Marriage Offered, Love Declined
Penulis
Elle Fielding
Jumlah dibaca
404K
Bab
33
When Olivia Monroe begs Sebastian Winters for a loan to save her family, the last thing she expects is his condition: marriage. Cold, controlled, and heartbreakingly off-limits, Sebastian makes it clear this is a business arrangement. Nothing more. He doesn’t believe in love—and he’s definitely not looking for it.
But as Olivia steps into a life she never asked for, tied to a man who’s locked his heart behind walls, she starts to wonder if she can keep hers safe. Because falling for Sebastian would be a mistake… especially when he’s sworn he’ll never love her back.
Chapter 1: I’ll Do Anything
Smoothing down my dress, I hurry up the stairs to the tallest building in Sydney Harbor, The Orien, where futures are made or broken with a single word. Mine feels like it’s teetering on a knife’s edge. My stomach’s in knots, my palms clammy. I can’t afford to fall apart before I even see him.
Sebastian Winters isn’t just a wealthy, successful, and powerful Sydney businessman; he’s the kind of man who can tilt the balance in someone’s favor or send them spiraling. And today, I need to ask him for something that could change everything.
He’s my boyfriend’s brother, soon to be my brother-in-law, so this shouldn’t feel like stepping into enemy territory. Yet it does. Shame prickles under my skin; it feels wrong to be here at all, but pride is a luxury I can’t afford.
I’m out of breath by the time I reach the reception desk on the fortieth floor.
“Can I help you?” the receptionist asks coolly, sweeping a disapproving eye over my flushed face and business attire.
“I have a one o’clock appointment to see Mr. Winters.”
“Ms. Monroe?”
“That’s me.”
“You’re late.”
I check my watch. It’s just gone one minute past one, but of course, Sebastian would never let a minute slide. “There was an accident. I couldn’t get through in time. I’m sorry. I came as fast as I could.” As it was, I had to park miles away and run here.
“Mr. Winters doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
“Will you please just tell Mr. Winters that I’m here? Please tell him that I’m very sorry I’m late, and that I’ll leave if he wants me to, but that I really do need to speak with him.”
Shaun once told me not to take his brother’s frostiness personally, that they’re barely on speaking terms. Something happened between them, something Shaun won’t talk about, and I learned quickly not to ask.
So maybe Sebastian won’t even see me. But he agreed to the meeting, and that has to count for something.
Twisting her face into an expression of disgruntlement, the receptionist reluctantly picks up the phone and calls Sebastian. At least, I’m sure it’s him because the greeting is short, sharp, and annoyed.
“Your one o’clock is here.” The receptionist looks at me before looking behind me. “I’m aware of this, as is she. She says she’s running late because of an accident.”
“Don’t forget to tell him I’m sorry and that I’m desperate to speak with him,” I remind her.
After hanging up and not passing my message along, the woman with Nordic blonde hair in a severe ponytail stands and motions for me to follow her. I breathe out a sigh of relief and practically run after her.
We walk along a carpeted hallway, past empty offices, to the office at the end. The walls are glass but tinted so they can’t be seen through.
The receptionist knocks on the door and waits for Sebastian’s gruff “Come in,” then opens the door and walks in. I follow her, noting that Sebastian doesn’t even bother looking up at the receptionist or me.
“Thank you, Nicole. You may leave us.”
“Yes, sir.”
Nicole shoots me another disapproving look for good measure before walking out, leaving me standing there looking at Sebastian, who is engrossed in his computer.
Some say his heart was broken into a million pieces and he’ll never love again, and that’s why he’s so cutthroat in the boardroom. Others say his father hardened him and broke him with the cruel way he groomed his son for this role.
Whatever happened to him is a mystery, but the darkness around him is strong. His jet-black hair is long enough to look artfully tousled, yet short enough to be corporate. His eyes are as black as his heart.
And when he looks up and spears me with a gaze, the urge to run out of the room nearly grips me.
“Will you quit staring at me and sit down, Olivia?”
No one calls me Olivia but this man. I prefer Liv or Livvy. And the way Sebastian says it is mocking, almost as though he’s emphasizing my youth, as if being twenty-three makes me naive and insignificant.
His name, on the other hand, should be Pluto or Hades, or…basically devil spawn. Because even if he doesn’t look like it, this man is danger and the devil wrapped in one. Impenetrable. Yet I’m about to beg him to help me.
I walk slowly over to the desk, the only piece of furniture in the large, oversized office, aware of each of my footsteps in the soft, plush gray carpet.
“Is Shaun all right?”
“Yes, he’s…ah, fine.” He’s also completely unaware I’m here. Shaun wants to help me, but he doesn’t have the money or position to offer the amount needed. He’s been talking about proposing for months. I hope Sebastian will see this as an opportunity to help out his future sister-in-law.
If I’d told Shaun what I was planning, he would have tried to talk me out of it, and I might have let him. Because in the nearly twelve months we’ve been dating, his brother has never once made me feel welcome. And it seems he’s not about to start now.
“What is it you need then?” he bites out, his voice full of impatience.
I would rather have this conversation with him looking at me, but he seems intent on getting on with his business, and since I was a minute late, I guess I don’t have the right to demand his full attention.
It’s just that this is a big thing I’m asking for, and as difficult as I knew it would be, I thought he would at least be looking at me when I asked for help. Even if it is easier to avoid making eye contact with the devil, if he won’t look at me, how can I expect him to say yes?
I run my hands down my skirt. His gaze snaps up, and he glares at me, and I’m sweating.
“I’m waiting, Olivia. You asked for this appointment, yet you come late, insist on still meeting with me, and then say nothing.”
At least he’s looking at me now. Taking a deep breath, I hold his unhappy gaze. “I came to ask you for a loan.”
For a beat of silence, he doesn’t acknowledge what I said. Then, as if I’ve simply asked him to escort me to a water park, as if my father’s life doesn’t hang in the balance with his decision, Sebastian shakes his head. “No.”
It’s a one-word answer, not even an explanation. Perhaps I don’t have the right to ask for one, but my throat tightens. I don’t know how to sway him, but I need to. I have to. I swallow hard.
“I know it’s a lot, but a loan could keep us afloat until my father can make up the money we’ve lost. I know we can get things back on track; we just need the chance to do that.”
Black eyes peer into mine. “Olivia, do you have any idea just how much trouble your father’s business is in?”
“I work there, Sebastian. Of course I know.”
“Then you understand we’re not talking pocket change.”
I nod. But without Sebastian’s help, my family will be ruined, and not just financially. As it is, my father has started his day-long binge-drinking sessions again; my mother is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and Johnny, my brother, is running up gambling debts, trying to win back our money.
I’m watching my family fall to pieces in front of me, and I have to do something.
“I wouldn’t ask, but there is no one else,” I add, my desperation loud in the large room.
“So I am your last lifeline then?”
“Yes,” I confirm. “And I promise I will pay every cent back just as soon as I can.”
He shakes his head. “What if you never can? What if you don’t get the money back, Olivia? What happens if I loan you this money and it makes no difference?”
“Then I’ll come up with some other form of payment.”
His eyes widen, and I redden at how it sounded.
“I mean,” I quickly elaborate, “there must be some way to repay you. I’ll work in your company, be your personal assistant, be your maid. I’ll do anything. I promise you that I will find a way to repay the debt.”
“We’re talking about a huge loan, and I don’t need a maid, or an assistant, or another employee. I already have those.”
“There must be something you need.” Again, I blush at the words coming out of my mouth. And clearly, I’m right about them not sounding innocent because Sebastian raises an eyebrow.
I feel far too hot as the silence drags out between us, giving me too much time to imagine how many women he’s been with.
He’s a billionaire with an absurd amount of power, and even though I find him too serious and intimidating, with his strong nose, square-cut jaw, and sharp cheekbones, the tabloids love to refer to him as the world’s sexiest billionaire.
Anything to sell magazines. “That didn’t sound innocent,” I blurt, my cheeks still on fire. “I didn’t mean it like that… I just thought there must be something you don’t have. Something you want.”
“There isn’t.” He turns back to his screen, dismissing me with a glance.
My mouth falls open, but I close it quickly, trying not to show my shock. I never thought this conversation would be easy, but I didn’t expect him to shut me down that fast either.
Even though it was a long shot, I still managed to convince myself that I could, would, persuade him. Now, I’m worrying I may have been deluding myself.
“Please,” I say, the word barely more than a breath.
Silence.
“Money can’t fix everything,” I push. “There has to be something I can do. Something you need.”
His eyes narrow. “You’re not in a position to offer me that.”
The words land like bait. “So there is something,” I press, leaning forward. “Tell me what it is. Let me help. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
He studies me for a long beat, and the intensity in his gaze is at odds with the faintest curve pulling at his mouth. “That’s a dangerous promise.”
“Only if I can’t keep it.”
“Well then.” His gaze darkens. “There is one thing I don’t have. You’d have to give up a lot to change that.”
