They Rejected Me—Then I Married The Billionaire They Feared Chapter 01
I was the only daughter and heir of the Grant family.
But everyone had quietly agreed on one thing: the three fiancés my father had pulled out of the foster system and raised himself would eventually take over Grant Group.
Their names were Adrian Shaw, Caleb Reed, and Logan Hayes.
Not one of them had ever really looked at me.
I’d tried with Adrian more times than I could count. All I ever got back was the same cold, faintly disgusted stare.
For a long time, I told myself he was like that with every woman.
Until the day I saw him drop to one knee in front of Sienna Lane—our driver’s daughter—holding her hand like it was something sacred, making promises.
“I’m only agreeing to marry Evelyn because I owe the Grants for raising me. Once I have control of Grant Group, I’ll give you the wedding you deserve.”
“As long as she stops hurting you, I’ll write her a check—a few million, enough for her to disappear into Europe and live however she wants.”
“Sienna, you’re the only wife I’ve ever wanted.”
The night before the shareholders’ meeting, my father asked me which one I’d chosen.
I thought of the way those three men always looked past me, and I smiled.
“I’m the Grant heir. Marriage is a business decision. I’ll take whichever offer serves us best.”
“So let’s go with Felix Hale.”
My father frowned.
“Felix Hale? The Hale boy? He’s been in a wheelchair since that car accident five years ago. And there are rumors he can’t—function. Evelyn, are you sure?”
…
I set my glass back on the table and kept my voice soft.
“In families like ours, feelings come last. Marriage is about leverage. What the Hales can bring to Grant Group is worth more than the three of them combined.”
My father’s face darkened.
“So you don’t want a single one of the three men I chose for you?”
My mother had died the year I was born. My father never remarried, never had another child. He loved me—but he had never been willing to hand Grant Group over to me alone.
Years ago, on the advice of an old friend, he’d gone into the foster system and brought back three boys with nowhere else to go.
Adrian. Caleb. Logan.
They’d grown up on the Grant estate, gone to the most expensive schools, walked into the best business programs. My father had the rules written into the trust before any of us were old enough to read them. Marry one of them, and that boy would run the group alongside me—shielding me from the old wolves on the board.
He thought he was protecting me.
I just felt tired.
“Felix is in a wheelchair, and yes, people say he can’t father children,” I said. “But he’s the only Hale heir. There’s always assisted reproduction. I’d rather bet Grant’s future on a real ally than on three boys we made ourselves.”
My father studied me for a long moment. Then he nodded.
“If the three of them couldn’t hold your heart, there’s no reason to keep them at the center of the company.”
I didn’t tell him that Adrian was in love with Sienna.
If I had, my father would have summoned him on the spot, forced him to bow his head, and demanded to know how a boy raised by the Grants had the nerve to refuse me.
I didn’t want to weaponize a decade of favors to drag him to the altar.
And I didn’t want to lock myself inside a marriage that would eat us both alive.
The things Adrian had said to Sienna—those were more than enough.
On my way out of the office, my father shot Adrian a glance.
Adrian saw my father into the elevator, then turned back to me with a face like ice.
“What did you tell him this time?”
Every line of him was irritated, as if I’d just tracked something filthy across his floor.
Before I could answer, Caleb let out a short laugh from where he leaned against the wall.
“What else? That we don’t spend enough time with her. Don’t coddle her. Don’t circle her like she’s the sun.”
Logan’s stare was even blunter.
“Evelyn, this isn’t some medieval court. Your family being rich doesn’t mean everyone has to kneel and call you princess.”
The three of them stood shoulder to shoulder, each voice colder than the last.
I looked at them, and something in me almost laughed.
“None of you want to marry me. So why hasn’t a single one of you had the guts to say it to my father’s face?”