Betrothed to the Billionaire

Chapter 3

Lisa’s POV

For the first time in my life…

I didn’t feel certain.

I don’t remember how long I stood there outside my father’s study, my hand frozen mid-air, my mind struggling to process what I had just heard.

Broke.

The word didn’t belong to us.

It didn’t fit into my world, into our life, into anything that had ever defined the Daves family.

It sounded wrong.

Unreal.

Impossible.

And yet, I had heard it.

Clearly.

Undeniably.

My chest tightened, my heart beating louder than it ever had before. I stepped back slowly, careful not to make a sound, as though any movement would somehow make everything more real than it already was.

I couldn’t go in.

Not yet.

Not like this.

So I turned.

And I walked away.

Each step felt heavier than the last as I made my way back to my room, the same room that had always been my safe place. The same room that now felt… unfamiliar.

I shut the door behind me and leaned against it, exhaling slowly.

My mind was racing.

Fragments of everything I had just heard replayed over and over again.

We have nothing left.

The heir is asking for it back.

Ethan George.

I pushed myself away from the door and walked further into the room, my heels sinking slightly into the plush carpet. I dropped my bag carelessly on the bed and ran my fingers through my hair.

This didn’t make sense.

Nothing about this made sense.

How could we be broke?

How could my father, Richard Daves, be in a position where he couldn’t provide money?

It didn’t align with anything I had ever known.

And yet…

The signs.

They had been there.

I just hadn’t paid attention.

I thought about the way he had been lately. The tension in his expression, the way he would sit quietly, lost in thought when he believed no one was watching. The missed days at the company. The subtle shift in his presence.

I had noticed.

I just hadn’t cared enough to think deeply about it.

Because I never had to.

Until now.

My chest tightened again.

I needed to talk to someone.

The thought came instantly.

Daniela.

Of course.

She was the first person I thought of, the one I always turned to whenever something felt even slightly off.

I grabbed my phone and dialed her number.

It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

No answer.

I frowned slightly and pulled the phone away, staring at the screen before calling again.

This time, the ringing felt louder.

Longer.

Still nothing.

I ended the call slowly.

That didn’t make sense.

I had just dropped her off minutes ago.

Why wasn’t she picking up?

A strange feeling settled in my chest, but I pushed it aside quickly.

Maybe she was busy.

Maybe she didn’t hear it.

Maybe

I exhaled sharply.

I needed someone.

And there was only one other person I could turn to.

Ken.

I dialed his number without hesitation.

It rang once.

Twice.

I was about to end the call when he picked up.

“Lisa,” his voice came, flat. “Did you get the money?”

I froze.

Just for a second.

I had expected something else. Concern, maybe. A greeting. Anything that sounded… normal.

“I….” I hesitated. “Not yet.”

There was a pause.

Then a quiet scoff.

“So why are you calling me?”

The words landed harder than they should have.

“I just….” I started, my voice softer now. “I wanted to talk…”

“If you don’t have the money, Lisa, there’s nothing to talk about right now.”

Cold.

Detached.

Unfamiliar.

“I’ll call you later,” he added.

The line went dead.

I stared at my phone.

For a long moment, I didn’t move.

Didn’t think.

Didn’t breathe.

Then slowly, something shifted inside me.

Something I couldn’t quite name.

I lowered the phone, my fingers tightening slightly around it.

Ken had never spoken to me like that before.

Or maybe…

He had.

And I had just never noticed.

I walked slowly toward the bed and sat down, my thoughts beginning to spiral in ways they never had before.

My father’s voice echoed faintly in my mind.

He’s not on your level.

I had dismissed it then.

Ignored it completely.

Because I believed I knew better.

Because I believed love was enough.

But now…

I started thinking.

Really thinking.

About everything.

About Ken.

About us.

About how it had all started.

He had been different.

That was what had drawn me to him.

He didn’t come from wealth. He didn’t try to impress me with expensive things or polished words. He spoke about building something for himself, about creating a future that wasn’t handed to him.

It had felt real.

It had felt… refreshing.

But somewhere along the way, things had changed.

Or maybe…

They hadn’t.

Maybe I had just refused to see it.

I thought about the apartment.

The one I had rented for him.

I thought about the trips.

The money.

The constant support.

Every time he needed something, I had been there.

Without hesitation.

Without question.

Because that was what I believed love was.

Giving.

Supporting.

Being there.

But now, sitting alone in my room, replaying that call over and over again…

It didn’t feel like love.

It felt like something else.

Something heavier.

Something one-sided.

I swallowed slowly, my chest tightening again.

The realization didn’t come all at once.

It came in pieces.

Small, uncomfortable pieces that refused to be ignored.

The entitlement.

The expectations.

The way he always seemed to need something.

The way I was always the one giving.

And now…

The way he had just spoken to me.

A hollow feeling settled in my chest.

I leaned back against the bed, staring at the ceiling.

I needed to talk to someone.

But Daniela wasn’t picking up.

Ken didn’t care.

And my siblings…

No.

I couldn’t tell them.

They were still in school, still living the life we had always known. I couldn’t be the one to shatter that for them. Not when I didn’t even fully understand what was happening myself.

So I stayed there.

Alone.

With my thoughts.

And for the first time in my life…

They didn’t comfort me.

Days passed.

Slowly.

Uncomfortably.

The house still looked the same.

Everything still functioned the way it always had.

But I could feel it now.

The tension.

The weight.

The shift.

My father was quieter.

My mother looked more worried than I had ever seen her.

And I…

I couldn’t unhear what I had heard.

I tried calling Daniela again.

More than once.

She picked occasionally, but the conversations were brief. Distracted. Not like before.

Ken?

He reached out.

But only to ask the same question.

The money.

Always the money.

And each time, something inside me pulled further away.

Until one morning…

Everything changed.

I was in my room when a knock came on the door.

“Miss Daves?”

“Yes?”

“Your father asked that you come to his study.”

My heart skipped.

For a moment, I just stood there.

Then slowly, I moved.

Each step felt heavier than the last as I made my way down the familiar hallway, toward the same door I had stood behind days ago.

This time…

I didn’t stop.

I knocked.

“Come in,” my father’s voice came.

I pushed the door open.

He was seated behind his desk.

My mother was there too.

And someone else.

A man I didn’t recognize.

He stood beside them, dressed sharply, his posture straight, his expression unreadable.

I stepped inside slowly, my gaze shifting between them.

Something was wrong.

I could feel it.

“Lisa,” my father said.

His voice was calm.

Too calm.

“Sit down.”

I did.

Silently.

The man stepped forward slightly.

“My name is Mr. Cole,” he said. “I am the personal assistant to Mr. Ethan George.”

The name alone was enough to make my chest tighten.

I didn’t say anything.

I just listened.

“There is a proposal,” he continued.

A pause.

A brief one.

But long enough for something inside me to shift.

“Mr. George is willing to settle your family’s debt.”

My breath caught.

But before I could process that…

“There is a condition.”

Silence filled the room.

Heavy.

Unavoidable.

I looked at my father.

At my mother.

Neither of them spoke.

And somehow…

That made it worse.

The man’s voice came again.

Clear.

Precise.

“Mr. George has requested your hand in marriage.”

Everything stopped.

My thoughts.

My breath.

My world.

And in that moment…

I realized,

Nothing in my life would ever be the same again.