She Was Never Broke
I worked in bottle service at a nightclub for four years just to support my boyfriend.
His startup business failed. He told me he owed a fortune to loan sharks, saying that they would cut off his fingers if he failed to pay up.
I gave him every dollar I had saved just to help him clear off his debt.
I even gave him the emerald bracelet my mother had left me before she passed away.
That night, I unintentionally overheard a conversation from one of the private rooms while I was working.
"Preston, your girlfriend never would have given you that bracelet she had been hiding if Mia hadn't suggested we pretend to be debt collectors and assist you with this little show."
Preston Hale laughed smugly before draining the drink in his glass. "It's just an old bracelet. Mia liked it, so I gave it to her."
Then, he leaned back and added, "Now, help me think of another way to test Nora."
So that was the truth.
The love I dedicated for four years was just a test to him. The loan sharks, debt, fear, and desperation—he had orchestrated it all.
I turned, walking out on him and out of the nightclub.
Then, I reached out to my older brother, Adrian Whitmore, with whom I had been fighting for years.
"Adrian," I told him, "I lost. I'll marry the man you arranged for me to meet."