Bought By The Billionaire

CHAPTER 8: The Soft Side of Stone

The marble hallway felt tense, almost like a place where a fight had just happened. David stood at the entrance. His coat was soaked from the rain, and water dripped onto the shiny floor. His hand shook slightly as he leaned on his cane, anger clearly visible on his face.

Maria wanted to run to him and hug him, but she couldn't move. It felt like her feet were stuck to the floor.

"Dad… please. You shouldn't be here," Maria said softly. Her voice almost broke.

"I should be exactly here, Maria," David replied, looking straight at William. "I heard everything. I saw my youngest daughter crying on TV because of this man's world. I don't care about the money or this big house. I'm taking you back to a life where you can at least breathe."

William stood still. He didn't look angry. He looked tired… almost empty.

"Mr. Blackwell," William said calmly, "the media is waiting outside the gates. If Maria leaves with you right now, they'll destroy her with questions and rumors. Is that really the life you want for her?"

"At least she would be suffering for the truth!" David shouted. "Not slowly dying in a lie!"

Before things could get worse, Victoria appeared at the top of the stairs. Her face showed clear irritation.

"William, remove this man from the house," she said coldly. "Security is already busy handling the paparazzi outside. We don't need some cheap drama happening in our foyer."

"Shut up, Mother," William said quietly.

His voice was calm, but the sharpness in it shocked Victoria into silence.

William looked back at David.

"Mr. Blackwell… I promise you. I will fix this. I will clear your name and protect Maria. Just give me tonight."

David turned and looked at Maria carefully.

He noticed the beautiful dress she was wearing, the expensive jewelry, and the dark circles under her eyes. The fear on her face said more than words.

"One night, Maria," he said firmly. "If you are not at our door by tomorrow morning… I will come back with the police. I don't care what papers I signed."

He gave one last disappointed look and walked back out into the rain.

The large doors slowly closed behind him.

After that, the house became completely silent.

And somehow, that silence felt heavier than the storm outside.

The Hidden Room

The rest of the evening felt strange and uncomfortable. Victoria had gone back to her part of the mansion, still muttering angry things under her breath about “trash.” William had locked himself inside his study.

Maria couldn’t handle the silence anymore. The whole house felt heavy, like the walls were slowly closing in on her. She needed to see Julian… or honestly, anyone who didn’t look at her like she was a problem.

So she started walking through the back side of the mansion, a part she had never explored before. The lights were dim here, and the place felt different. It didn’t feel like a cold, perfect museum like the rest of the house. It felt… old. Like it held memories.

As she walked down the hallway, she noticed a small wooden door that was slightly open.

Soft music was coming from inside.

She paused and listened.

It wasn’t the loud music Julian usually played. It was a piano. Slow, quiet, and sad. The kind of music that sounded like someone was carrying a lot of pain inside.

Maria gently pushed the door a little more and looked in.

The room looked like an old nursery. There were toys everywhere, a rocking horse in the corner, and piles of old books covered in dust.

And sitting at a small piano in the corner was William.

His jacket was off. His tie was loose, and his head was slightly bent as he played.

He wasn’t playing like the powerful, confident CEO everyone saw.

He was playing like someone whose heart was hurting.

On top of the piano was a small framed photo.

Maria recognized it immediately. It was the same photo he had been staring at earlier in his study. But this time she could see it clearly.

In the photo, there was a woman with a warm, kind smile. She looked nothing like Victoria. She was holding a little boy, maybe five years old. The boy was laughing happily.

The boy was William.

Suddenly, William pressed the wrong key and stopped playing.

He didn’t move after that. He just sat there quietly, staring at the piano keys.

"She was beautiful," Maria said softly from the doorway.

William didn’t jump. He didn’t even turn around.

"She was my nanny," he said quietly. "The only person in this house who didn’t treat me like some kind of investment."

Maria stepped a little closer.

"What happened to her?"

"My mother fired her," William said. His voice sounded distant, almost like he was remembering something painful. "She said I was becoming too 'soft.' That someone from the Thorne family shouldn’t cry when they fall down. She sent her away while I was at school."

He paused.

"I never saw her again. I don’t even know if she’s still alive."

Maria felt something painful in her chest. She looked at the little boy in the photo… and then at the man standing in front of her.

For the first time, the cold wall around him didn’t look like power. It looked like protection.

"You're not a robot, William," she said gently as she stepped fully into the room.

William finally turned around.

His eyes were slightly red. It was the first real emotion Maria had ever seen on his face.

"Aren’t I?" he said quietly. "For the last ten years I’ve made sure I became exactly what they wanted. A machine that makes money. A man who doesn’t feel anything."

He looked down for a moment.

"And now I’ve pulled you and your family into this machine… and it’s destroying you."

"You did it to save us," Maria said softly.

William slowly stood up.

"Did I?" he said, his face becoming cold again. "Or did I do it because I wanted something I could control?"

He looked straight at her.

"My mother was right. I’m a Thorne."

He paused for a second.

"Everything I touch… turns to ice."

The First Clash

"Stop it!" Maria suddenly shouted. Her voice filled the small room.

"Stop blaming the 'Thorne' name for everything just because you're scared! You're not ice, William. You're just afraid."

William stepped closer, his eyes sharp.

"Afraid? I run a multi-billion dollar company. I don't get scared."

"You're scared of letting people get close to you!" Maria fired back. She stepped right in front of him now. At that moment, she didn't care about Rule Number One. She didn't care about the contract either.

"You're scared that if you show even a little kindness, your mother will take it away from you. So you treat me like I'm some file in your office. You treat my family like some problem you have to solve. Just because you bought our house doesn't mean you own our feelings!"

"I am trying to keep you safe!" William shouted.

He grabbed her shoulders. His hands were firm, almost desperate.

"Safe?" Maria let out a bitter laugh as tears rolled down her face. "My sister is crying on television! My dad thinks I’ve been sold off! My mom is too scared to even leave the house! That’s not safe, William… that’s a nightmare."

"I didn’t leak that story!" William yelled. "I would never do something like that to you!"

"Then who did?" Maria shot back. "Your mother? Julian?"

"I don't know!" William suddenly let go of her and started pacing around the small room like he couldn’t stand still.

"But I will find out," he said through clenched teeth. "And when I do… I will destroy them."

"And then what?" Maria asked quietly.

Her voice had become soft now.

"You'll go back to your office again? Sit alone and play your sad piano and pretend you don’t feel anything?"

She wiped her tears.

"One year, William. That’s what the contract says. But I don't think I can survive even one more day being treated like some 'managed asset.'"

William slowly stopped walking.

He looked at her carefully this time.

Really looked at her.

He saw the anger in her eyes… the same fire he had seen the day she was kneeling outside his office on the concrete.

"What do you want from me, Maria?" he asked quietly. His voice sounded tired… almost broken.

"I want you to be a man," she said. "Not a CEO. Not a Thorne. Just… William."

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The only sound in the room was their heavy breathing.

William slowly stepped closer.

He reached out his hand, a little unsure, and gently moved a loose strand of hair away from her face. His fingers stayed on her cheek for a moment.

They were warm.

"I don’t even know how to be that person anymore," he whispered.

Maria looked at him softly.

"I’ll help you," she said.

William leaned forward until his forehead rested gently against hers.

It wasn’t a kiss.

It felt more like he was finally giving up the fight.

In that small, dusty nursery, the contract suddenly felt very far away.