My Ex's Billionaire Father Is Now My Husband

I was going to propose to my boyfriend tonight.

Not the other way around. I know. But we had been together for three years, and I was tired of waiting.

I stood in the middle of Jason's birthday party with a little velvet box in my purse. Inside was a watch I spent three months of my salary on. The back was engraved.

To J, My Forever.

Stupid. I know that now.

The Sterling mansion was too loud. Too bright. Champagne everywhere, people in dresses that cost more than my rent. I kept looking for Jason.

I found him by the pool.

He wasn't alone.

Sophie had her arms around his neck. My best friend Sophie. The girl who helped me pick this dress. The girl who told me Jason was going to propose tonight too.

They were kissing. Like they had done it a hundred times before.

The sound of the party disappeared.

Jason saw me first. He didn't even let go of her.

"Ava. You weren't supposed to be over here yet."

My hand was shaking so hard the purse strap was digging into my skin. "What is this?"

Sophie finally stepped back. She didn't look guilty. She looked... sorry for me.

"Jason was going to tell you tonight," she said softly. "After the party. We didn't want to ruin his birthday."

Ruin his birthday.

I laughed. I didn't mean to. It came out broken.

"Three years, Jason. Three years I waited for you to be serious."

He sighed like I was being dramatic. That sigh. I had heard it so many times when I talked about my future, my designs, my dreams.

"Ava, come on. You knew we were growing apart. You're sweet, but you're not... Sophie understands my world. You never did."

My world.

Because his father is Adrian Sterling. Billionaire. Because he was born into that house and I was born in a one-bedroom apartment where my mom left me at 12.

I thought love was enough. I really did.

I took the little velvet box out of my purse. My fingers were numb. I opened it. The watch was shining under the party lights.

I had written My Forever.

He looked at it, then at me, and he actually laughed. "Are you serious? You were going to propose to ME?"

Sophie covered her mouth. Some people near the pool turned. They were staring. Whispering.

I felt my face burn. Not from crying. From shame. That hot, sick shame that goes down your throat and makes you want to disappear.

"Okay, wow," Jason said, running a hand through his hair. "This is getting weird. Look, we can talk later, okay? When you're not being so emotional."

Emotional.

I didn't say anything. I couldn't. If I opened my mouth, I would scream.

I turned and walked. Not to the house. To the garden behind the mansion. Where it was dark. Where no one could see me.

I sat on the cold stone bench and finally let the tears come. I took off the necklace Jason gave me on our first anniversary. A cheap little thing that I thought was precious. I threw it into the bushes.

I was such a fool.

"You're going to catch a cold."

The voice came from behind me. Low. Calm. Too calm for this party.

I didn't need to turn. I knew that voice. Everyone in New York knew that voice.

Adrian Sterling.

Jason's father.

I quickly wiped my eyes. "Mr. Sterling. I'm sorry, I just needed some air."

He walked into the light. He was in a black suit, no tie, a glass of whiskey in his hand. He is 41, but he doesn't look like any 41-year-old I know. He looks like a wall. Cold, expensive, untouchable. Jason looks like a boy next to him.

He looked at my face. At my smeared mascara. At the empty bench.

"My son is an idiot," he said.

I let out a wet laugh. "You raised him."

"Unfortunately, his mother raised him more."

He sat down. Not close. Far enough to be respectful. But I could smell his cologne. Clean and expensive.

"He dumped you for Sophie Lane," he said. It wasn't a question.

"You saw?"

"I see everything that happens in my house."

Great. Even his billionaire father saw me get humiliated.

I stood up. "I should go. I'm sorry for ruining the party."

"You didn't ruin anything. You were the only honest thing at this party."

He stood up too. He was so much taller than Jason. He looked down at me, and for the first time tonight, someone wasn't looking at me with pity.

He was looking at me like he was angry. Not at me. For me.

"How long were you with him?" he asked.

"Three years."

"And he never introduced you to me properly. Not once."

No. He never did. Because I wasn't good enough.

Adrian took a sip of his whiskey. Then he said something that made my blood stop.

"Marry me."

I stared at him. "What?"

"I need a wife. For the board vote next month. My shareholders think I'm too... unstable since my divorce. A stable marriage helps me secure the company."

I thought I misheard him because I was drunk on cheap champagne and heartbreak.

"You want me to... marry you? You're Jason's father."

"Exactly. You need a place to stay tonight, because I know you shared an apartment with my son and he just kicked you out by dumping you. You need a job, because your internship at his company is obviously over. And you want revenge. I can give you all three."

My heart was beating so loud.

"This is crazy."

"Is it? He took your three years. You can take his name. And make him call you Mom."

He said it so casually. Like he was offering me a business deal.

And maybe it was a business deal. But in that moment, in that dark garden, with my ex-boyfriend laughing with my ex-best friend inside, revenge sounded better than love.

He pulled out a black card from his pocket. And a ring box. Not a little velvet box like mine. A black velvet box that probably cost more than my entire life.

"It will be a contract. One year. Separate rooms. No feelings. You help me, I help you. After a year, you walk away with ten million dollars and your own studio."

Ten million dollars.

I looked at the house. At the party lights. I could hear Jason's laugh.

I looked back at Adrian Sterling. The man I was supposed to call Mr. Sterling. The man who was now looking at me like I was the only thing that made sense tonight.

I was supposed to say no.

Instead, I whispered, "Okay."