The CEO’s Signed Bride

I didn’t go home after the hospital. I went straight to school because I needed one thing in my life to stay stable, and the university was the only place that pretended stability was real.The College of Nursing building smelled like floor wax and old paper. Students in clean white uniforms passed me in groups, laughing like their futures were already approved.My uniform was washed thin at the elbows. I kept my ID visible and my face neutral. If I looked tired, people asked questions. Questions turned into rumors.On the way up the stairs, my phone buzzed twice.A text from my aunt, Rowena.So I heard you met someone important. Call me.I stared at it long enough that a classmate brushed past me and said, “Excuse me,” like I was a chair.I didn’t reply.The Scholarship Office was small and always too warm. The electric fan rattled like it hated the job.Ms. Lerma didn’t look up when I entered.“Mira,” she said. “Sit.”I sat. I laced my fingers together under the table so she wouldn’

After the donors left, the lobby exhaled. The administrator laughed into his phone like the day went perfectly.I didn’t move. My skin felt too tight.Jared found me near the private elevators and lifted two fingers. Follow.The elevator opened without anyone pressing a button. Inside, the air smelled like expensive cologne and cold metal.Adrian stood with his back to the mirror, jacket unbuttoned, tie loosened just enough to look human. He was on his phone like the world waited for him.Jared stayed by the door with his iPad, a silent witness.Adrian looked up.“Miss De Vera.”“Sir.”“You didn’t attend,” he said.“I couldn’t.”“Why?”Because someone warned me. Because my scholarship is on probation. Because I’m scared you’re a trap.I didn’t say any of that.“My sister,” I said. “She needed me.”Adrian held my gaze for a beat longer than necessary, then looked away like the word brother changed the problem.“What’s her condition?” he asked.“Chronic,” I said. “Expensive.”A corner o