Twilight Romance: Flash Marriage to Mature Tycoon – Episode 38
The shot had struck an empty security vehicle, a warning rather than an attempt to kill. Even so, the violence changed the investigation. Police cleared the parking structure while employees sheltered in locked offices.
Ray wanted Jocelyn removed through a private exit. She agreed only after learning Violet remained safe at home with Harry and Caleb. Leaving an active threat was prudence, not surrender.
In the armored car, Ray apologized for the danger surrounding his world. Jocelyn rejected the idea that his wealth alone caused every threat. Tony and Summer had chosen coercion because losing control exposed who they were.
They reached Astor mansion, where security was strongest. Jocelyn had avoided the estate since learning Ray’s identity. Entering as his wife rather than an employee felt stranger than she expected.
Staff greeted her respectfully, but memories followed her through every room. She recalled folding Violet’s clothes, preparing snacks, and disappearing whenever wealthy guests arrived. Now portraits and polished floors seemed to ask whether status had truly changed her place.
Ray noticed her discomfort. He offered to return to the small house once police approved the route. Jocelyn chose to stay. She would not let Tony turn another home into forbidden territory.
Violet ran into her arms. Harry reported that Caleb had slept through the security transfer, unaware of the adults rearranging the world around him. His innocence gave them a reason to keep fear from governing the house.
Investigators called with the name from the sealed envelope. The executive was not a senior director but Astor Group’s facilities chief, a man with access to cameras, alarms, and restricted floors. He had disappeared before the parking-garage warning.
Employment records showed he previously worked for a property company controlled by Tony Smith. The connection explained how Tony obtained internal schedules without placing an obvious ally on the board.
Ray authorized police access to every facility record. Jocelyn asked whether the man had family who might be threatened. The question redirected investigators from treating him solely as a conspirator.
They discovered recent payments for his wife’s medical care from a charity connected to Summer’s trust. The money could be a bribe or leverage. Either way, the facilities chief might be hiding rather than escaping.
Jocelyn remembered a service tunnel beneath the gala hotel that staff once used for deliveries. The same contractor maintained Astor headquarters. A frightened employee familiar with building systems might choose a forgotten mechanical space over a public road.
Police searched the headquarters basement and found him injured beside an electrical panel. The shot in the garage had been fired after he refused Tony’s order to destroy evidence. He had triggered the alarm to retrieve the secretary’s statement before Tony could alter it.
The missing tablet was hidden inside a maintenance cabinet, intact. His actions did not erase the access he had sold, but they explained the warning shot and preserved the testimony. An ambulance transported him under guard.
The recovered messages identified Tony as Summer’s operational partner. Summer provided money and social access; Tony supplied stolen identification and the facilities chief. Their alliance had begun after the Mother’s Day party.
Police arrested Tony at a private airfield before he could leave the country. Summer was detained for questioning regarding fraud, extortion, and unauthorized disclosure of financial information. Both denied directing the gunman.
Relief spread through Astor mansion, but Jocelyn sensed the investigation remained incomplete. The shooter had fled, and desperation could make defeated people more dangerous. Ray increased protection around every member of the family.
That evening, Jocelyn entered the mansion kitchen and prepared stew with Violet. Ray joined them, removing his jacket and accepting vegetable duty. The enormous room slowly warmed around their ordinary routine.
After dinner, Ray showed Jocelyn a renovation plan for the unused west wing. He proposed transforming it into offices for the foundation’s housing and literacy programs, with Jocelyn invited to advise—not ordered to lead. She asked for time to decide.
A security alert sounded before he could explain further. Camera footage showed a masked figure crossing the estate boundary with a package. On the box, written in black marker, were the words: For Mrs. Astor—from the man your husband ruined.