Chapter 2
It was definitely Elliot Hawke, but he was nothing like the shy, awkward little guy I remembered.
Broad shoulders, narrow waist, designer suit tailored to perfection, every hair in place. If it weren’t for the dozen bodyguards trailing behind him, I would’ve thought it was a magazine shoot.
But when his eyes swept over me, there was zero warmth like he was looking at a piece of furniture.
I was about to go say hi when Elliot’s gaze landed on Celine.
His brow furrowed slightly, but there was this barely noticeable softness in his expression.
“Lily, what are you doing on the ground?”
Celine the secretary saw Elliot appear, all that nastiness and arrogance on her face instantly switched to wounded victim mode.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
“Elliot, thank God you’re here!”
“It was this slut – she was dragging this huge broken-down suitcase around, just charging through like a maniac, and knocked me right down!”
“Look at my diamond – I only wore them for one day, and now she’s destroyed them! Look at this deep scratch, and she won’t even own up to it!”
She shot me a death glare.
Elliot’s gaze finally settled on me properly.
“You’re Uncle Richard’s daughter, Calista?”
His tone was flat, completely cold.
I met his stare and answered calmly.
“That’s me.”
The pieces of Dad’s belongs were scattered in the case behind me, but this man – the guy who was supposedly my arranged fiancé – only had eyes for Celine’s expensive earrings.
“Tiffany couture, only twelve pairs made worldwide. That scratch is way too deep – there’s no fixing this. It’s basically trash now.”
“Lily wasn’t bullshitting you – two point three million. So how exactly are you gonna pay for this?”
His eyes were ice cold, like he was just stating facts.
As a family friend and my childhood playmate, he didn’t even ask if I was hurt, or what had broken in my case.
All he cared about was Celine’s million-dollar earring and how I, the guilty party, was going to pay up!
He didn’t even bother finding out what actually happened – just automatically assumed I was the bad guy.
A wave of cold rage wiped out the last bit of my patience.
Not because of the earring or the insane money, but because of his attitude right now – completely ignoring Dad’s stuff and looking down on me like I was trash.
I let out a bitter laugh.
“Mr. Hawke, let me make something clear – your secretary was running through the crowd in heels, she slammed into my case, and what’s inside – my father’s belongings got destroyed!”
Before I could finish, he cut me off impatiently.
Chapter 2
“Look, Calista, I get it! Whatever was in that case, I’ll pay for it!”
“Hell, I’ll triple it! Consider it compensation from me personally!”
When I didn’t say anything, he thought I’d agreed and kept going.
“As for this whole arranged marriage thing between us – that was just our parents messing around years ago.Don’t take it seriously.”
He moved closer, his voice dripping with contempt.
“Look at yourself right now – you’re just some little employee at some foreign research lab, making peanuts.”
“Forget a two-million-dollar earring – you’d probably have to save up for months just to afford the outfit Lily’s wearing.”
“You really think someone with your background match me well? Worthy of being Mrs. Hawke?”
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