After dumped, I married a billionaire

"Yes!" Michael’s answer was firm, not a single flicker of hesitation in it.

My chest tightened, like my heart had just taken a hard punch to the gut, a dull, throbbing ache that wouldn’t quit spreading through my ribs. He tossed a casual "sorry" over his shoulder and hurried off like I wasn’t even standing there.

I stayed rooted to the spot, watching him leave, and it felt like a dull blade had just carved my heart open. The pain squeezed so tight I could barely draw breath. Ice crawled up from my toes, numbing every inch of my body, turning me cold all over.

When Michael took over the Hansen family business, it was one bad quarter away from collapsing, finances completely in ruins. He’d sat right across from me and said the company was still unstable, that he couldn’t promise me the steady future I deserved. But he swore once things settled down, he’d marry me.

For three whole years, I clung to that promise. I schemed, I fought, I clawed my way up the corporate ladder just to pull him from nobody to somebody. All I ever wanted was for my family to accept him, for us to finally walk down that aisle. But after three years together… this whole thing was nothing but a business deal to him.

Turns out, in this so-called love of ours, I was the only fool who fell head over heels. All my blood, sweat and tears for three years? Just a bad joke, nothing next to his real one, Aila.

I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, fighting like hell to hold my tears back, but they spilled anyway—rolling down my cheeks like loose beads off a broken necklace, I couldn’t stop them if I tried. The ache inside me raged so hard my whole body shook uncontrollably.

Remy was standing off to the side, watching me fall apart with that smug little smirk of his. "Leona, if you hadn’t been so damn clingy all these years, my brother never would’ve agreed to marry some tacky, low-class thing like you in the first place. Why don’t you get a clue and get out of the Hansen family for good?"

Hearing Remy say that out loud, bold as brass, made the cold in my bones even worse. "Have you already forgotten? If it wasn’t for me, the Hansen family wouldn’t even be here today, sitting pretty like this."

"Cut the crap!" Remy jabbed a finger right in my face, voice sharp with anger. "You really think you’re some big shot? We’d be doing just fine without you!"

The way they saw me… it made my heart ache so bad I thought it would split in two.

"That’s enough for today," Rosalie, Michael’s mother, snapped as she strode over, impatience rolling off her. Her eyes were full of nothing but disgust, like I was something dirty she’d stepped in off the street. "Look at you! Making a scene like this is bad enough, but the Hansen family can’t afford to lose face over you!"

With that, she slapped that fake, practiced smile right back on her face and turned to greet the guests.

I watched as the guests trickled out in small groups, my wedding—the one I’d dreamed of for years—turning into nothing but one big, humiliating joke. Why did the love and sincerity I gave get thrown back in my face like trash? Was it all just because I fell for a man who never loved me back?

I slowly closed my eyes, tears rolling down my cold cheeks. I felt fragile, helpless, just like a pile of shattered glass no one can bother putting back together.

Thirty minutes later, I found myself wandering aimlessly down a deserted street, like a lost ghost searching for something to ease the ache. I didn’t even notice the rain starting at first: big, heavy drops that quickly turned into a full-on downpour.

I glanced around. There wasn’t any shelter for miles, nothing but a bus stop far off down the road. I was barefoot, so I hurried toward it, but of course my luck held—a sharp, jagged stone sliced right into the arch of my foot. I flinched, biting down hard on the pain, and limped the rest of the way to the stop.

Suddenly, a blaring horn cut straight through the quiet of the rain-soaked street.

I stared at the car roaring straight toward me, my eyes blowing wide, pupils blown black with pure fear.