He chose my stepsister. I chose his rival

It had been almost four days since Scarlet met Ryan, and the encounter had occupied her thoughts continuously. As much as she acknowledged that accepting his offer was risky and embarrassing, she couldn't help but contemplate the potential benefits of his proposal.

If there was one thing she had to concede, Ryan was correct in identifying her as a scornful woman.

Since witnessing Emily and Henry's wedding, she has struggled to sleep well at night. Recurring nightmares haunted her, featuring the joyous exchange of vows between her sister and ex-husband, despite the profound betrayal it represented.

The emotional toll that the entire situation took on her was excruciating, especially since they showed no pretense of caring about her or her feelings. After seeing that she had become nonexistent to them, her desire to exact revenge on both of them and make them regret turning her into a laughingstock consumed her.

Ryan's offer proved to be tempting, presenting an opportunity for her to gain the power necessary to confront Henry and Emily. Since her own family had now abandoned her and she had no one else to turn to, Ryan seemed like her best bet at getting the payback she desperately wanted. And after days of contemplation, she decided it was time to respond.

Ryan had provided his business card for her to contact him, and she had concluded that peace was unattainable unless she sought revenge on her ex-husband and sister. Retrieving his business card from her bedroom, she made her way to the kitchen and picked up her phone to make the call. After a few deep breaths, she found the courage to dial his number. As the phone rang, each second felt like an eternity. Finally, the call was answered by a feminine voice, presumably Ryan's secretary.

"Good afternoon. This is the office of Mr. Marchetti. Who is this, and how may I help you?" the secretary inquired.

Exhaling deeply, Scarlet responded, "I'm Scarlet. Scarlet Parker. Mr. Marchetti had personally given me his business line to call him concerning a proposal, and I would like you to let him know that I'm ready to give him a response."

"Okay, madam. Please give me a second to confirm," the secretary replied, leaving Scarlet in suspense as silence enveloped the other end of the call. She nervously awaited the call to be transferred back to Ryan so she could convey her readiness to accept his marriage proposal.

She tapped her fingers nervously on the kitchen counter, hoping and praying that her delay hadn't caused him to change his mind about wanting to help her.

She knew for a fact that he wasn't doing it because he cared about her in any way. Regardless of whatever reason he had, he was offering her a position to become the wife of one of the wealthiest men in the country, and that wasn't an offer that came every day.

"Mr. Marchetti has agreed to speak with you, madam." The secretary's voice finally came back, and she let out a nervous sigh she didn't realize she was holding.

She couldn't be confident that he still wanted to help her, but she had to believe that he had agreed to speak to her because the offer was still very much open.

"Thank you," she said, but she wasn't even sure the secretary heard her since the line went dead, and she knew that her call had been transferred.

"Hello, Miss Parker." Ryan's familiar voice spoke next, and her breath hitched momentarily when she heard him speak.

For some reason, she was feeling a lot more nervous than she expected herself to be, unsure if it was fear of rejection or uncertainty about making the right decision.

She wanted revenge against Henry and Emily, but was marrying a stranger the right way to go about it? Would her decision turn out to be her worst mistake ever? What if Ryan's reason for wanting to marry her turned out to be more unbelievable than she expected? Could she go through with this in the long run? Was marrying him the only way to get back at the people who betrayed her?

All these thoughts plagued her mind, and she couldn't help the nervous feeling she had.

"Miss Parker? Are you still there?" His voice snapped her out of her reverie, and she sighed before returning her focus fully to why she had called in the first place.

"I'm calling you concerning the offer you made me the last time we met," she said, leaving the pleasantries aside.

She almost wanted to ask if the offer was still available, but she decided not to, not wanting him to think that she was desperate for his help.

"Okay. Have you made up your mind?" he asked, sounding calm and almost unbothered.

"Yes, I have. I..." she was saying, but he cut her off.

"Whatever your decision is, I promise that I'll respect it, but I don't think this is something that we should discuss over the phone. I'm going to send a driver to come pick you up later this evening. We'll have dinner together and discuss whatever needs to be discussed. Is that fine?" he interjected.

Although Scarlet didn't understand why they couldn't just talk about it over the phone, she realized that Ryan must have his reasons. Since she was seriously considering accepting his marriage proposal, having dinner with him seemed like a reasonable idea to get a glimpse of who he really was.

"That sounds just fine to me. What time is your driver going to be arriving?" she asked.

"Does 6 p.m. sound good enough to you?" he asked.

"It's perfect."

"Good. The driver will call you when he arrives, and I'll see you later this evening. Also, Scarlet, thank you so much for calling. I appreciate it," he expressed.

Even though she wasn't sure why he was thanking her when he didn't even know her response yet, she felt some kind of relief because it sounded like he hadn't changed his mind yet.

"You're welcome, I guess," she reluctantly replied.