me exactly like my father. Using people for profit without caring about what it cost them." Sebastian's voice broke. "I didn't want to be that person. I didn't want you to be another casualty of Colton business practices."
Harper felt exhaustion settle into her bones. The night trapped in the Adriatic. The revelation about James. Now this. It was too much.
"I need to think," she said.
"Harper, please don't leave again. We just got past that."
"I'm not leaving. I'm going to my room. The one you said I could keep for space." Harper stood, taking the contracts with her. "I just need time to process everything."
She went to her bedroom and closed the door. Sat on the bed surrounded by the possessions she'd moved back in just days ago. Looked at the contracts until the words blurred together.
Sebastian had removed the clause. The evidence was clear. He was telling the truth.
But James had known about it. Which meant it had been discussed, documented, existing long enough for someone to find it and weaponize it months later.
Harper's phone buzzed. Another text from James.
"Did he show you the removal date? Check it carefully. The document was backdated. The clause existed in the version you signed. He's lying to you."
Harper felt sick. She compared the dates on both documents. They matched. But James was claiming they'd been altered retroactively.
How could she know for certain?
A knock on her door. "Harper? Can I come in?"
She opened the door to find Sebastian holding his laptop. "I need to show you something. I called my lawyer. He's sending the original signing documents with timestamps and digital signatures. Everything that proves the timeline I gave you is accurate."
They sat together on Harper's bed while Sebastian pulled up emails from his lawyer. The correspondence was all there. Sebastian's instruction to remove the clause. The lawyer's acknowledgement. The revised contract was sent three days before their signing date.
"See?" Sebastian pointed to the timestamps. "This email is from before we signed. The clause was already gone. James is lying because he wants to destroy what we have."
Harper wanted to believe him. The evidence supported his version. But trust felt impossible when she'd been manipulated so many times before.
"I believe the documents are real," she said carefully. "But Sebastian, the fact that your lawyer suggested that clause in the first place tells me something about how you do business. About how you were prepared to protect yourself against me."
"That's not fair. I didn't suggest it. He did. And I rejected it immediately."
"Did you? Or did you remove it because you thought it might scare me away from signing?"
Sebastian flinched. "What are you saying? That I manipulated you into marriage by hiding predatory terms?"
"I'm saying I don't know what to believe anymore. Everyone close to us has betrayed us. James seemed trustworthy and he tried to kill me. How do I know you're any different?"
"Because I'm your husband. Because we've been through hell together. Because I love you." Sebastian's voice was raw. "Harper, if you can't trust me after everything we've survived, then James wins. He destroys us without ever having to come back to the country."
Harper knew he was right. She knew letting James's manipulation work was exactly what he wanted. But knowing something intellectually and feeling it emotionally were different things.
"I need sleep," she said. "I can't think clearly right now. Too much has happened."
Sebastian nodded slowly. "Okay. But Harper, I'm not giving up on us. Sleep, process, do what you need to do. I'll be here when you're ready to talk."
He left, closing the door gently behind him.
Harper lay on the bed fully clothed, staring at the ceiling. Her body ached with exhaustion but her mind wouldn't stop racing.
She thought about the first night she'd spent in this penthouse after their wedding. How strange it felt to sleep in Sebastian's space. How they'd established the pillow wall, both of them scared of getting too close too fast.
She thought about waking up wrapped in his arms despite the pillows, neither of them able to maintain distance even in sleep.
She thought about all the nights since. The nightmares he'd comforted her through. In the mornings he'd bring her coffee. The slow erosion of boundaries until they became a real couple instead of business partners.
And now she was back in her own room, separated by walls and doubt, trying to figure out if anything she felt was real or just elaborate manipulation.
Harper's phone buzzed one more time.
"This is your last chance to leave him with your dignity intact. Sebastian Colton destroys everyone who loves him. Don't let yourself be next. I'm sending you proof of other things he's hidden. Check your email. James."
Harper opened her email with trembling hands. There was a message from an encrypted address containing attachments.
She shouldn't open them. She knew this was exactly what James wanted. To poison her relationship with Sebastian using half-truths and out-of-context information.
But her finger hovered over the first attachment anyway.
What if there was something real there? What if Sebastian had been hiding other things?
Harper closed her eyes and made a choice.
She deleted the email without opening the attachments.
Then she got up, walked across the penthouse, and knocked on Sebastian's bedroom door.
He answered immediately, like he'd been waiting. "Harper?"
"I don't want to sleep alone tonight," she said. "Not after everything. Not trapped in doubt while James tries to tear us apart from a thousand miles away."
Sebastian pulled her into his arms. "Are you sure?"
"No. But I'm choosing to trust you anyway. Because the alternative is letting James win." Harper pulled back to look at him. "But Sebastian, we need to talk tomorrow. About everything. About the contract, about what happens next, about how we move forward from all of this."
"We'll talk about anything you want. But tonight, can we just exist together? No crisis, no threats, just us."
Harper nodded and let him lead her to his bed. They lay down fully clothed, wrapped around each other, neither ready to sleep but both exhausted beyond measure.
"I removed that clause," Sebastian whispered into the darkness. "I need you to believe that."
"I'm trying," Harper whispered back. "I'm really trying."
They fell asleep like that, holding each other through doubt and fear, choosing connection over isolation even when trust felt impossible.
And tomorrow they'd figure out how to rebuild what James had tried to break.
Together.
The way they'd survived everything else.