CHAPTER 06

OPHELIA COLE

Two days ago, my mom had called saying we needed to talk but not over the phone. That alone was enough to send my mind spiraling, but she’d quickly assured me she was fine. So I tried not to overthink it.

I’d just arrived at her mansion and was stepping inside when I ran into Miriam, our longest-serving housemaid. She practically watched me grow up, and even when my mom tried to retire her, she refused, insisting this was the work she loved.

Her face instantly brightened. “Little princess!” she squealed, pulling me into a hug. We were that close; our relationship had long stopped being employer and employee.

“I’m not so little anymore, Miriam. But damn—you look as beautiful as ever.”

“Thank you. How long has it been now? Two years since I last saw you? It’s so good to have you back. Are you staying?”

“I think so… or maybe not. I don’t know yet. I have to talk to my mom first.”

“Luca’s scandal, huh? Don’t worry, it’ll be alright.”

I forced a smile, trying not to show how hearing his name tightened something painful in my chest. His betrayal still stung, reminding me I just wasn’t enough for him. These past few days I’d done everything to avoid thinking about it, telling myself that maybe, just maybe, he didn’t mean it.

Miriam told me my mother had stepped out not too long ago, but she’d be back soon. While I waited, she insisted on making my favorite meal. I wasn’t exactly hungry, but saying no to Miriam’s cooking was impossible. I could at least taste it and pretend I was too full to eat more.

Seven minutes later, she returned with the dish, and the moment the aroma hit me, I didn’t bother pretending. I dug in immediately, praising her and telling her how no one—absolutely no one—cooked it like she did. I’d missed her cooking more than I realized.

We were still chatting when my mother walked in; we’d both heard her car pull into the driveway moments earlier. Miriam quickly cleared the table and excused herself.

“Mother!” I beamed, rising to my feet and walking over to her. We hugged tightly, and I pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Hello, daughter,” she said, smiling softly. “It’s so good to see you again. You look… amazing.”

“Thank you, Mother. And you look beautiful as always.”

“I see you and Miriam have been bonding. She was thrilled when I told her you’d be coming.”

“Yes, Mum. She’s as charming as ever.”

After we exchanged pleasantries, she told me she’d be back so we could talk about why she’d called me home, but first she needed to freshen up. I agreed and put on a movie while I waited.

A few minutes later, she came back downstairs in her home outfit. The expression on her face was different now,far more serious than when she first walked in. I recognized that look instantly.

Something wasn’t right.

I suspected she’d put on a lighter, happier face earlier just to welcome me. Now the mask was off, and worry settled heavily in my chest.

“You look like you just lost millions,” I said carefully.

“I haven’t,” she replied, lowering herself onto the couch opposite me, “but there’s no guarantee we won’t be losing more than millions soon.”

My stomach dropped. “What are you talking about?”

I watched her closely as she drew in a long, heavy breath. Without a word, she placed a stack of files on the table between us. Something in the way she set them down, slow, resigned..made my heart skip.

I reached for them, opening the folder carefully.

It was worse than I expected.

Inside were the company’s financial reports from the past several years. I flipped through page after page, scanning numbers I knew too well. Our revenue had been declining steadily, but this year… this year was a landslide.

Losses. Heavy ones.

“Sixty-four percent?” I whispered, barely recognizing my own voice.

The numbers stared back at me like a death sentence. A sixty-four percent drop wasn’t just bad. It wasn’t something you patch up with a press release or a new campaign. It was the kind of drop that sent investors running. The kind that killed trust. The kind that dragged even the strongest corporations into the mud.

And our company,my father's legacy, my second home, was crumbling.

Expenses kept rising. Two major contracts had been withdrawn. Investors were pulling out quietly.

“Mom…” I looked up at her.

“We’re in trouble,” she said, voice low, controlled, but trembling at the edges. “Bigger trouble than I wanted to admit.”

The room suddenly felt too quiet. Too small. As if the walls were listening.

My chest tightened.

This wasn’t just a setback.

This was the kind of fall that could take everything with it.

“What do we do?” I finally asked after several long, suffocating minutes.

My mom didn’t answer right away. She sat perfectly still, as if weighing every syllable before releasing it.

“The Dawsons are our last hope,” she said at last. “And trust me when I say last, because I’ve tried everything else.”

Silence swept over us again, but this time it was heavy charged. I already knew where this was going, and dread crawled up my spine.

“I’d hate to fail your father,” she continued softly. “There are people waiting, praying , to see the Cole family fall. But your father did one thing right… and right now, that one thing may be the only thing that can save us.”

“Which is?” I whispered.

My mother rose from her seat and walked toward me. She took my hands gently, her thumbs brushing over my knuckles. Then she tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear, an old habit she only did when she was about to say something I wouldn’t like.

“I know you’re angry at Luca for the scandal. We all are,” she said quietly. “But… he gets out of rehab in two weeks. And once he does…” Her grip tightened around my hands.

“You and Luca are getting married.”

It was almost laughable that she assumed my anger toward Luca was about the scandal. I’d always known we were meant to be married this Christmas. Always. I had looked forward to it my entire life. I wouldn’t have needed a reminder or a push from anyone, least of all my mother.

I would have run to the altar for him.

But now?

Now it felt like every fairy tale I’d built in my head was nothing more than a carefully wrapped nightmare.

How was I supposed to marry a man who loved someone else?

How was I supposed to stand beside him, vow forever, when he had betrayed me so effortlessly… and with no trace of remorse?

How do you promise your life to someone who had already given his heart to another?