CHAPTER 5

Sunday Dinner

Lily's Pov

The Hunt family mansion made Alexander's penthouse look modest.

Elena had driven me separately. Alexander didn't offer. He'd left hours earlier without a word.

I stood at the massive front doors in the navy dress he'd chosen, feeling like an imposter.

A butler opened the door. "Mrs. Hunt. They're waiting in the dining room."

My heels clicked on marble floors. Voices echoed from ahead.

"...finally bringing her around. Took him long enough."

"Probably ashamed. Did you see the wedding photos? Plain as dishwater."

I froze outside the doorway.

"Now Cassandra, that's a woman worthy of the Hunt name. This girl is just…."

"Father." Alexander's voice cut through. "That's enough."

I stepped into the room.

Six pairs of eyes turned to me. Alexander sat at the far end of a table that could seat twenty. Margaret was beside him in a wheelchair, oxygen tubes in her nose. She smiled warmly.

To Alexander's right sat an older man who could only be his father, same cold eyes, same sharp features, but crueler somehow. Next to him was a younger version of Alexander, mid-twenties, with a smirk that made my skin crawl.

And across from them sat Cassandra in a red dress cut scandalously low.

"Lily! Come, sit beside me." Margaret patted the chair next to her.

I walked the length of the table. No one else greeted me.

"You look lovely, dear," Margaret said as I sat.

"Thank you."

"This is my son Richard, and my grandson James." Margaret gestured to the two men. "And of course you know Cassandra."

"Pleasure," Richard said without meaning it.

James looked me up and down. "So you're the reason my brother's been so distracted lately."

"James." Alexander's tone carried a warning.

"What? I'm just saying, it's quite the Cinderella story. Broke girl marries a billionaire." James grinned. "How much is he paying you?"

"James!" Margaret's voice was sharp despite her frailty.

"It's a valid question, Grandmother. We all know this isn't a real marriage."

The room went silent.

Margaret looked between Alexander and me. "What is he talking about?"

Alexander's jaw clenched. "James doesn't know what he's saying."

"Don't I?" James pulled out his phone. "I have a friend at the courthouse. Sent me an interesting photo of your marriage contract. Very… transactional."

He slid the phone across the table to Margaret.

My heart stopped.

Margaret picked it up with shaking hands. Her face went pale as she read.

"Alexander? Is this true?"

"Grandmother—"

"Did you marry this girl as part of a business arrangement?"

The silence was deafening.

"Answer me!"

"Yes." Alexander's voice was flat. "But I did it for you."

Margaret's eyes filled with tears. "You lied to me."

"I gave you what you wanted. A wedding. A daughter-in-law. I…"

"You gave me a performance!" She slammed her hand on the table, then started coughing violently.

Alexander moved to help her but she waved him away.

"Don't touch me." She looked at me. "And you, child. You went along with this?"

I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe.

"She needed money," Cassandra said sweetly. "Three million dollars, wasn't it? For her sister's medical bills and some debts."

"How did you…." I started.

"I make it my business to know everything about Alexander's life." Cassandra smiled. "Including his charity cases."

Richard laughed. "Well, this is entertaining. My son bought himself a wife like he'd buy a hotel. At least you're consistent, Alexander."

"This dinner is over." Alexander stood.

"Sit down." Margaret's voice was steel. "All of you."

We sat.

She turned to me. "Tell me the truth, Lily. All of it."

So I did. My father's suicide. Sophie's medical needs. Vincent Shaw's threats. Alexander's offer. The contract. Everything.

When I finished, Margaret was crying silently.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I never wanted to hurt you."

"You're not the one who hurt me." She looked at Alexander. "He is."

"I was trying to make you happy," Alexander said quietly.

"By lying to me? By treating marriage like another business deal?" Margaret shook her head. "Your father raised you to be heartless, but I thought I'd taught you better."

"Feelings are weakness," Richard said. "I taught him that because it's true. Look at you, Mother. Dying and desperate for sentimentality. It's pathetic."

"Get out of my house." Margaret's voice shook with fury.

"Mother—"

"You too, Richard. You poisoned my grandson's heart. I don't want to see you again."

Richard stood slowly. "You're cutting me out? Over this?"

"Over thirty years of turning my Alexander into you. Yes. Get out."

Richard grabbed his coat. "Come on, James."

James hesitated, then followed his father.

Cassandra started to rise.

"Not you," Margaret said. "We need to talk about the embezzlement."

Cassandra went white. "I don't know what—"

"Alexander has evidence. I've known for weeks. He showed me everything." Margaret looked at Alexander. "Trying to protect me from stress. As if finding out my grandson's lover is stealing from him wouldn't stress me."

"Margaret, I can explain—"

"Save it. You're fired. If you're not out of the company by tomorrow, I'll have you arrested."

Cassandra looked at Alexander. "Are you going to let her do this?"

Alexander said nothing.

"You coward." Cassandra grabbed her purse. "I gave you three years. Three years of my life."

"You gave me three years of theft and manipulation," Alexander said flatly. "We're done."

Cassandra looked at me. "Enjoy your money, sweetheart. It's all you'll ever get from him."

She left in a storm of expensive perfume.

The dining room felt cavernous with just the three of us.

Margaret took my hand. "I'm sorry, child. For all of this."

"It's not your fault."

"It is. I pushed Alexander toward marriage without understanding what I'd created." She squeezed my fingers. "Can I ask you something?"

"Do you have feelings for my grandson?"

I couldn't lie to her. "Yes."

"Does he know?"

"No. And he never will."

Margaret looked at Alexander. "You have something precious right here, and you're too blind to see it."

"Grandmother, this arrangement has terms—"

"Terms. Contracts. Transactions." Margaret's breathing was labored. "Is that all you know?"

She started coughing again. This time it didn't stop.

Alexander called for her doctor. Within minutes, paramedics arrived.

They took her to the hospital.

Alexander rode in the ambulance. I followed in the car with Elena.

At the hospital, we waited. Hours passed.

Finally, a doctor emerged. "She's stable. But her time is limited. Days, maybe weeks."

Alexander said nothing. Just walked to the window and stared out.

I wanted to comfort him. Touch his shoulder. Say something.

But I was just the girl he'd bought.