Enzo's POV
I hung up on the board without answering a single question. "What are you doing?" Lola stared at me like I'd lost my mind. "They're going to fire you!"
"Let them." I passed Vanessa's blackmail message to my head of security. "We have bigger problems. Vanessa has videos of us from last night. We need to find out what's on them before she releases them to the world."
"How? We don't even remember what happened!"
I grabbed my jacket and headed for the tent exit. "Then we retrace our steps. Find people who saw us. Piece together the night. Someone has to know something."
"Enzo, wait."
But I was already outside, my mind running. Vanessa wanted five million dollars in one hour. My board wanted answers I didn't have. And somewhere out there was video proof of a night I couldn't remember with a woman I was supposed to hate.
A woman who'd just offered to let me destroy her life to save my company.
Lola caught up to me, slightly out of breath. "Do you even know where to start looking?"
I held up my hand, showing her my bare ring finger. "My grandmother's ring is lost. It's the only thing I have left of her, and I never take it off. If we can find where I lost it, maybe we can figure out what happened."
"Okay."
Lola pulled out her phone. "I have a few text messages I sent to my friend last night before my phone died. Maybe they'll help."
She scrolled through her texts, and I watched her face change. "What do they say?"
"Um."
Her cheeks turned pink. "The first one says, 'Met the most amazing guy ever. His name is Marco, and he's PERFECT." She looked at me.
"I guess that was you."
Something warm flashed in my chest, but I pushed it away.
"What else?"
"'We're going dancing. He makes me laugh so hard I can't breathe.'" She scrolled down.
"'He just told me about his childhood, and I want to hug him forever.'"
I remembered pieces now. Sitting at a bar, telling someone about my father. About watching everything fall apart. About being scared and angry and alone.
And she'd listened. Really listened.
"The last message says, 'I think I'm falling for him. Is that crazy? We just met, but it feels RIGHT.'" Lola's voice got quiet. "I sent that at 11:47 PM."
We got married around midnight. "The bar," I said suddenly. "We met at a bar. I remember Christmas lights and music."
"The Desert Oasis," Lola said. "I saw it on my way to the festival gate. Come on."
We walked through the fairgrounds, weaving between art installations and groups of people. My phone kept buzzing with calls and texts, but I ignored them all.
The bar was a makeshift building decorated with old holiday lights and desert plants. A few people sat at tables, drinking and talking.
The bartender looked up as we approached. His eyes widened. "Hey! You two are back! How's married life?"
My stomach dropped. "You remember us?"
"Remember you?
Dude, you guys were funny. You kept fighting about who was more cynical about love, and then you bet each other you could prove the other person wrong." He laughed. "Looks like you both lost that bet." "What else do you remember?" Lola asked. "You were sitting right there." He pointed to two stools at the end of the bar. Talking for hours. At one point, you" he looked at me, "took off your ring and said it was your grandmother's. You said she told you to give it to someone who made you feel alive again."
The warm feeling in my chest grew stronger. "And then what happened?"
"Then you put the ring in your pocket and said you'd keep it safe until you found that person." The bartender grinned. "About two hours later, you came back, completely drunk, asking if we had any wedding rings because you'd found her."
Oh no. "Please tell me you didn't sell us wedding rings," I said. "Nope. But I told you about the wedding ceremony art piece happening that night. You both ran off that way, laughing like crazy."
I thanked the bartender, and we left quickly, my heart pounding. "You wanted to marry me," Lola said softly. "Even drunk, you chose to marry me." "We were drunk. It didn't mean anything." "Then why does Vanessa think those movies are worth five million dollars?"
She had a point.
We walked toward the area where the bartender said the wedding service had been. On the way, we passed a body painting tent. "Wait," Lola said, stopping. "I remember this place."
We went inside. A woman with paint-covered hands smiled at us. "The newlyweds! Did you come back for more?"
"More what?" I asked.
She pointed to a photo wall covered with pictures. There, in the middle, was a picture of Lola and me covered in glow-in-the-dark paint, laughing and painting each other's faces.
In the picture, I was looking at Lola like she was the only person in the world. "You were so sweet together," the woman said. "You told her she was beautiful about fifty times. She kept saying you were just drunk, and you said, 'I'm drunk on you, not the tequila.'"
Lola made a small choking sound. "Then you painted a heart on her hand and said you wanted to remember this moment forever." The woman's smile faded a little. "Is everything okay? You both look upset."
"We're fine," I lied.
"Thank you."
We left the tent in silence. My mind was spinning. These weren't the acts of two people who hated each other. These were the acts of two people falling in love. "The wedding installation should be just ahead," Lola said, not looking at me.
We found it easily, a small stage covered with flowers and lights. A man in colorful robes was performing a ceremony for a giggling pair.
When he finished, I approached him. "Excuse me. Were you here last night around midnight?"
His face lit up. "You're the couple who got married! I was hoping you'd come back!"
"You married us?" Lola asked. "I did! And it was beautiful. You were both crying happy tears and saying the nicest things to each other." He pulled out a tablet and scrolled through pictures. "I take pictures of all my events. Here."
He turned the screen toward us.
The picture showed Lola and me standing under an arch of flowers, holding hands. We were both smiling so wide it looked like our faces might break. And we were looking at each other with so much passion that it made my chest hurt. "What did we say?" I asked, my voice rough. "During the vows."
The minister checked his notes. "You said, and I wrote this down because it was so beautiful.
'I've spent my whole life making walls, but with you, I want to tear them all down.' And she said, 'I've spent my whole life being unseen, but you see me. Really see me.'"
Lola turned away, her shoulders shaking. "And then you traded rings," the officiant continued. "Cheap festival rings I had, since you'd lost yours somewhere. You said you'd get her a real ring later, one worthy of her. She said she didn't need expensive things; she just needed you."
I couldn't move. These weren't the words of drunk strangers. These were words from the heart. "Did anyone film the ceremony?" I managed to ask. "Sure, lots of people. It's tradition here. People love watching the weddings." He pointed toward a group of tents. "There's usually someone sharing videos on the festival's social media page. You could check there."
We walked toward the tents, but I grabbed Lola's arm, stopping her. "We need to talk about this," I said. "About what? About how we got drunk and said a bunch of stuff we didn't mean?" "What if we did mean it?"
She pulled her arm away. "Don't. Don't do this. We hate each other, remember? You destroyed my family. I'm the daughter of a man whose life you ruined. This," she gestured between us, "whatever we felt last night, it wasn't real." "How do you know?"
"Because real feelings don't happen in one night! Real feelings don't happen between enemies!"
"Then describe the videos, Lola. Explain why Vanessa thinks they're important enough to blackmail us. Explain why we looked at each other like that in the pictures."
Before she could answer, someone called out, "Hey! You're that kidnapper girl from the news!"
We both froze.
A crowd was forming around us. People pointing. Taking photos. "That's her! That's the woman who tied up that rich guy!"
"Someone calls security!"
"Wait," I said loudly. "She didn't take me. We're married. Show them the award, Lola."
But Lola was backing away, her eyes wide with fear. "I can't do this. I can't."
She turned and ran. "Lola, wait!" I pushed through the crowd, chasing her.
She was fast, moving between tents and people. I kept her in sight, my heart racing.
She ducked into a big tent filled with mirrors and art installations. I followed her inside. "Lola, stop! We need to stick together!"
"Leave me alone!" Her voice echoed off the mirrors. "Just leave me alone!"
I turned a corner and found her standing in front of a big mirror, crying. "I can't do this anymore," she whispered. "Everyone hates me. My dad rejected me. I'm being moved. And now I'm being chased by people. I just want to hide."
I walked closer slowly. "You're not going. And you're not doing this alone."
"Why do you even care? Yesterday, you didn't even know I existed."
"But I know you now." The words came out before I could stop them. "And maybe I don't remember everything from last night, but I remember enough. I remember feeling happy for the first time in years. I remember laughing until my stomach hurt. I remember thinking I'd finally found someone who understood me."
"That was the booze talking."
"Was it? Because clean me is feeling the same way right now."
She looked up at me, tears on her face. "Don't say things like that."
"Why not?"
"Because my phone rang, cutting her off. I looked at the screen.
It was my head of security, Marcus.
I answered. "Marcus, did you trace the threat message?"
"Boss, we have a big problem." His voice was tight. "I found out where Vanessa is. She's here. At Burning Man. She's been here the whole time, watching you two."
The tent suddenly felt very cold. "And there's more," Marcus continued. "She's not working alone. She's got someone helping her, someone with access to your company's secret files and bank accounts. We think there's a mole in your organization." "Who?" "We don't know yet. But whoever it is helped her set this whole thing up. The fake email to Lola. The leaked pictures. The threat. It's all part of a bigger plan." "What plan?"
"To destroy both of you totally. And boss? The one-hour limit for the blackmail money? It's a fake. She's going to release those videos no matter what you do. She just wanted you to worry first."
The phone slipped from my hand.
Vanessa was here. Watching us. And in a few minutes, videos of our most private, vulnerable moments would be aired to the entire world.
Lola must have seen something in my face because she grabbed my arm. "What? What did he say?"
Before I could answer, every phone in the tent started buzzing at once.
People gasped. Someone screamed.
I picked up my phone and saw notification after notification pouring in.
The images were already live.
And from the preview picture, I could see exactly what they showed.
Lola. Dancing. Kissing. Laughing.
Falling in love.