When My Boyfriend Learned I Was the Real Heiress

Calum Vargas pulled the black cloth away with a flourish.

The crowd gasped. Some of the women screamed.

Behind the glass sat a Komodo dragon.

He was massive. Six feet of prehistoric muscle and armored skin, thick limbs splayed across the floor of the enclosure. His tongue flickered out, tasting the air. His eyes were flat and yellow and utterly indifferent to the noise around him.

"Meet Titan," Calum announced, grinning wide. "Our first little test. All you have to do is step inside and stay calm for sixty seconds. Easy, right?"

The blonde bridesmaid who'd refused earlier made a small choking sound and backed into the crowd.

Lilith pressed her hands to her mouth, eyes wide. "Oh my gosh. Is that safe?"

"Totally safe," Calum said. He didn't sound like he believed it. He sounded like he didn't care. "As long as you don't spook him."

I looked at the dragon. He shifted his weight, claws scraping against the metal floor. The sound was low and deliberate.

Grant stood next to Lilith, champagne glass in hand. He glanced at me once. His expression was tight. Not worried. Embarrassed. Like I was a dinner guest who'd shown up in the wrong outfit.

"Holland," Calum said, turning to me. "You're up."

I checked my phone one last time. Thirteen hours, thirty-eight minutes.

I slipped it into my pocket and walked forward.

The crowd parted. Someone whispered. I didn't catch the words.

Calum opened the enclosure door. It swung wide with a metallic groan. Inside, the air smelled like earth and musk and something older than rooms like this.

I stepped in.

The door clanged shut behind me.

Titan's head swung toward me. His tongue flickered again. Once. Twice.

I stood very still.

The crowd pressed against the glass, phones raised. I could see Grant in my peripheral vision, standing next to Lilith. He wasn't watching me. He was watching the people around him, checking their reactions.

Titan took a step forward.

His claws clicked against the floor. His body moved in that slow, reptilian way — efficient, deliberate, nothing wasted. He was three feet from me now. Then two.

I lowered myself into a crouch, slow and smooth, and extended my hand.

Titan stopped.

His nostrils flared. His tongue tasted the air near my fingers.

Then he pressed his massive head directly into my palm.

The room went silent.

I stroked the ridge above his eye with my thumb, the same way I had two years ago in Bali when he was half this size and bleeding from a poacher's snare. I'd spent two weeks nursing him back to health on my father's conservation expedition. I remembered the way he'd watched me then — wary, hurting, but willing to trust the hands that were careful.

He remembered too.

He leaned into my touch, a low rumble vibrating through his chest. Not a growl. Something closer to a purr.

I scratched behind his jaw. He tilted his head, eyes half-closing.

Behind the glass, no one moved.

I stayed there for the full sixty seconds. Titan stayed pressed against me, content.

When the timer buzzed, Calum's voice cracked over the microphone. "Uh. Okay. Time's up."

I gave Titan one last stroke along his neck and stood. He watched me go, tongue flickering once in what I chose to believe was goodbye.

I stepped out of the enclosure.

The crowd stared.

Calum forced a laugh. It came out too loud, too sharp. "Well. That was... I guess Titan's defective. Must've been sedated or something."

No one laughed with him.

I walked back to my seat, brushed a single dark scale from my sleeve, and sat down.

I didn't smile. I didn't need to.

Across the room, Grant finally looked at me. His face was blank. Not impressed. Not relieved. Just... calculating. Like he was trying to figure out what this meant for him.

Lilith leaned into him, whispering something. He nodded, distracted.

Calum stood at the front of the room, jaw tight, hands clenched. The guests nearest him exchanged glances. Quiet. Uncertain.

He clapped his hands together once, too hard.

"Alright," he said. His grin was back, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Round two."

Staff wheeled in something new. A glass tank. Six feet tall, sealed at the top. A single door on the side with a heavy lock.

Calum gestured to it like a game show host. "This one's simple. You get locked in. Tank fills with water. You find your way out." He paused. "There is a way out. Probably."

Someone in the crowd laughed nervously.

Grant didn't laugh. He sipped his champagne and checked his phone.

I stood.

Calum's grin widened. "Eager. I like that."

Two men in black shirts stepped forward and opened the tank door. I walked over and stepped inside. The floor was slick. The walls were cold.

They closed the door behind me. The lock clicked.

I heard the water start before I saw it. A low rush from somewhere above. It poured in fast, filling the space around my feet, my ankles, my knees.

I looked up. The ceiling was solid glass. No hatch. No air vent.

I looked at the lock.

The water reached my waist.

I took a breath and went under.