One last chance

**Chapter 2: A Proposal from a Stranger**

Amelia rushed through the hospital doors, her heartbeat echoing in her ears.

The nurse spotted her immediately.

"Miss Carter! Come with me."

Without asking another question, Amelia followed her to the intensive care unit.

A team of doctors surrounded her mother's bed. Machines beeped rapidly as they worked to stabilize her.

Amelia's hands trembled.

"Mom..."

She reached for the glass window, wishing she could hold her mother's hand one more time.

A few moments later, the lead doctor stepped outside.

"We've managed to stabilize her for now," he said. "But she can't wait any longer. The surgery must be performed within forty-eight hours."

Amelia swallowed hard.

"How much?"

The doctor hesitated before answering.

"Five hundred thousand dollars."

Her heart sank.

She didn't even have five thousand.

"I'll find a way," she whispered, though she had no idea how.

The doctor gave her a sympathetic nod before walking away.

Amelia slowly slid down the wall until she was sitting on the cold floor. She buried her face in her hands and cried silently.

Everything was falling apart.

She had lost Daniel.

She was about to lose her mother.

And she had nothing left to sell.

Just then, a calm voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Miss Amelia Carter?"

She looked up.

Standing a few feet away was a middle-aged man dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit. His silver hair was neatly combed, and his posture was as straight as a soldier's.

"Yes?"

"My name is Mr. Harrison."

She frowned.

"I'm sorry... do I know you?"

"No."

"Then why are you looking for me?"

"My employer wishes to meet you."

Amelia wiped the tears from her face.

"I think you've mistaken me for someone else."

"I assure you, Miss Carter, I have not."

He handed her a cream-colored envelope.

Inside was a single card.

**Alexander Kingston**

The name meant nothing to her.

"Who is he?"

"One of the youngest CEOs in the country."

Amelia stared blankly.

"Why would someone like him want to see me?"

"I'm afraid I cannot answer that."

"I'm not interested."

She tried to hand the card back.

Mr. Harrison didn't take it.

"My employer is aware of your mother's condition."

Amelia froze.

"How?"

"He has offered to pay every medical expense."

Her eyes widened.

"What?"

"In full."

She looked at him suspiciously.

"Nobody gives away that kind of money."

"No."

"They don't."

"There is one condition."

Her stomach tightened.

"I knew it."

"What does he want?"

Mr. Harrison met her eyes.

"He would prefer to explain it himself."

"I don't meet strangers."

"Then your mother may not survive long enough for another opportunity."

The words cut deep.

Amelia looked through the ICU window once more.

Her mother lay motionless.

She remembered every sacrifice that woman had made after Amelia's father died.

Working two jobs.

Skipping meals so Amelia could eat.

Selling her wedding ring to pay for school fees.

Now it was Amelia's turn to save her.

Even if it meant trusting a complete stranger.

She took a slow breath.

"When?"

"The car is waiting."

---

Twenty minutes later, a sleek black Rolls-Royce pulled through the gates of Kingston Estate.

Amelia had never seen a mansion so grand.

Marble fountains lined the driveway.

Perfectly trimmed gardens stretched in every direction.

The front doors opened before the car stopped.

Inside, crystal chandeliers sparkled overhead, and priceless paintings decorated the walls.

She felt completely out of place.

Mr. Harrison led her to a large study.

The room was silent.

A man stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows with his back to her.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, and dressed in a charcoal suit that fit him perfectly.

Without turning around, he spoke.

"You came."

His voice was calm, deep, and strangely familiar.

"I had no choice," Amelia replied.

He turned slowly.

His sharp gray eyes met hers.

For a brief moment, neither of them spoke.

Then he said the last words Amelia expected to hear.

"I'll pay for your mother's surgery."

Hope flickered in her eyes.

"But..."

His expression remained unreadable.

"...you must marry me."

The room fell into stunned silence.

Amelia could only stare at the stranger before her.

She had come expecting a business deal.

Instead, she had just been asked to become the wife of a man she'd never met.