FORCED TO MARRY THE RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE IN 9 DAYS

###CHAPTER 9-FORGIVENESS*

Elena didn't forgive Caspian in the hospital.

She forgave him in the garden.

It was Day 14 at Rowen Sterling's manor. Elena was finally well. Her fever was gone. Her lungs were clear. Her knee was healed. Dr. Richards at The Langford Private Clinic said she could go home.

Home. Which home?

She was sitting on the garden bench, wearing one of Rowen's gifts — a soft yellow dress — watching the sunset, when she saw him.

Caspian was there. Again. Every night for 14 nights, standing in the same spot in the garden, in the rain or sun, just looking at her window.

But today he was not standing. He was kneeling. In the wet grass. In his $5,000 suit.

Elena walked to him.

"Caspian, what are you doing? You'll ruin your suit."

He looked up at her. His eyes were red. The ruthless billionaire who never begged anyone was on his knees.

"I watched you drown," he whispered. "I watched my wife — the only good thing in my life — drown, and I did nothing. Because I was a coward. Because I wanted my father Rowen to be proud. Elena, I have not slept for 14 nights. I hear you coughing in my dreams. I hear you screaming _I can't swim._"

He took her hands. His hands were shaking.

"Forgive me. Please. I don't care about the contract anymore. I don't care about Sterling Industries. I care about you. I have cared about you since you talked to your mother Margaret at The Langford and said you were falling for your fake husband. I fell harder. I fell first."

Elena was crying.

"You left me," she said.

"I know."

"You chose Vivienne over me."

"I know. And I will regret it for the rest of my life."

He pressed his forehead to her hands.

"Come back to my house. Let me take care of you. Not because of the contract. Because you are my wife. My real wife."

Elena looked back at the manor, where Rowen was watching from the window, nodding at her — _it's your choice, daughter._

She looked down at Caspian.

And she said, "Okay."

---

When she went back to his penthouse, it was different.

He didn't treat her like a contract wife. He treated her like a queen.

He carried her bridal-style from the car to the elevator because her knee still hurt. He ran her a warm bath with rose petals. He brushed her hair himself while she sat in front of the mirror, so gently like she would break. He cooked for her — badly — and she laughed for the first time in weeks.

That night, he tucked her into his bed. Not the guest room. His bed.

"Elena," he said, lying next to her, afraid to touch her. "I have to tell you something. I have never said this to any woman. Not even Vivienne."

He took a deep breath.

"I love you. I, Caspian Sterling, ruthless billionaire, I am in love with you. I love how you love your mother Margaret. I love how you forgave my father Rowen for being hard on me. I love how you still have light even after I left you in that pool. I love you."

Elena's tears fell.

"I love you too," she whispered. "I fell in love with my fake husband. My contract husband. I love you, Caspian."

It was their first confession. Real. No contract. No deal.

He kissed her. Slowly at first, asking permission. She kissed him back.

That night, they had their first s*x.

It was slow. It was tender. It was nothing like the ruthless man the world knew. He was gentle, checking if she was okay every second, whispering her name.

And then he froze.

He felt it. He saw her tears — not from pain, but from giving herself.

"Elena... you... you were a..." he whispered, shocked, his voice shaking.

A virgin.

Caspian Sterling was stunned. How could a beautiful woman like Elena — 24, kind, stunning, with a body that made his head spin — how could she be a virgin?

"Why?" he asked, holding her face, his heart pounding so loud she could hear it.

She blushed, hiding in his chest. "I was waiting... I was taking care of Margaret... I never had time... I never met someone I wanted to give myself to... until you."

In that moment, Caspian felt something break and rebuild inside him.

He had been married before to Vivienne. He thought he knew love. He knew nothing.

That she — this pure, good girl — saved herself for him, for this moment, made him love her more than he thought a man could love.

He held her all night like she was the most precious thing in the world. Because she was.

"You are my first real everything," he whispered into her hair while she slept on his chest. "My first love. My first wife. My only wife."

The next morning, Elena woke up as Mrs. Caspian Sterling for real.

They went to The Langford Private Clinic together. Hand in hand.

Margaret Alvarez was sitting up now, eating soft porridge. Her speech was better. Her eyes were clearer.

When she saw Elena walk in, healthy, glowing, holding a tall, handsome, nervous billionaire's hand, she smiled.

"Mama," Elena said, beaming, tears in her eyes. "I want to introduce you to someone."

She pulled Caspian forward.

"Mama, this is Caspian. Caspian Sterling. My... my man. My husband."

Caspian — the ruthless billionaire who fired CEOs without blinking — was sweating. He knelt down next to Margaret's bed and took her weak hand gently.

"Mrs. Margaret Alvarez," he said, his voice humble. "Thank you for raising her. Thank you for bringing her into this world. I promise you... I will take care of your daughter for the rest of my life. Like a queen. Like she deserves."

Margaret looked at him, then at her daughter's happy, shining face. She saw the locket Rowen had given Elena — with her own picture inside — around Elena's neck.

She squeezed Caspian's hand.

"Then you better not make her cry again," Margaret whispered hoarsely, but with a mother's fire. "Or you will have to answer to me. And to Rowen."

Caspian laughed through tears. "Yes, ma'am."

And Elena, standing between her mother and her husband — between Margaret and Caspian — finally felt complete.

---