She Rejected The Heir. I Married Him. Chapter 10
The office was quiet except for the faint hum of the air-conditioning.
I looked at Cassian, standing inches away.
His gaze held me like a net.
I couldn’t hide. I didn’t want to anymore.
“Two years ago,” I finally said softly.
“At a business reception.”
“I went with Adrian to be part of the background.”
“Outside the fire stairs, I heard Orion Properties’ CEO reporting to you about a merger.”
“He said all the directors were waiting for your approval. You told him to rewrite the terms that would sacrifice the employees’ pensions.”
I held his gaze.
“That’s when I realized Greyhaven’s most notorious playboy was the one making the final decisions.”
Surprise flickered in his eyes, then turned to amusement.
“So you’ve been plotting against me ever since?”
“I wasn’t plotting.”
I answered honestly.
“I just thought that if I ever needed someone powerful enough to help me leave the Ashfords, you’d be the perfect choice.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Just protection?”
I was silent for two seconds.
“No.”
I lifted my chin and met his eyes.
“I had feelings for you.”
“I’ve been in love with you for two years.”
Saying it shattered the weight I’d carried in my chest.
There hadn’t been eight years of Adrian Ashford.
There had only been two years of Cassian Voss.
The man who held the final decision but refused to make ordinary employees pay for the shareholders had stayed in my heart from that moment on.
I expected surprise. Maybe he’d think I’d been calculating all along.
Instead, he watched me silently for a long time.
Then he laughed softly.
“Mira.”
He pulled me into his arms and rested his chin on my head.
“Did you really think you hid it that well?”
I leaned against his firm chest and listened to his steady heartbeat.
“What do you mean?”
“If I hadn’t had my attorneys approve the substitution clause in advance, the Carlisles’ last-minute email wouldn’t have gotten past my assistant.”
“You certainly wouldn’t have reached the top floor of the Savoy under your own name.”
I jerked my head up and stared at him.
He looked down at me, affection and teasing warmth in his eyes.
“I put your name on the list myself.”
“As for Sienna…”
He gave a cold little laugh.
“She was just the means of getting you to me.”
I went still.
“You… you already knew me?”
“Of course I did.”
He gently pinched my cheek.
“The girl who hid in a corner at every party and kept looking at me?”
“Did you think I was blind?”
Heat rushed into my face.
All this time, what I’d thought was a one-sided longing had been two people quietly pursuing each other.
“Then why didn’t you…”
“Take you away from the Ashfords sooner?”
He finished for me, his expression turning serious.
“Because I knew how much you were willing to endure.”
“Until you gave up on them and chose to leave, even if I took you away, part of you would still be tied to that house.”
His arms tightened around me.
“I wanted all of you, Mira. A Mrs. Voss who chose me willingly.”
My eyes burned. I buried my face against his chest.
I said nothing.
There was nothing else to say.
One month later, we held our wedding at the restored glass chapel in Greyhaven’s old harbor district.
There was no extravagant livestream and no guest list built around trading marriage for contracts.
With our attorneys and friends as witnesses, the man who controlled Voss Capital chose his wife again.
There was no reluctant family alliance. Only unwavering devotion and respect.
At the altar, I watched him slide the wedding ring onto my finger.
Adrian wasn’t there. Neither was Sienna.
The people who had tried to grind me into the dirt had long since disappeared from Greyhaven society.
“Mrs. Voss.”
Cassian held my hand, his voice low and gentle.
“Here’s to the rest of our lives.”
I tightened my fingers around his.
In his eyes, I saw myself.
Not the timid foster girl who had lived by everyone else’s moods.
But a woman finally in control of her own future.
“Mr. Voss.”
I smiled.
“Here’s to our partnership.”
Our story had only just begun.