The CEO Couldn't Walk, But I Made Him Fall For Me

The Ring

The Harrison mansion looked like a castle.

White marble. Gates taller than my apartment building. Guards.

And waiting at the top of the steps, leaning on a cane, was him.

Elias Harrison.

Damian’s grandfather. The devil who built an empire.

“Let’s go,” Damian said from the backseat. His voice gave nothing away.

The chauffeur opened my door. And I got out wearing the red dress again. And the ring.

The massive diamond on my right hand caught the morning sun and blinded everyone.

I’d put it on in the car. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped it.

Damian rolled out in his wheelchair. His eyes went straight to my hand.

He didn’t look away.

He stared. Long. Hard. At the ring on my finger. Like he was memorizing it. Like he was seeing me as his wife for the first time.

My throat went dry.

“Good morning, Grandfather,” Damian said, his voice flat.

Elias Harrison’s eyes narrowed. Then they moved to me. To the ring. To my hand, it was trembling.

“So,” the old man said. His voice was gravel and money. “This is the secretary.”

Damian’s jaw ticked. “She is my wife, Arabella Harrison.”

Arabella again. My name sounded different when he said it in front of his grandfather. Like a shield.

Elias laughed. A short, sharp sound. “Come. Breakfast.”

Inside, the dining room was huge. Too huge. A table for 20, just for the three of us.

Servants moved like ghosts.

Elias didn’t eat. He just watched. Watched me. Watched Damian. Watched our hands.

“You two look happy,” Elias said finally. “In the papers.”

Damian sipped his coffee. “We are.”

“Show me,” Elias said.

The room went silent.

“Excuse me?” Damian asked.

“You heard me, boy,” Elias tapped his cane. “You’ve been hiding in that chair for years. You marry a girl in two weeks. You kiss her at a gala. Now prove to me, it’s real.”

Damian’s knuckles went white on his wheelchair.

My heart was hammering.

“Grandpa—”

“Kiss her,” Elias interrupted. “If you love her so much, kiss her. Right now. In front of me. No cameras. No audience. Just us.”

The air left my lungs.

I looked at Damian. Panic in my eyes.

His face was stone. But under the table, I felt his hand find mine.

His fingers were cold.

He squeezed once.

And then he pulled me to him.

I had to lean down from my chair to his. My hands on his shoulders. His on my waist.

The kiss was different this time.

Not angry. Not for show.

Slow. Deliberate. Like he was selling it.

When he pulled back, he was breathing hard. His eyes were dark. And he didn’t let go of my hand.

Elias watched all of it. Without blinking.

“Well,” the old man said. He smiled. But it didn’t reach his eyes. “That was... convincing.”

He stood up.

“You’ll stay for the weekend,” he announced. “Both of you. In the guest wing. I want to get to know my granddaughter-in-law.”

Damian’s head snapped up. “Grandfather, we have work—”

“Cancel it,” Elias said. “A Harrison always puts family first. 48 hours. That’s all I ask.”

He walked out, leaving us alone.

I looked down at my hand. At the ring.

Damian was still staring at it. At me. His thumb brushing over the diamond slowly.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I whispered.

He finally looked up at me.

His expression was unreadable.

“For the next 48 hours,” he said quietly, “we act like a couple. For him.”

“It’s the only way to get him off our backs.”

He let go of my hand and rolled back.

And just like that, the wall was back up.