ng yourself directly into the lions' den of high society. Beatrice and Raymond will see your face splashed across every financ

thought of the woman she used to be, the quiet, compliant girl who believed love meant shrinking herself to fit som

pression of absolute, unshakeable resolve. "Let them watch every single b

his eyes matching her own. The pact was no longer jus

ng was not a matter of picking out a dress; it

er of Xavier's private dressing gallery, surrounded by racks of heavy fabrics and obsidian-toned wools. Her private s

gested hesitantly, "to projec

her voice devoid of compromise. "Grace is for women who expect mercy. I am walking into a

p shoulders that projected an unyielding silhouette. It was a visual armor designed to

avier's study. Xavier sat across from her like a hostile prosecutor, hu

rd. "They will bring up Raymond. They will say you are carrying too much bagg

lance sheets better than his own chief financial officer. I know the exact vulnerabilities in Roland Industries' regional liquidity. I am not ent

ust a few short weeks, the fragile, broken woman he had pulled from the hospital be

y arrived, the reality of it settled into h

did not simply open; they parted like the gate

hite hair and tailored three-piece suit radiated old-money condescension, cleared his thro

you until the end of the fiscal quarter to present a suitable engagement proposal. The board cannot allow Hemilighton's stock to fluctuate simpl

is voice was effortless, cutting through

the heavy door further to reveal

sprawling room fell into a ter

ith an unhurried, devastating grace. Her blunt bob caught the sharp gleam of the crystal chandelier overhead. There was no hesitation

he table, Julian Berne, a minor stakeholder aligned with compet

lfway down his nose. "Good heavens... is that....,is

d resting possessively yet respectfully on the small of her back. "Gentlemen, allow me to introduce my propo

upted in

gainst the wood. "Marrying a disgraced and rejected nobody? A woman whose ex-husband is our primary competitor

ce was not loud, but it possessed a razor-sharp clarity that commanded

hands on the edge of the board table, leaning in slightly. Her dark eyes swept over t

their liquidity margins, their vulnerable regional debt portfolios, and exactly how many bricks hold up Raymond's fragile little

rd had expected a docile, blushing bride they could easily manipulate behind the scenes. Instead, they h