Five Million Dollar Goodbye Kiss

his family's tech empire collapsed and his parents died, I worked double shi

tood on stage, kissed a high-society lawyer named Jesse

ed champagne all over me. Later, trapped in an elevator together, she hi

from the emergency hatch, able to save only one of us

d without a moment's hes

" while I was "strong" and could handle it. Then, he had the audacity t

oment the bag was full, he ran off with my bl

ised arm, I finally realized the boy I had

pte

cross the polished mahogany desk. It stopped

direct,

skey, but it held a cold edge that made

s a check for five mill

le number, a figure from a different universe than the one she lived in

inking, "is a full scholarship to any university you ch

ut a second thought. The one she had packed

" Kianna's voice w

r, "is Brayden. You will disappear from his life. You will

d she quickly hid them under the table. This was it. The moment she h

his face. "Let's be honest. You're a line

, designed to cut. T

nk you belong in h

her chest, a hollow pain that h

graduate, an equal. Her future is brig

had no one. The foster system had spit her

, elevate him. You... you are a rem

ldn't breathe. Every word was a confirmation of the

elope back. A smal

et from his desk and turned it to face h

n Berg and Socialite Lawyer Jesse Coll

esse, their arms linked, smiling for the cameras.

it away. Her phone, clutched in her hand under the table, slipped. It hit the marble floor with

e stars. Their paths had crossed in the darkness, but now that his

back, pulling h

. That' s where she first saw him again after high school. Brayden Berg, the golden boy

ng her from bullies who mocked her secondhand clothe

sed overnight. His parents were dead in a suspicious privat

ing down into the dark, churning water below. T

bed his arm, her grip surprisingly strong

had said, her

eyes slowly focusing. "Why

fierce. "And as long as you're alive, you

er, and something flickered in the d

ice softening. "You're smart. You can

ingle tear traced a path through the grime on his c

er own dream, the MIT acceptance letter she kept hidden in a bo

nds raw and burned. She took on a late-night

was w

. He would wait up for her, no matter how late, with a bowl of warm soup. He w

happiness, pure and sim

ing his brilliant mind, he built a new company from the ashes of

ed his new company's first major success. He stood on the s

m. The cheap dress she wore felt like a costume. The air, thick w

y incredible partner," Brayden announced

s heart

llins & David Law, the b

Kianna's rent for a year walked onto the stage. Jesse Collins. The dau

ation Kianna hadn't seen in months. They stood sid

on Valley's new power couple. Kianna watched, her hear

y were announci

s of the cameras, Brayden lean

rld sh

roat. The promises he made in their tiny apartment echoed in her min

e. But she didn't want the money. She wanted the man who held h

en and there.

rang. It w

after-party is starting."

ed, her own voice th

, playful tone he used when he wanted s

of her heart hoped. "

heavy pause stret

strained. "Jesse's father is here. It's i

was always Jesse. It was alw

hung

he owned, a simple black dress. She w

grand entrance, greeting gue

them unnoticed, but Jess

mile was bright, but her eyes we

nt, unreadable. He didn't want her here. She co

Brayden said, but h

ed up a glass of champagne from a pas

and "slipped." The champagne dren

Jesse's apology was loud and drama

nd humiliated, the eyes of the

from his pocket. He dabbed at her dress, his t

sse offered, her arm looping through Ki

us already shifting bac

f be led away, a

elevator. The moment the doors slid

she hissed, her voice venomous. "You've t

ed at her,

It was a transaction. You're paid off. Now

..

kered and died, plunging them into darkness. There was a

ing against the brass railing. Pain exploded behin

twisted at an unnatural angle, and she could feel

d Brayden's frantic voice from abo

ied out, her voic

mergency hatch above. "The cables are unstable! We can o

the dim emergency light. She

without a moment's hesi

the small, broken sp

ced a path down her cheek. It was over. It was truly, final

ooked at the man who had orchestrated her heartbreak. She

ed the a

tood up, and walked out without a word, leavin