I looked up. “He said it was because of the fights,” I replied. “Because he needed to reset his name.”
Laurent shook his head. His tone shifted, too calm.
“That’s not the truth. Not the full truth anyway.”
“Then what is?”
Laurent leaned back in the chair, watching me with those pale eyes that never missed anything.
“Our grandfather is dying, and he’s forcing Ares into an arranged marriage before he dies. If Ares doesn’t do it, everything goes to me. You know he will never let that happen. He hates me.”
I froze.
“What?” I whispered.
He nodded once, slowly. “You heard me.”
I gripped the edge of the counter. “With who?”
“I do not know who the woman is,” he said. “But I do know the family.”
“Which family?” I asked.
Laurent’s mouth curved, a dark smile full of meaning.
“The only Black mafia family in California. The Laveaus.”
I blinked, stunned. “I never heard of them.”
“You’re not supposed to. Most of them go by fake last names,” he replied calmly. “They operate like a shadow dynasty. Money. Land. Political strings. They are quiet but powerful. And Marcel has been trying to align the Delacroix name with them for years.”
I swallowed hard. “So Ares… Ares is being forced into this?”
“Exactly. He didn’t cut you off because he wanted to. He did it because he had to.” Laurent tilted his head slightly. “Our grandfather wants him married. No girlfriends. No drama. A Roi’s wife cannot compete with five women on the side.”
I crossed my arms. “Who is the girl?”
He shrugged. “All I know is she is probably in the dark about her own bloodline. The Laveaus raise their heirs quietly and pull them in when they are grown. I would bet money she has no idea who she really is.”
“So she is innocent?” I muttered.
“Innocent enough,” he replied. “But that is not the point. The point is, he chose loyalty to my grandfather over loyalty to you.”
I frowned.
“He would have dropped you anyway, Bianca,” Laurent continued softly. “This marriage is the final nail.”
I stared down at the NDA again.
“So that is why he treated me like a business deal,” I whispered. “It was never about us at all.”
“No,” Laurent said. “It was about him staying in our grandfather’s will.”
Something inside me cracked open… rage, disappointment, humiliation all mixing until I could no longer tell them apart.
Laurent stepped closer.
“And you are still sitting here acting like you should be grateful.”
