My Billionaire Fiancé Tried To Pay Me Off To Cancel Our Wedding — My Reaction Destroyed His Entire Worldview
Part 2
My heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs like a trapped bird.
I had fully expected to walk out of that door and disappear back into the grayness of my old life.
Slowly, I turned to face the room.
Craig Blackwood stepped out of the shadows for the first time.
He was younger than the terrifying corporate rumors suggested.
His face was severe, as if it had been carved from cold, unyielding granite.
His dark blue eyes fixed on me with a startling, almost physical intensity.
It wasn’t anger burning in his gaze.
It was a sharp, assessing curiosity that made me acutely aware of my worn shoes and outdated dress.
He was a man accustomed to blind obedience.
I later learned he had bought off three other arranged fiancées before me without a second thought.
I was the very first one who simply refused his money.
He seemed to be processing this undeniable fact like a complex puzzle that defied logic.
He took a slow, deliberate step toward me.
Dan practically shrank into his expensive leather chair, attempting to merge with the upholstery.
The billionaire’s presence filled the sterile office with an overwhelming electric tension.
He stated in a low rumble that every person had a need for money.
He deliberately added that it was especially true for people in my specific circumstances.
The veiled barb about my father’s impending financial ruin only solidified my anger.
I met his intense stare without flinching.
I told him that while I might need money, my dignity was absolutely not for sale.
A flicker of something resembling grudging respect passed through his dark eyes.
It vanished instantly before his expression shuttered into a cold mask once again.
He dismissed his own lawyer with a single, sharp flick of his wrist.
Dan scrambled out of the room, clutching his briefcase in clumsy haste.
The heavy wooden door clicked shut with a finality that made my bravado waver.
I was completely alone in a room with the most ruthless man in the city.
A man whose betrothal I had essentially just thrown back in his face.
He asked me one simple, direct question.
Why was I throwing away a massive fortune that would solve all my problems?
I told him it wasn’t a choice.
I explained it was a payment for my silence in being cast aside like unwanted, broken furniture.
He picked up the rejected contract and traced the elegant signature line with a long finger.
He murmured that it wasn’t meant as an insult.
He claimed it was meant to be a clean resolution to avoid ruining my family entirely.
I demanded to know why he had let my father build his hopes up until this very morning if he never intended to go through with it.
He looked away toward the gray sky outside the window.
He confessed quietly that the timing was not of his choosing.
He seemed almost as trapped by this bizarre situation as I was.
He offered to find another way to ensure I wouldn’t be destitute.
I insisted I needed nothing and released him freely from the contract.
He warned me that society would talk and my reputation would be destroyed as the woman he cast aside.
I told him the humiliation was my concern, not his.
He stepped closer and stated firmly that it was his concern now.
He asked me to sit back down because we had much to discuss.
What was he planning to do now that I had ruined his simple payoff?
