005.

MILLY.

“What if you married me instead?”

For a second, I genuinely thought I had heard him wrong.

The music from inside the club still pulsed faintly through the walls behind us while cold night air wrapped around my bare skin. 

My chest rose sharply as I stared at the man standing in front of me like he had completely lost his mind.

Then I laughed, not because it was funny.

Because it was so absurd that my brain didn’t know what else to do.

“You cannot be serious.”

The stranger..Declan, according to the name he had given earlier…didn’t smile. Didn’t flinch either.

Rain began falling lightly around us, tiny droplets catching against the black shoulders of his suit.

“I’m very serious.”

I shook my head slowly, anger rising so fast it almost choked me.

“Oh my God.” I stepped back from him.

 “Do you enjoy this?”

His expression remained unreadable.

“Enjoy what?”

“Mocking broken women.”

The words came out harsher than I intended, but I didn’t care anymore. 

My humiliation tonight had already been witnessed by half of Washington’s elite. What was one more disaster?

“You watched my husband humiliate me in there,” I snapped. “You watched him choose my sister publicly, and now you think this is funny? Walking up to me with some insane proposal?”

“I’m not mocking you.”

“Then what the hell is wrong with you?”

Rain dampened my hair as silence stretched between us.

He looked calm. Too calm. Like none of this affected him at all. That irritated me even more.

Men like him always looked composed while women drowned beside them.

Finally, he spoke and repeated his name for me to assimilate again.

“My name is Declan Laurent.”

The name hit me instantly. My breath caught. Everybody knew the Laurent family.

In Washington, the Laurents weren’t just rich. They were untouchable. Old money. 

Political connections. Corporate power that stretched across industries. Hotels, tech, real estate, investments…everywhere.

And Declan Laurent?

People talked about him like some cold myth wrapped in expensive suits and billion-dollar deals.

I stared at him harder now, suddenly noticing the details I had ignored before. The watch is worth more than my car. The security vehicle parked discreetly across the street. The effortless authority in the way he stood.

Holy shit!

“You’re Declan Laurent,” I repeated quietly.

“Yes.”

I almost laughed again.

Because somehow this night kept getting worse.

“You’re insane,” I muttered.

“Probably.”

The answer startled me enough to look up at him fully.

There was no arrogance in his voice. Just honesty.

Rain tapped softly against the pavement between us.

“I meant what I said,” he continued. “I need a wife for strategic reasons. You need protection.”

“I don’t need protection.”

“You do.”

His tone sharpened slightly for the first time.

“After tonight, Isaac Brooke is going to destroy you publicly.”

My jaw tightened immediately.

“You don’t know anything about my marriage.”

“I know enough.”

The calm certainty in his voice made anger flare inside me again.

“You watched one scene in a nightclub and suddenly think you understand my life?”

“I think your husband publicly embarrassed you while openly flaunting another woman.”

My face burned.

“She’s my sister,” I said bitterly.

Something cold flickered through his eyes then.

Maybe surprise or disgust.

“Even worse.”

I folded my arms tightly over myself, trying to hold together the little dignity I had left.

“You billionaires are unbelievable,” I muttered. “You think everything can be solved with contracts and money.”

“Most things can.”

“That’s pathetic.”

“No,” he said evenly. “What’s pathetic is staying beside a man who clearly enjoys humiliating you.”

The words sliced clean through me.

Pain flashed so quickly across my face that I hated him for seeing it.

I looked away first.

Cars passed slowly through the rain-slick street while music and laughter spilled from the club entrance behind us. 

Somewhere nearby, cameras clicked faintly, though I barely registered the sound.

My entire body suddenly felt exhausted. I was tired of crying. Tired of pretending. Tired of defending Isaac when even strangers could see the truth.

“I’m not marrying you,” I said quietly.

“I know.”

I frowned at him.

“Then why ask?”

“Because eventually you’ll realize I’m right.”

The confidence in that statement almost made me furious again.

“You’re unbelievably arrogant.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“You think I’d marry a stranger for revenge?”

“I think desperation changes people.”

That one hurt.

I looked at him sharply. “I’m not desperate.”

“No,” he corrected calmly. “You’re cornered. There’s a difference.”

My throat tightened unexpectedly.

For one dangerous second, emotion climbed into my chest again.

Because the worst part?

Part of me knew he was right.

Isaac had humiliated me publicly tonight, and by tomorrow morning, everybody would know. Socialites loved scandals. Especially Brooke family scandals.

And Kara?

God.

I squeezed my eyes shut briefly.

My own sister.

The betrayal sat inside my chest like shattered glass.

“I don’t know you,” I whispered.

Declan’s gaze stayed fixed on me.

“You don’t need to know me,” he said. “You just need to know I can protect you from what comes next.”

I let out a disbelieving breath.

“And what exactly comes next?”

His expression turned colder somehow.

“The media frenzy. Public humiliation. Your husband controls the narrative before you even have a chance to defend yourself.”

A chill crawled through me that had nothing to do with the rain.

Because Isaac would absolutely do that.

The Brooke family cared about image more than morality.

Always.

Declan glanced toward the street before looking back at me.

“Let me drive you home.”

“No.”

“You’re upset.”

“I said no.”

“You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

“I don’t even know you!”

For the first time, irritation flashed across his face too.

“And yet I seem more concerned about your wellbeing than your husband.”

That silenced me completely.

I hated that it did.

Rain fell harder now, soaking through the thin fabric of my dress.

Without another word, I turned away from him.

“Milly.”

I stopped but didn’t look back.

“If Isaac hurts you again,” Declan said quietly, “call me.”

I almost laughed at the absurdity of this entire night.

Then I walked away.

By the time I got into the car, my hands were trembling.

Not slightly but violently.

I gripped the steering wheel hard, trying to steady my breathing while rain streaked across the windshield.

What the hell was happening to my life?

Everything felt unreal.

Isaac and Kara.

The humiliation inside the club.

Declan Laurent asked me to marry him like he was proposing a business merger instead of a marriage.

I let out a shaky breath and started the engine. The drive home blurred around me.

Streetlights smeared across wet roads while my thoughts spiraled endlessly.

At the next red light, my phone suddenly exploded with notifications.

Message after message.

Tag after tag.

I frowned and picked it up.

Then my stomach dropped.

Photos.

Pictures of me outside the club with Declan.

One image showed him standing close beside me in the rain while I stared up at him.

Another captured the exact moment he leaned toward me while speaking.

From the angle, it looked intimate.

Too intimate.

My pulse spiked as I opened social media.

Washington Elite Scandals had already posted it.

ISAAC BROOKE’S WIFE SPOTTED LEAVING CLUB WITH DECLAN LAURENT AFTER PUBLIC FIGHT

Another caption read:

AFFAIR OR REVENGE? MILLICENT BROOKE MOVES ON FAST

“Oh my God…”

My hands shook harder.

Comments flooded beneath the posts faster than I could read them.

Some mocked me.

Some defended Isaac.

Some accused me of cheating first.

Tears burned my eyes again.

Then suddenly..My phone rang.

Isaac.

I froze.

The screen glowed brightly in the dark car.

Isaac Brooke Calling.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

My heart pounded painfully against my ribs.

For months, this man barely called me unless it benefited him.

Now suddenly he wouldn’t stop?

The calls kept coming.

Finally, with trembling fingers, I answered.

Before I could even speak, Isaac’s furious voice exploded through the speaker.

“Why the hell were you with Declan Laurent?”