Marrying the Millionaire Read Free Page A

“Hello?! Hello?!”
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
    FIVE DAYS LATER,
MID-WEDNESDAY MORNING, the gloomy grey sky crackled with a streak
of white flash lightning. Thunder rumbled over the Earth, vibrating
the drenched grounds of the Low Country
Memorial Cemetery on Hilton Head Island.
Rain dropped in floods over the green tent shielding Richmond
Spaulding as he stood over his deceased wife, his darling Salina’s
casket.
    Richmond’s soul burned with
grief. He transfixed his gaze from the sheets of rain pouring from
the sky down to the white glossy casket. Just as Salina had
adamantly requested before her demise, he’d put a lavender tulip
spread sprouting white baby breaths on her casket. Salina loved tulips, she loved life. She loved
our daughter, Isabelle, and she loved me.
    “ Let’s please bow our
heads,” the Pastor requested.
    Listening to the Pastor pray a few
feet away from where he stood, Richmond kept his head bowed and his
eyes sealed. Broken-hearted, he was determined not to cry. His
steely determination to keep his raw emotions buried didn’t mean he
didn’t love his wife, because Lord knows he loved Salina with every
fiber in his being. It was just that, well, he had to be strong for
his precious three-year-old daughter, Isabelle.
    I should be in that
casket, not my darling wife, Salina. The love of my life. Dear God,
taking my wife…You got this so wrong.
    Continuing to listen to the blessed
words the Pastor recited, Richmond’s eyes peeled open, but his head
remained hung. Listening to the tinkering sounds of the pelting
rain, he gazed down at his shined black leather shoes.
    I already miss you,
Salina. So, very, much. God, You got this wrong. How could You be
so cruel?
    A loud pop of thunder boomed overhead,
and Richmond’s head snapped up from between his shoulders. Isabelle
jumped, standing next to him. Just as her tiny fingers circled
around his, he hefted her in his arms and kissed her honey-tanned
cheek.
    Pressing his lips to
Isabelle’s ear, Richmond whispered, “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.
Daddy’s got you.” You’re all I have
now.
    Isabelle nodded, looking every bit
like her mother. From her silky, black ringlets hair flowing past
her shoulders to her brown honey complexion and natural
mauve-colored lips, Isabelle was the spitting image of his Salina.
Staring into his daughter’s delicate chestnut brown eyes, pain
pricked his heart.
    Dear God . She’s gone. Your mother’s gone,
Isabelle.
    Richmond placed a gentle hand to the
side of his daughter’s hair, eased her head to his chest, then
kissed the soft, spiraling curls covering her cute round head.
Inhaling the profound mixture of wet grass and mud, he squeezed his
eyes together.
    I’m going to make sure
nothing ever happens to you. And I promise you, Pumpkin, come hell
or high water, I’m going to find out who poisoned your mother. When
I do, I’m going to kill him with my own bare hands. Break his damn
neck in half. That’s a promise, he
thought, his eyes fluttering open . Grief-stricken by Salina’s murder, Richmond
shuddered.
    “ Amen,” the Pastor
stated.
    “ Amen,” the crowd of people
encircling him pronounced on the lift of their bowed
heads.
    Grief pierced Richmond’s father’s,
Russell Spaulding’s, eyes. “I’m going to go thank the guests for
coming. Then I’m going to head to the Equestrian to check on the
business.”
    “ Are you coming to the
repass?” Richmond asked.
    Russell nodded. “If time permits, I’ll
come by.”
    Damn his workaholic father, Russell,
who claimed he was retired but never acted like it. Even on one of
the worst days of Richmond’s life, all he cared about was his damn
business—Spaulding Equestrian Center. The least he could do was
make an appearance at the repass. When he wasn’t thinking about
work, all Russell did was indulge in the many gold-digging women
running around town.
    Richmond’s mother, Leslie, rubbed
circles on her son’s back. “I’ll be there. In