All Chapters of Signed, Sealed, Seduced?: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

LEON I didn’t sleep that night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Tiffany, not the woman everyone else saw, but my Tiffany. The woman who laughed too loudly when she was genuinely happy, the woman who pretended she wasn’t scared whenever things went wrong, the woman who would rather struggle in silence than admit she needed help. She had always been strong, and that was exactly why Damian’s arrangement bothered me so much. He had found her at her weakest point, her company was struggling, her debts were piling up, and then he appeared with an offer that could solve everything.Marriage. It was too convenient, too perfect, and too suspicious. I couldn’t believe Tiffany had simply accepted it, unless she hadn’t had a choice, that thought kept me awake. By morning, I had made another decision, I needed to be closer to her, not obviously, I couldn’t let her know what I was thinking. If I suddenly started behaving differently, she would notice, Tiffany noticed everythi

DAMIAN The next day, I changed three times, I wasn’t going to admit that to anyone, certainly not Ethan. But if I was meeting one of Tiffany’s closest male friends the day before our wedding, I wasn’t showing up looking ordinary. I wanted to look like her fiancé, not simply some man she’d agreed to marry. I chose a perfectly fitted charcoal suit, white shirt, with a dark tie, my watch, and a subtle amount of cologne, nothing excessive, but just enough. I looked at myself in the mirror, I felt ridiculous. I was preparing for a meeting like it was a boardroom negotiation, except this wasn’t a boardroom. It was Tiffany, and apparently Leon. I adjusted my cufflinks.“Get a grip,” I muttered.***** Tiffany was already waiting when I arrived. She smiled when she saw me, and just like that, all my irritation disappeared. She looked beautiful, of course she did. She was wearing a simple dress that hugged her figure in exactly the right places, her hair framed her face, an

TIFFANY The reception was beautiful, everything about it screamed Ashford, elegant decorations, crystal chandeliers, an enormous ballroom, flowers everywhere, champagne flowing, and guests dressed in designer clothes. I stood beside Damian and watched people congratulate us, I still couldn’t believe this was my life, at one point, I leaned toward him.“Your family went overboard.”He smiled. “This is considered modest.”I stared at him. “Modest?”“Yes.”“You have a very strange definition of modest.”He laughed. “You’ll get used to it.”I looked around. “I don’t think I ever will.”He leaned closer. “You will.” His voice dropped. “Especially once you see where you’re living.”I frowned. “What does that mean?”“You’ll find out.”“Damian.”He smiled. “Patience.”***** After hours of photographs, speeches, dancing, and endless congratulations, the reception finally began winding down, we said our goodbyes, then Damian took my hand.“Ready?”I nodded. “Where are we going?”“Home

TIFFANYI barely slept. By morning, the story had spread everywhere I looked, my father’s name was attached to words like gambler, debt, scandal and bankruptcy, and somehow my name had become part of it. Worse still, people were calling my marriage to Damian a calculated business move. A wealthy heir marrying the daughter of a failing businessman, a convenient way to save a dying company, a perfect arrangement, except it wasn’t, at least not to me. I sat alone in the penthouse, staring at my phone, then I saw a message from Molly.“Are you okay?” I didn’t know how to answer so I didn’t, then another message appeared from Molly. “Please call me.” I locked the phone, I couldn’t talk to anyone, especially not Damian. He had left hours ago, we hadn’t spoken since the argument, part of me expected him to come back and apologize, another part of me knew better. The worst thing about our fight wasn’t that Damian had been angry, it was that his words had revealed som

TIFFANY Damian left me alone in my office, as I sat there for several minutes, unable to move, his words kept replaying in my mind. People were going without salaries while you and your father protected a secret. I had never wanted that, not once, but wanting something and causing it were two different things, and yet the guilt was crushing me anyway. I wiped my face and stood, I needed to speak to my father.***** I found him at home, he was sitting in the living room when I walked in. The moment he saw my face, he stood.“What happened?”“Did you know?”He froze. “Know what?”“That the employees weren’t being paid.”His face fell.I stared at him. “Did you know?”He slowly sat down. “Tiffany…”“Did you know?”“Yes.”My chest tightened. “How long?”He looked away. “Months.”I felt like the floor had disappeared beneath me. “Months?”“I was going to fix it.”“You kept telling me everything would get better.”“I thought it would.”“You knew people were struggling?”He no