Chapter 2 This Isn’t a Transaction
A sharp knock echoed through the suite.
“Room service, Mr. Watson. Your breakfast.”
Julian set the check on the table, his tone calm and detached. “Eat something first.”
The woman in the corner didn’t move. She just kept crying.
He said nothing more—simply picked up his fork and began to eat, each movement precise and elegant.
“I’ll give you one million,” he said between bites. “Last night never happened. You don’t tell anyone.”
Cora’s head snapped up.
Her eyes were red, but her voice was steady. “One million?”
Did he think she was a prostitute?
He’d somehow replaced Matt, ruined her first night, and now he wanted to pay her off?
Her throat tightened with humiliation.
“I won’t say a word,” she said coldly. “But I don’t want your money.”
How could she ever tell anyone, anyway?
She gathered her clothes from the floor, walked into the bathroom, and froze.
The woman in the mirror looked like a stranger—hair a mess, eyes swollen, face drained of color.
How did everything go so wrong?
When she left, Julian was still seated at the table, unhurried, eating his salad as if nothing had happened.
He didn’t even glance at her.
The check remained untouched.
⸻
Outside the Hilton, the morning sun stabbed at her eyes.
Her phone buzzed.
A message from Matt.
Babe, I’m boarding. Don’t worry about last night—I know you couldn’t make it. I’ll wait for you. See you when I’m back.
Cora froze.
He wasn’t even in the room last night.
Then why did he think she hadn’t shown up?
Did Dina give her the wrong keycard?
No. That couldn’t be. Dina wouldn’t do something like that… would she?
She slipped the phone back into her bag, staring at the blur of traffic rushing past.
The world looked bright, noisy—and unbearably lonely.
Maybe when Matt came back, nothing would ever be the same.
Maybe this was how their story ended.
Her chest tightened. The thought of losing him hurt so much she trembled.
All of it—last night, the mistake, the betrayal—had happened in a single night.
Dina… was it really you?
She called, but no one answered.
So she just kept walking, letting memories replay in her mind like a cruel film reel.
Their first date.
Their late-night calls.
The nervous excitement she’d felt yesterday, ready to give herself to him.
Every moment so vivid—and now, forever out of reach.
They’d joked about their wedding only yesterday.
He’d promised to call every day, to video chat every week so she could hear his voice, see his face.
Now those promises were shattered.
Could she really pretend nothing happened and talk to him again?
No.
There would be no wedding.
No future.
No children.
Nothing left.
⸻
A piercing screech of brakes snapped her out of her thoughts.
Cora blinked and realized she was standing in the middle of the street.
A car had stopped mere inches away.
She stumbled back to the curb, heart pounding.
The driver cursed, then sped off.
Her phone was still ringing.
Matt’s mom.
Cora wiped her face, took a breath, and answered. “Hello…”
The woman’s icy voice cut her off immediately.
“Cora, Matt’s been transferred to headquarters. His position will be different when he returns. I tolerated your relationship because he liked you, but now that you’re in different states, it’s best you step away. Don’t cling to him.”
Cora’s hand trembled around the phone.
“There’s another girl who went with him,” Matt’s mother continued smoothly. “Her family background is excellent, and she’s the one who recommended him for the promotion. We think they’re a better match. You’re from a small town—your lifestyles are different. If you could end it yourself, that would be for the best.”
The call ended with a quiet click.
Cora stood frozen on the sidewalk, staring at her reflection in a shop window.
She and Matt had loved each other sincerely—so why did it feel like the entire world was determined to tear them apart?
