MARRIED TO A STRANGER : THE BILLIONAIRE'S BRIDE

Chapter One: Goodbye

The waiter dropped the check between them with a polite smile and the kind of quiet detachment that only came from years of serving people at their best and worst. Gold Bennett didn't move. She just stared at the glossy black folder sitting between her and Jason Carter like it was a ticking bomb.

Jason didn't reach for it either. Of course not.

Gold blinked slowly. This wasn't new.

She reached across the table, picked up the check, and slipped her card in without a word. Three years of dating, and she could count on one hand the number of times he'd paid for dinner,and even then, it was usually fast food or a drive-thru milkshake. Not that she minded. She hadn't dated Jason for his money. She had dated him because she loved him. Because she believed in him. Because they had built something together,or so she thought.

But tonight, everything felt different.

Jason wasn't looking at her. He hadn't really looked at her all evening. His eyes had been glued to his phone, his fingers tapping at invisible messages. Now, he was chewing on the edge of his thumbnail like a guilty child, and Gold's stomach twisted.

"Are you gonna say it, or should I just guess?" she asked softly.

Jason looked up, startled, as if he hadn't realized she could see him from across the table. "Say what?"

"Whatever it is you dragged me here to say," she replied, folding her arms.

He blinked. "Gold..."

"Don't 'Gold' me. You've been weird for a month, and this,",she gestured around at the upscale restaurant he had suggested out of nowhere,"isn't your thing. So just say it."

Jason shifted in his seat, like the booth had suddenly grown too tight. He ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair and sighed.

"I met someone."

Just like that.

No warning. No apology. Just four words that split the air like a blade.

Gold didn't respond right away. Her mind was still catching up to her ears.

"I see," she said finally, her voice calm,too calm.

"She's... well, she's different. Her name's Victoria. Her dad's a big-shot investor, and she's got a lot of connections. And we just... click, you know?"

Gold blinked. "And we don't? After three years?"

Jason winced. "It's not like that. You've been amazing. You helped me get through law school, you supported me when I didn't have a cent,"

"Yeah," she cut in. "I paid the rent. Cooked the meals. Covered your textbooks. I was your girlfriend and your safety net."

He nodded helplessly. "I'm not trying to be a jerk."

She gave a soft, bitter laugh. "You don't have to try. You're nailing it."

Jason's eyes dropped to the table, and for a long moment, neither of them spoke.

Gold felt the heat rising behind her eyes, but she refused to cry. Not here. Not for him.

"You know what hurts the most?" she asked quietly. "Not that you met someone else. Not even that you want someone else. It's that you waited until you had everything you needed from me, and then you decided I wasn't shiny enough anymore."

Jason flinched. "That's not fair."

"No, Jason," she said, her voice rising just slightly. "What's not fair is that I believed you when you said we were building something. What's not fair is that I lost sleep helping you study for the bar, and now that you've passed, I'm not good enough to stand beside you."

"I didn't plan it like this," he muttered.

"But you still made the choice."

Silence again.

The waiter returned with the receipt. Gold signed it without looking at the total.

She stood slowly, reaching for her purse. "You know what? I hope she's everything you want. I hope her connections and her perfect hair make you feel like the man you're pretending to be."

Jason opened his mouth to say something,maybe to apologize, maybe to backtrack,but Gold didn't give him the chance.

She walked out of the restaurant with her head held high and her heart crumbling with every step.

The cold air slapped her cheeks the moment she stepped outside. Autumn in New York had a way of cutting straight through you, but Gold didn't flinch. She needed the sting. She needed something sharp and real to keep her from falling apart.

She kept walking. Past glowing storefronts, couples wrapped in coats and each other, steam rising from grates. Her phone buzzed in her purse,probably Leila wondering how the dinner went,but she didn't look.

She couldn't.

When she finally stopped, it was in front of her apartment building. The brick exterior looked the same as it had that morning, but everything else felt... off. She climbed the steps slowly and unlocked the door to the apartment she shared with Leila.

Leila wasn't home. Thank God.

Gold dropped her purse on the couch, kicked off her heels, and sank to the floor like her bones had given up.

She didn't cry.

Not at first.

But the tears came eventually,quiet and steady, like rain on glass. She buried her face in her hands and let it happen.

Let herself mourn.

Not just the relationship, but the years she couldn't get back.

The hopes she'd built around Jason, the future she'd imagined.

All gone.

Her phone buzzed again. This time, she glanced at the screen.

Leila: You okay?

Gold stared at the words. She didn't know how to answer that.

No. Not even close.

But after a moment, she typed back, "Yeah. Just tired."

A lie. But an easier one.

She dropped the phone, wiped her face with trembling fingers, and looked around at the apartment she had decorated with pieces of a life she thought would include Jason.

Then, a thought,quiet, but powerful,rose from somewhere deep inside her.

You're not done. Not even close.

Jason might've left her, but he hadn't broken her.

She was Gold Bennett.

She had poured love into a man who didn't deserve it and came out of it with nothing but strength.

The next time she gave her heart, it would be on her terms.

She didn't know how yet. She didn't know when.

But one thing was certain:

The next chapter of her story wouldn't be written in heartbreak.

It would be written on fire.