After betrayed, I married the man in the Forbes

Haven blinked, and a flicker of unease crossed her face. "It was a mistake. My brother just pushed me into it to keep Mom from yelling at me."

She paused, dropping her gaze as she fumbled for the right words. "I don’t know if my brother ever told you, but I messed up bad a while back. I walked out on someone totally wrong for me. My brother wanted to hide it from Mom to avoid gossip, keep our family from looking bad. Now I see the whole plan was selfish, unfair, and totally unnecessary. We shouldn’t have to keep up this fake act."

Leonard listened in silence for a long minute. A flicker of disappointment glinted in his deep-set eyes, masking whatever else he was feeling that was impossible to read.

"I can’t do this," he finally said. "I’m not good at pretending. And besides, the truth always comes out eventually. Won’t that just upset and disappoint your mom even more in the end?"

His deep voice hit Haven’s heart like a hammer. She dropped her gaze, her mood sinking like a stone.

He was right, wasn’t it? This was just lying. One lie always begets a dozen more. Why would Leonard even have time to play along with this dumb charade?

When the truth did come out, Mom would only be even more heartbroken.

Once that clicked, she snapped her head back up. "Thank you. You made me get it. I was wrong. I need to be honest with Mom, own my mistake, and start fresh. That’s what I should do."

Leonard stepped abruptly in front of Haven, and curled a gentle hand around her wrist. Something unfamiliar shifted in his normally unflappable eyes.

Haven froze. The warmth of his touch sent her heart racing for no reason she could name. She turned, wide clear eyes studying him curiously.

Leonard’s intense gaze lingered on her perfect face, his steady voice laced with unshakable determination. "I’ve got a solution that works for both of us. Wanna hear it?"

Haven stared at him, confused.

Wasn’t he against putting on an act?

How could he have a better idea than faking it?

Her mind spun a mile a minute as she paused, and under Leonard’s watchful stare, she sat back down.

Once he was seated, she leaned in, curious. "Leonard, what’s this solution you’re talking about?"

Instead of answering right away, Leonard grabbed his briefcase off the sofa and set a thick folder down right in front of Haven, his tone cool and collected. "Open it."

Curious, Haven snuck a glance at the relaxed, confident Leonard before turning her attention to the bulging folder sitting in front of her.

What could be inside this thing? And what did it have to do with this so-called solution of his?

Enigmatic Leonard was playing some mysterious game here, wasn’t he? What was his endgame?

Shoving the chaotic swirl of questions to the back of her mind, Haven slowly flipped the folder open. The second she did, her eyes blew wide and her mouth dropped open, completely speechless. She couldn’t even move for a whole minute.

The folder was stuffed full of documents proving just how insanely wealthy Leonard was.

Prime real estate all over the place, blue-chip stocks worth fighting for—all of it was his.

Haven had never been this stunned silent in her entire life.

She knew a few of these properties were registered under the Peters family name, inherited through government deals, not bought outright. But contrary to everything she assumed, every document was stamped and officially registered in Leonard’s name, plain and simple.

She remembered the financial hit her dad took when he bought similar property. Those weren’t permanent ownership—they were just leases, you had to drop a huge annual fee just to keep them. If you didn’t pay, the properties go right back to the government.

Wasn’t Leonard basically holding the entire region’s economy by the throat? How was this even possible?

Who was Leonard Peters really?

How could he own all these priceless assets?

How did the government even allow this?

"You done yet?" Leonard’s deep, calm voice cut through her racing thoughts.

Next to Leonard’s total composure, Haven was a mess of disbelief, curiosity, wonder, and confusion all tangled up. She couldn’t see Leonard as just some random guy anymore. To her, he was walking, breathing wealth and power personified.

"Uh—yes, I’m done, Mr. Moneybags."

"What did you just call me?" Leonard’s dark eyes narrowed, and that innate, intimidating aura of power rolled off him in waves.

Haven didn’t dare piss off the richest guy in the room. What if he went after her family?

"Ah—nothing," she laughed awkwardly, smoothing her face into something neutral before looking at Leonard with wide, sincere eyes. "I don’t get it. How do all these assets tie into your solution for helping me?"

Leonard’s gaze was intense, his eyes holding depths like an old, uncharted river. His lips tugged into a faint smile. "There’s a connection."

As his words settled in, Haven found herself holding her breath, her hands curling slightly tighter. Her beautiful eyes stayed locked on him, not even blinking.

"My dear wife, your family’s properties won’t owe another cent in fees. You’ll get full permanent ownership and land use rights. On top of that, I’m giving you a plot over two hundred thousand square feet right in Manhattan. You can do whatever you want with it. The wedding house, the dowry, all the traditional gifts—nothing’s going to be missing."

Leonard’s calm, steady words hit the quiet lake of Haven’s heart like a boulder, sending shockwaves of astonishment rippling out.

"Are you for real?"

"Yeah. Take all the time you need to think it over," Leonard’s lips pressed into a thin line, his dark eyes like an abyss, dragging her in with an irresistible pull.

"Why me? And besides, we barely even know each other. Don’t you care if your spouse even likes you?"