8
Saturday morning, I was jolted awake by a
commotion downstairs.
When I went down to investigate, I found the
living room overflowing with lavish betrothal
gifts.
Cora Stone was standing right in the middle
of it all. When she saw me, the smug,
triumphant smirk on her face was impossible
to miss. “Well, well, Quinn Hamilton. Look at
all this! These are all betrothal gifts from
Silas. He had them sent over just this
morning.”
She preened. “Even if you staged that whole
sham engagement with Landon King just to
try and win Silas back, it’s obviously too late.
Silas won’t even spare you a second glance
now.”
I ignored Cora’s arrogant display, my eyes
scanning the piles of extravagant gifts with a
growing sense of unease and confusion.
Our butler, Mr. Henderson, hurried into the
room, looking slightly flustered.
“Miss Quinn, a Mr. Thorne is here to see you.”
Hearing this, Cora’s face lit up with an almost
manic excitement. “Quickly, Henderson, show
him in! Oh, Silas is just too much! Coming
over so early to discuss our wedding plans!
It’s such a shame Father isn’t home right
now.”
As I nodded to Mr. Henderson, my gaze
flickered back to the mountain of gifts.
Something wasn’t right.
When Silas entered, he was flanked by
several men in sharp, business–like suits,
looking very official.
Cora practically skipped over to him, her
voice dripping with saccharine sweetness.
く
“Silas, darling! Even though my father isn’t
here, I can certainly make decisions about my
own wedding. And don’t you worry your
handsome head about a thing, Father will
prepare an absolutely magnificent dowry for
me when I marry you.”
She pouted prettily. “Oh, Silas, you’ve been
so cold to me these past few days! I’ve
missed you terribly!”
Her voice was so cloyingly sweet and
simpering, it made my skin crawl.
Silas didn’t even spare Cora a glance. He
walked straight towards me.
“Quinn,” he began, his voice earnest, almost
pleading, “why haven’t you been answering
my calls? I’ve been doing a lot of thinking
these past few days, Quinn. And I’ve
realized… I’ve finally realized that the person I
truly love, the one who’s always been in my
heart… it’s you.”
He gestured grandly towards the piles of
gifts. “Look, Quinn! These are all for you! I
chose every single item myself, thinking only
of you. You always said you wanted to marry
me, didn’t you? Well, here I am, with all these
gifts, ready to make you my wife. Say you’ll
marry me, Quinn. Please?”
I had to physically restrain myself from
throwing up last night’s dinner all over his
expensive shoes.
“Mr. Thorne,” I said, my voice dripping with
ice, “I believe you’ve made a rather significant
mistake. The person you supposedly ‘love‘ is
currently standing right behind you.”
Silas just shook his head, a wild, almost
desperate look in his eyes.
He took a step towards me, but the
bodyguards my father had assigned me
instantly moved, forming a protective barrier,
a silent, reassuring presence.
“Quinn, please, let me explain!” he pleaded,
his voice cracking. “It was all a
misunderstanding! Cora… Cora seduced me!
She tricked me! I wasn’t thinking clearly! But I
see everything now, Quinn. I realize my
mistake. Please, just give me one more
chance. Please?”
He looked so genuinely remorseful, so utterly
sincere, that for a fleeting, insane moment, I
almost hesitated.
Hearing his words, Cora, her face a mask of
shocked disbelief, rushed forward.
“Silas! That’s not what you told me! You…
you said you were only with Quinn for her
money! You said you loved me!”
Silas’s face darkened. He shoved Cora away
roughly. “Get lost, you delusional bitch!”
He turned back to me, his expression
pleading. “Quinn, you have to believe me!
She’s making all of this up! She’s just trying
to drive a wedge between us, to ruin our
chances!”
Cora stared, her face crumbling, then burst
into tears and ran from the room.
L
I lowered my gaze, maintaining my silence,
letting him dig his own grave.
Silas, seeing my apparent lack of immediate
rejection, got a shrewd, calculating glint in his
eyes.
“Quinn,” he said, his voice dropping to a
conspiratorial whisper, “the credit cards you
gave me… something’s wrong with them.
They’ve all been frozen. These betrothal
gifts… I don’t actually have the funds to
cover them right now. Could you… could you
possibly advance me the money? Just until
my cards are working again? I promise, I’ll
pay you back every single cent.”
And there it was. The fox’s tail, finally
revealed.
Г
I knew it. I just knew it. I’d already instructed
my father’s finance department to cut off all of Silas’s funding weeks ago.
There was no way he could possibly afford
any of this.
So, this was his brilliant plan? Order first, pay later… with my money?
A cold, mirthless smile touched my lips.
Under his hopeful, expectant gaze, I finally
spoke, my voice clear and utterly devoid of
emotion. “No.”
Silas’s face went deathly pale. For a moment,
his carefully constructed mask slipped,
revealing the grasping, entitled leech he’d
always peen. wny not?! Inis amount….. it S
nothing to you! It’s less than you’d spend on
a single spa day! I’m begging you, Quinn!
What more do you want from me?”
“Silas Thorne,” I said, my voice ringing with a
finality that could not be mistaken, “listen to
me, and listen carefully.”
“Even if I was blind enough to have ‘loved‘
you once, that doesn’t mean I am obligated to
keep paying, indefinitely and unconditionally,
for a mistake I made in the past.”
“These gifts… you can give them to
whomever you please. But the money? I will
not give you another dime. Not now, not ever. And furthermore, I demand that you stop
harassing me. Stop interfering in my life. And
stop spreading your disgusting, slanderous
lice about mo!!
stop spreading your disgusting, slanderous
lies about me.”
My voice hardened. “Otherwise, I swear to
you, I will sue you for everything you don’t
have, and I will make sure you spend the rest
of your miserable life rotting in a prison cell!”
Faced with my absolute, unwavering resolve,
Silas’s face turned an even more ghastly
shade of white.
Just then, Mr. Henderson reappeared,
followed by a small army of liveried staff.
They were carrying after of more
betrothal gifts. They opened a few, revealing
stacks of gleaming gold bars, thick wads of
cash, and a sheaf of property deeds.
