The Heiress Returns: I Married My Ex Husband's Rival For Revenge

Chapter 6

Genevieve’s pulse thudded in her ears. She couldn't have heard him properly.

"Did you just propose marriage?"

"Yes." He affirmed, watching her.

"You’re insane," She whispered, more to herself than him. Marriage, again, to a man who despised her soon to be husband with a venom that it showed in the way his lips curled in disgust whenever he said Nicholas

"Perhaps," Sebastian said, his smirk widening, "but insanity might be the only weapon sharp enough to cut Nicholas Voss down to size."

Her lips parted, but no words came. Because deep down, as much as she wanted to dismiss him, something about his proposal didn't sound like madness. It appealed to her zeal to have revenge on Nicholas.

Genevieve forced out a laugh, brittle even to her ears. “You must be joking. Marriage? That’s your brilliant idea?”

She was just barely out of marriage that had taken a lot from her and he was suggesting she get married to him? Her soon-to-be ex-husband's greatest enemy?

Sebastian tilted his head, studying her like she was a puzzle he wanted to solve. “Do I look like a man who jokes about strategy?”

Her frown deepened. “That’s the problem. You make it sound like I’m some pawn you can slide across the board. I’ve already lived as Nicholas’s pawn. I won’t do it again for you.”

“You wouldn’t be a pawn, Genevieve.” His voice dropped, steady and cutting through her protest. “You’d be a queen. With me, you’d have the power to corner him, to destroy Nicholas.”

She shook her head, heart beating real fast. “Or I’d be caught in the crossfire of two men who hate each other. I don’t know you. I don’t trust you.”

She knew she was right when Sebastian leaned back, letting the silence stretch between them.

Then, casually, he said, “And yet you’re still listening. That tells me you want what I’m offering, even if you’re afraid to admit it.”

Genevieve’s fingers tightened around her glass. She hated that he was right. She was listening. Because Nicholas had stripped her of everything. And now, here was Sebastian, offering her a way to strike back, to get everything back.

“What’s in it for you?” she asked finally. “Besides revenge. Men like you don’t move without calculating the risk and what you would get in return.”

He smiled faintly, as if pleased she’d caught on. “Nicholas took something from me that can’t be replaced. You would be leverage. And more than that, an ally who knows how he operates behind closed doors.”

“And if I refuse?” That was also a possible choice in this whole scenario.

Sebastian shrugged, but there was an edge in the gesture. “Then Nicholas wins again. People like him never stop taking and taking from people till they're stopped.”

Her throat tightened. “And if I accept, I shackle myself to another man. Again. Forgive me if that doesn’t exactly sound like freedom.” She knew it would be hard to trust another man again after what the previous one had put her through.

His eyes softened, just a fraction, breaking through his cold . “You’re not wrong to fear me, Genevieve. But Nicholas won't remain in your past. But you don't have to be scared, this marriage would just be a business arrangement.”

The weight of his words pressed down on her chest. She wanted to say no, to end this dangerous conversation before it pulled her deeper. But a part of her, the part that burned with resentment toward Nicholas, whispered that Sebastian Voss might be exactly the kind of madness she needed.

Genevieve swallowed hard, her mind spinning. “You make it sound so simple. But nothing about this is simple.”

Sebastian’s lips curved, not in mockery, but in the quiet confidence of a man who always played the long game. “Simple? No. Necessary? Absolutely.”

Her hands trembled around the stem of her glass. “I can’t just decide something like this on a whim. Marriage isn’t a contract I can rip up when I change my mind.”

Even though he had said it will just be a business arrangement.

“Exactly,” Sebastian said smoothly. “Which is why Nicholas will never see it coming. He’ll believe you’ve chosen me over him, not out of desperation, but out of conviction. It will be the one move he can’t counter.”

She shook her head, torn between fear and fury. She wasn't stupid, he wasn't interested in helping her because he wanted to but because he had something to gain. “You want me to destroy him for you. That’s what this is really about.”

Sebastian leaned in just enough for his steel gray eyes to catch hers, unblinking. “No, Genevieve. I want us to destroy him together.”

The words hung in the air, heavy, intoxicating, dangerous.

Then, just as quickly as he’d closed the distance, he leaned back, reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket. He slid a sleek black business card across the polished bar top toward her.

The silver lettering gleamed under the low light: Sebastian Voss.

He tapped it once with his finger, eyes locked on hers. “Call me if you change your mind.”

And with that, he downed the last of his scotch, left a crisp bill beside the glass, and rose from his stool. Without another word, he walked away, leaving Genevieve staring at the card with conflicting emotions.

She had a lot to gain and also to lose if she indulged in this insane partnership with Sebastian Voss.