Betrothed to the Brooding Billionaire

Chapter 4

As for you, Miss McPherson, would you want a cup of coffee or tea?

However, it was true that it had also been about class. This was not the case for her; she could not have cared less about social standing. She failed to do so. Bryan would never believe her, that much is certain. It was not until she had successfully persuaded him to the contrary.

She pressed her lips together, fighting the need to protect herself despite the fact that she was aware that what she was doing would be pointless. Despite the fact that she had at one point felt as if she had known every aspect of this person's existence, she scarcely recognized the person who was standing in front of her.

Two years earlier, he had disproved her idealistic notions about romantic relationships. Despite this, she was unable to dismiss the sudden and consistent increase in her heart rate that had occurred ever since Bryan had disclosed his identity. She was familiar with him.

Suddenly, she became aware of something, and she let out a gasp. A tiny finger was gone from his right hand, which was the hand that was holding the glass.

The location of her gaze was visible to him. Not that attractive, would you say?

Kate was experiencing nausea. She recalled Bryan laying in that hospital bed, his head and half of his face wrapped in bandages... his arms... due to the fact that she had been too upset to notice anything else at the time.

That is what they did to you. They who kidnap people? There was a thread in her voice.

He indicated with a nod. They were amused by it. They were disinterested while they waited for their orders.

Kate became aware of the fact that he was unique. Less easy. It is more frightening. Hey, Bryan, why am I even here?

You have deceived me, that is why. It was with great care that he placed the glass on the silver tray. Afterward, he turned his gaze to her. In order to collect my dues, I have come here. When Kate thought about the words, she felt ill to her stomach.

It is not true that I owe you anything. When she spoke, the words were difficult to pronounce.

Lie hushed a voice in a whisper.

You certainly do, Kate. You abandoned me at a time when I needed you the most, leaving me at the mercy of the press, which had a field day resurrecting all of the old legends about my family's connections to the Mafia by bringing them back to life. If that wasn't enough, you also failed to provide me with a girlfriend.

As she remembered the sensational headlines that had been published in the aftermath of the a*******n and her subsequent engagement to Daniel Patrick, she felt a twinge of wrath in addition to her feelings of guilt. She concentrated on her rage.

You just wanted to marry me in order to take advantage of my ties to a society that had denied you admission, and that was your stated motivation.

She had not been loved by Bryan. First, he was drawn to her because of her naivety and innocence, and then he was interested in her because of her connections and her name. He wanted her for all of these reasons.

It had taken Kate two years, with the advantage of distance and perspective, to see how refreshing someone like her must have been for someone as jaded as he was. Kate had come to this realisation over the course of the last two years. This was a really trustworthy person. In love.

Even if they had been married, it would have been a failure.

To the point when her charm would have worn off and he would have been disillusioned with her innocence, but not beyond that point. Her name and connections would have served their function for his objectives, but not beyond the point at which they would have been useful. She was very certain of that.

The fact that she had taken all of it away from him was something that he was not going to forgive her for. He had a desire to get retribution.

Kate entertained the idea of telling him all that had transpired for a brief period of time. How a series of circumstances worked together to push them apart.

The callous way in which her uncle had maneuvered her situation. She went so far as to open her lips, but then she recalled the scathing things that Bryan had spoken. Their reverberations echoed in her mind as if he had just spoken them a few seconds ago.

I beg you, Kate, not to fool yourself into thinking that I felt nothing more for you than you now feel for me. Certainly, I desired you, but that desire was entirely physical in nature. Even more than all of that, I desired you because being married to you would have bestowed upon me a mark of respectability that cannot be purchased with money.

"I prefer to think of it as a kind of debt repayment," Bryan stated in a calm and collected manner, "You said you'd marry me, and I'm holding you to that original commitment." Bryan's voice broke through the poisoned recollection. Due to the fact that you are so convenient, I am in need of a wife, and I have no intention of becoming involved in any stressful emotional situations.’

The blood in Kate's body headed south. "That is the most incredible thing I have ever heard," the speaker said.

Is it the case? Is that true? Kate, there are others who have been married for a much shorter time.

She was torn between loathing him for playing like a magician to turn her life upside down and desperately wanting to defend herself as she stared at him helplessly. She was unable to decide which emotion she should feel. At the same time, she felt torn between the two emotions.

Nevertheless, she had squandered that chance when she had informed him in a cold-hearted manner that she had never planned to really go through with their marriage because she had already committed to someone else—someone who was far more suitable for her.

She informed him that she had found it entertaining to go along with his whirlwind proposal, only to watch him make a fool of himself over a girl he could never hope to marry. She said that she had found it humorous to go along with his proposal. She had shared with him that she had found his proposition to be rather entertaining. She went on to explain to him that all of her many demonstrations of love had been nothing more than hollow clichés until that point.

The look of complete and utter disdain that had risen on his face after she had spoken those dreadful things was one that she would never forget. And she would never, ever forget it. After she had arrived at that moment, she got the realisation that she had been deceiving herself from the beginning.

There was a certain degree of relief that she had experienced because she was playing a role, since at least she was aware of how he had really felt.

A near-death experience was avoided by him because of your efforts.

Kate had a recurrence of the nausea. As a result of the fact that he did not love her, he had not earned it. Additionally, he had not been worthy of her stories in any way. He had rescued her from the group of people who had kidn*pped her. It was for the sake of saving her life that he had given up his own.

However, after that, she came to the conclusion that she had never been in a precarious situation before.

It is a well-known truth that he was not aware of it. And just at this very moment, the sheer thought of his ever finding out about it prompted her to break out in a cold sweat. The fact that he already disliked her would not change the fact that he would loathe her much more than he already did.