The Ruined Heiress's Fake Pregnancy Bargain

silk curtains, a blade of ligh

nd was the stale scent of champagne and expensive perfume clinging to t

to it. The screen lit up with a name that made her stomach clench with a familiar mix o

voice thick with sleep. "S

was tight with panic, laced with tears. "The bank just

lare's hango

ooling around her waist. Her heart gave

t and unconvincing. She tried to soothe the older woman while h

n't a

. "ACCOUNT FROZEN." "INSUFFICIENT FUNDS."

and oily, began to

ther, Arthur Beaumont. The ca

me back. Im

again. V

threw the covers off and ran from the bedroom, her

udy wa

r's mahogany desk sat a single, crisp pi

darling girl

private stock, the kind he only kept in his office on the top floor of the Beau

silk slip she'd worn to bed. An image flashed in her mind: her father, years ago, taking her to the roo

orsche. The engine sputtered once, then die

cards wer

d tearing from her throat. Abandoning the car, she ran out onto the str

driver took in her wild eyes and sta

eeched to a halt. The dri

voice trembling as she scrambled

ather's number, each unanswered call a hammer blow to he

scraper. Clare fumbled in her coat pockets, the

the driver, her voice laced with a humiliation th

f pure contempt, the kind re

ed from the car and ran into the lobby.

, you

possessed. She ran to the executive elevator, the one that required a fingerp

reflection in the mirrored walls. A pal

oor to the rooftop was slightly ajar, a

it open a

row ledge at the very edge of the roof, the w

und of pure animal terror

f utter despair, but there was a strange look of relief in

ied, inching forward, her hands outstretched as

that didn't exist, her voice cracking with unshed tears.

oment of hesitat

aist and pulling him back from the edge. T

heaving sobs. He confessed everything-the bankru

as long as they had each other, they had hope. But ins

street, the morning rush hour just beginning around them. She had saved h

on her. The shame was a physical thing, a h

past, its tinted window reflecting

bered a man from a yacht party weeks ago. A man who moved with the cold cert

ve a problem of this magnitude. But a man like that did

e. Something that tied directly to his most vi

r flat stomach. A plan, born of pure

nto the cold morning air,

pregn