Chapter 3: The Impossible Proposal

The silence stretched until Emma could hear the ticking of the antique clock on the mantel.

Nathan Cole stood perfectly still. Patient. Unhurried. As though he had delivered life-changing news a thousand times before.

Richard Bennett finally found his voice.

"...What answer?"

Nathan looked at him without blinking.

"Mr. Kingsley believes you already know."

"I don't."

"You will."

Emma's frustration snapped.

"Would somebody please stop speaking in riddles?"

Nathan turned toward her.

For the first time since entering the suite, his expression softened, just enough to acknowledge her presence.

"You must be Miss Emma Bennett."

She folded her arms.

"Yes."

"I've heard a great deal about you."

Something in Emma went still.

"We've never met."

"No."

"Then how have you heard about me?"

Nathan offered the faintest smile.

"Mr. Kingsley believes in being thoroughly prepared."

Prepared for what?

Before she could ask, Richard stepped between them.

"Nathan... Olivia has left."

"I know."

"She isn't coming back."

"I know."

"The wedding can't happen."

Nathan was silent for a moment.

Then he calmly asked, "Has Miss Olivia contacted Mr. Kingsley herself?"

Richard hesitated.

"No."

"So he learned his fiancée disappeared from hotel security."

Emma's stomach tightened.

Hotel security?

Nathan continued.

"Miss Bennett exited through the staff entrance twenty-three minutes ago."

Emma's head jerked up.

"You've been tracking her?"

"No."

"Then how do you know that?"

"The hotel cameras."

His answer was immediate. Matter-of-fact. Nothing more.

Richard rubbed a trembling hand across his face.

"I'm deeply sorry."

Nathan inclined his head.

"I believe you."

"But—"

"Unfortunately, apologies won't prevent what's coming."

Emma didn't like the certainty in his voice.

"What do you mean?"

Nathan glanced toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, and for a moment he looked less like a man delivering a warning and more like someone counting the ways a day could still go wrong.

"Your father's largest lender sits at table twelve," he said. "He came here today expecting to shake Ethan's hand as a new business partner. By tonight, he'll be deciding whether to call the loan instead."

Richard's face went gray.

"That loan is everything."

"I know," Nathan said. "That's why I mentioned it."

Nobody spoke.

Nathan didn't threaten them.

He was simply describing what would happen.

Which somehow felt worse.

Richard lowered himself into a chair.

"My company won't survive this."

Nathan didn't disagree.

"There are contracts tied to today's announcement."

Emma looked from one man to the other.

"What contracts?"

Neither answered.

Her father avoided her eyes.

Something else was happening. Something she hadn't been told.

"Nathan..." Richard spoke quietly. "How much does Ethan know?"

Nathan considered the question.

"He knows Miss Olivia chose to leave."

"And?"

"He knows she didn't leave because she was frightened."

Emma blinked.

"What?"

Nathan looked directly at her.

"Mr. Kingsley asked me to make one thing very clear."

"What?"

"He will never force someone to marry him."

The words caught Emma off guard.

They weren't what she'd expected.

Somehow they made Ethan seem even more dangerous.

A man who didn't need to force people because he expected the world to move around him anyway.

Nathan reached into the inside pocket of his suit and removed another envelope. This one was ivory.

He placed it carefully on the coffee table.

"My employer prepared this several weeks ago."

Richard stared.

"What is it?"

"A contingency plan."

Unease crept up Emma's spine.

"A contingency for what?"

Nathan met her gaze.

"For today."

A chill ran through the room.

Richard slowly reached for the envelope. His fingers trembled as he unfolded the single sheet inside.

He read the first line. Then the second.

His eyes widened.

"No..."

Emma stepped closer.

"Dad?"

He looked at her, something in his expression rearranging itself.

"No."

Nathan remained silent.

Richard shook his head.

"This is impossible."

"It is unusual," Nathan agreed. "But not impossible."

Emma snatched the paper before her father could stop her.

Her eyes raced across the page.

At the top, in bold letters, was the logo of Kingsley Global.

Beneath it, a single sentence.

In the event that Miss Olivia Bennett is unable or unwilling to proceed with the ceremony, Mr. Ethan Kingsley formally requests that Miss Emma Bennett be offered the opportunity to take her place as his bride.

Emma stopped breathing.

She read it again. Slower this time.

Unable. Or unwilling.

The document wasn't written today. It had been prepared before the wedding. Before Olivia had disappeared. Before anyone in this room knew she was leaving.

Her hands began to shake.

She looked up at Nathan.

"...How could he possibly know?"

Nathan held her gaze.

"I believe," he said, "that's a question only Mr. Kingsley can answer."

The room fell into stunned silence.

Outside, church bells began to ring noon across Manhattan.