MasukThe day I came back to the Bennett family as the real heiress, Romina, the fake one, looked at me with red-rimmed eyes and said she wanted to give the engagement back to me. "Don't bother. I'm already seeing someone." I rested a hand on my barely noticeable belly and said, half joking, "If you feel that bad about it, how about you just cash me out instead?" The words had barely left my mouth before a few lines of text drifted across my vision. [lmaooo the villainess is still scheming for money at a time like this. can we please skip ahead to the part where the male lead puts her in her place.] [I came for the sweet romance between the lead and the fake heiress heroine, not some side character throwing a fit because she's got a baby bump to wave around] [spoiler from me! the villainess gets thrown out of the family, the lead ends up hating her, and she dies in childbirth. throwing confetti!] I clicked my tongue. How could I possibly cling to a strange man? Then footsteps came from behind me. Romina walked over, crying, and introduced me. "Orlando, this is my sister, Ophelia. The engagement was supposed to be hers." I turned around, and my whole body went rigid. It was the patron who'd kept me for five years, the father of the child I was carrying.
Lihat lebih banyakThree months later, I got a call from my father, of all people.He danced around it for ages, until I'd had enough and was about to hang up. Only then did he stammer out what he wanted."Effie, can you help your father out? Lend me some working capital?"He sighed and laid it all out.It turned out that over the past year and more, the Hales and the Bennetts had been hammered relentlessly by the other families.The mafia world respects only strength.The two men who'd been played by Romina had no business being Dons, no business holding the territory their men had bled for.Orlando was like an old dog that had been gelded, drained of all fight, doing nothing but drinking in front of my photo all day.Hale territory had mostly been carved up already.The Bennetts weren't faring any better.The family was in disarray now, and my father badly needed capital to keep things afloat and hold the last of his ground.I answered calmly. "A loan? Sure. What's the collateral? And the interest rate
Orlando stood stiffly in the crowd.A year apart, and he'd thinned out a great deal.He wore a suit I'd given him once. It hung off him now.His hair was still combed neatly, but half of it had gone gray.When I came down off the stage, he sidled up to me."Effie, congratulations."I smiled and nodded. "Thank you."Seeing him again, there wasn't a single ripple left in me.If Orlando was a mountain, then I was the wind, free.I'd long since crossed over him."Effie, this whole year... I've been waiting for you... I said I'd wait forever..."He hung his head, voice hoarse, his feet shifting like they couldn't find solid ground.Then something occurred to him, and he pulled a special box from inside his coat.It was made of crystal. The lower compartment held an old photo of me.The upper one held a ring.I raised an eyebrow.It was the seven-carat pink diamond, the one he'd bought and once promised me."Now that your company's gone public, you must be happy. The anger's probably mostly
Damian had been under a lot of pressure lately.Once the project officially launched, he ran nonstop, like a machine.A startup was a bottomless pit. The forty million I put in burned through fast.The company was performing well, and the user numbers were climbing quickly.But we needed more capital.Damian decided to bring in another round of investment. For it, he dressed himself up with great care."How do I look?" he asked nervously, knotting his tie.I looked him over with a smile.He had on a well-cut suit that showed off his lean, athletic build, broad at the shoulders and narrow at the waist.His blond hair was combed back without a strand out of place, his fair skin glowing like a diamond.It was true. Clean him up a little, and he was better looking than anyone.[is this even the side guy? I almost didn't recognize him!][tech nerd? this is a full-on finance heartthrob!]He turned a circle in front of me. "Well? Give me your honest take, the investors are coming any minute!"
[Orlando's Perspective]Orlando pulled the wedding ring off his finger and slid it across the table to Romina."Romina, the engagement's off."Romina went white, asking in disbelief, "Orlando, do you know what you're saying?""I do." Orlando raised his voice. "The engagement is off.""Have you lost your mind? Ophelia's gone! And she's never coming back!"Romina shot to her feet and screamed, hysterical, "You're calling it off for her?"Orlando dragged a hand down his face, his voice heavy with exhaustion."Romina, you know exactly what you've done.""All that evidence in your hands, you dug it up yourself, didn't you?"Romina's expression flickered.Of course she knew.The engagement she'd "reluctantly" accepted. The coffee she'd "accidentally" spilled. The ring she'd "hidden." The bracelet she'd "broken."Too many. Far too many to count.Romina's eyes darted, and she dug in stubbornly."I have no idea what you're talking about! Orlando, our engagement isn't a game! This is about two g












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