I Have Five Kick-Ass Brothers – Episode 41
The ring box remained closed between Theo and Raina as the call shattered the quiet terrace. A county clerk had discovered a marriage certificate filed under their names that morning, complete with signatures, witness seals, and a date claiming they had married two weeks earlier.
Raina’s first reaction was not embarrassment but anger. Once again, someone had turned her identity into a tool and made a life-changing choice in her name. Theo looked at the unopened ring in his hand, understanding how cruelly the forgery mocked the promise he had just made.
They returned to the hotel security room, where Noah and the others examined a scanned copy. The signatures resembled those on Raina’s forged Lincoln resignation and Theo’s medical authorization. Whoever filed the certificate had access to documents stolen during the recent conspiracies.
The clerk had flagged the record because the officiant’s license expired years earlier. The listed witness was Benedict Shaw, the jeweler still recovering under police protection. Benedict denied signing anything and asked investigators to compare the seal with molds found in his cabin.
Luke discovered the certificate had been submitted electronically from a terminal inside the Grand Brookfield. The time stamp placed the filing during the gala, while security focused on Melody’s escape and the tunnel vault.
Raina asked who benefited from making them legally married. Theo noted that a valid marriage could merge certain inheritance claims, trigger trust provisions, and create access to confidential records. Even an invalid certificate might cause enough confusion for someone to exploit.
Mr. Jones remembered a clause in the Jones family trust: Theo’s spouse could act on his behalf during incapacity. The forged medical report from the previous dinner had tried to establish exactly that condition.
The pieces formed a disturbing sequence. First, conspirators portrayed Theo as cognitively impaired. Then they created a spouse with authority over him. By using Raina’s name, they ensured both families would hesitate before publicly challenging the document.
Theo immediately filed to void the certificate. He asked the court record to state clearly that neither party consented, protecting Raina from rumors that she had secretly arranged the marriage.
Those rumors appeared before sunrise anyway. Gossip sites claimed the couple married to consolidate Lincoln and Jones wealth. Photographs of the unopened ring box were miscaptioned as proof of a proposal following the secret ceremony.
Raina refused to let the scandal determine their real future. She told Theo the forged certificate did not change her feelings, but it did make one thing clear: if they ever married, no one else would choose the time, terms, or meaning.
Theo agreed and placed the ring box in her hands without opening it. She could return it, keep it, or ignore it until she wished to discuss it. The decision remained hers.
Investigators reviewed the hotel terminal. A catering badge had opened the room, but the assigned server never entered the building. Her identity had been copied from an employment file handled by Melody.
Melody denied filing the certificate. Her correspondence supported the denial; she wanted Raina dependent on her, not legally tied to Theo. The marriage would strengthen Jones influence over the Lincoln heiress and undermine Melody’s design.
Carlisle also denied involvement and offered one useful detail. Weston had once discussed using a marital trust to seize control of Jones Group, but Weston lacked the stolen seals needed to create the certificate.
Weston’s cooperation agreement allowed another interview. He admitted researching the marriage clause but claimed an anonymous adviser supplied the plan. Messages from that adviser used a new symbol: five linked circles around a star.
Raina recognized the design from stationery found among Renee’s intercepted letters. It was an old Lincoln family crest abandoned after her disappearance. Only someone with access to the original search files would know it.
Luke searched the digital archive and found one surviving account connected to the crest. It belonged to the late family attorney whose safe deposit box revealed Walter’s receipt.
The account had been active for years after the attorney’s death. Someone was using a dead man’s identity to communicate with Walter, Carlisle, Weston, and now the county registry.
When Luke opened the latest message, a live video appeared. A man sat in the old attorney’s office holding the original marriage ledger and said, “If Raina wants her name back, she must come claim it without her five brothers.”