They Rejected Me—Then I Married The Billionaire They Feared Chapter 05
My father had just wrapped a nine-figure acquisition call. He walked into the ballroom right on cue.
He looked up at the screen and smiled.
“That’s right. My daughter deserves nothing less than Felix Hale.”
“Adrian and the other two were simply boys I once sponsored. Whatever rumors have been floating around about ‘candidate husbands’—they end here, tonight.”
The guests fell quiet on the surface. But the doubt on their faces was harder to hide.
A few of my father’s oldest friends stepped forward.
“Richard, Felix himself is beyond question. But since the accident…”
“He’s still in that wheelchair. Word is he can’t even father children. If Evelyn marries into that, what happens to the Grants down the line?”
“We all know she’s sharp. But a company this size needs a husband who can stand at her side and hold the room.”
I listened, turning the stem of my champagne flute slowly between my fingers.
Felix was the sole heir to the Hales. Whatever the rumors said about his body, the Hale name alone was enough to bring half of New York to heel.
Everyone assumed his fortune would eventually slip into someone else’s hands.
Why couldn’t those hands be mine?
The moment Adrian said he’d trade Grant Group for a wedding with Sienna, I saw the whole picture clearly. Even though I was my father’s only child, none of them had ever seriously imagined me sitting in that chair.
Fine. If that’s how they saw it, I’d choose a man whose own name was strong enough—strong enough that he’d never need to steal mine.
Across town, Adrian was busy soothing Sienna.
She was curled into his chest, trembling through her tears.
His phone lit up.
Get back here. Evelyn just announced her fiancé. You’ll regret it if you don’t come now.
Caleb and Logan got the same message.
Adrian was about to silence his phone, but that word—regret—stopped him.
He stared at Caleb and Logan for a beat, then typed a reply.
Who did she pick?
The photo came through seconds later.
Felix Hale’s face filled the screen.
Logan swore out loud.
“She picked the Hale kid in the wheelchair?”
Caleb’s brows knit tight.
“Impossible.”
Something flickered behind Sienna’s eyes—then vanished into fresh tears. “Is she doing this to hurt you? You left her party for me. Of course she’s furious. Maybe you should go back. I’ll be fine on my own.”
The more she said it, the less likely they were to move.
Logan gave a cold laugh.
“It’s not the first time Evelyn’s pulled a stunt like this. Let’s see if she really has the guts to marry Felix Hale.”
Adrian’s expression eased a little.
Right. Evelyn had been chasing him for years. She wasn’t going to turn around and marry someone else over one bad night.
Sienna clutched at his sleeve.
“It’s all my fault. She sent someone after me, and I still crashed her birthday and embarrassed her. What if she goes to Mr. Grant and cuts off your trust distributions?”
All three faces darkened.
Logan hated that subject more than anything.
“Let her cut them. I’ve got two hands. I won’t starve.”
Adrian smoothed Sienna’s hair.
“Don’t worry. Evelyn can’t run Grant Group without us. She’ll come crawling back.”
He pulled out his phone and typed me a message.
You went too far tonight. Don’t gamble your own marriage out of spite. Apologize to Sienna and I’ll still marry you.
He stared at the screen as if he could already picture me typing something meek back.
A red error notification popped up instead.
I’d deleted him. And blocked him.