“What?” she gasped.
“I found out a month ago that my employee—your son—was engaged to the woman who saved my life,” Julian explained, his voice icy. “I did a background check. I saw his texts. I saw his greed. So, I set a trap. I had ‘Isabella’ approach him. I offered him a fake merger, a fake fortune, and a fake future to see if he would sell out his fiancée.”
Julian looked at me, his eyes softening. “He failed the test in less than twenty-four hours. He sold you out for fool’s gold.”
My head was spinning. The heiress was fake? Julian Thorne had orchestrated this?
“Why?” I whispered, looking up at him.
“Because he was going to destroy you,” Julian murmured, for my ears only. “And I couldn’t watch the woman who gave me a second life waste hers on a coward.”
He turned back to the stunned audience.
“Ryan Vance thinks he is getting married today. He is right about the date, but wrong about the groom.”
Julian turned fully toward me. He took both my wine-stained hands in his.
“I know this is sudden,” he said, his intensity burning through me. “I know this looks like madness. But I have known who you are for three years. I know your bravery. I know your kindness. And I know you deserve better than a man who treats you like an option.”
He paused, glancing at the priest who stood open-mouthed in the background.
“Marry me, Maya,” Julian said. “Right now. Today. Don’t let them win. Don’t let them see you broken. Let’s rewrite the ending of this script together.”
My heart hammered against my ribs. Marry a stranger? Marry a billionaire I had saved once?
But then I looked at Mrs. Vance. She looked terrified. I looked at the crowd. They looked awestruck.
And I looked at Julian. Underneath the power and the anger, I saw the man I had saved. I saw the vulnerability he was hiding from everyone else. He was offering me a shield. He was offering me a sword.
The double doors at the back of the church burst open again.
“MAYA!”
It was Ryan.
He ran into the church, looking disheveled. His tie was crooked, his hair wild. He was sweating profusely. He had just received the text from the “heiress” firing him and revealing the prank.
He sprinted down the aisle, stopping short when he saw Julian holding me.
“Boss?” Ryan gasped, bending over to catch his breath. “What… what are you doing here? Maya? What is going on?”
Julian smiled. It was a shark-like grin, all teeth and no mercy.
“You’re just in time for the ceremony, Ryan,” Julian said pleasantly. “Take a seat. You’re in the back row now.”
