MY WAY TO THE BILLIONAIRE'S HEART.

Chapter12

At 11:47 PM, Maeve stood in the lobby of Langston Tower.

The building was mostly dark, just emergency lighting and the glow from Carter's penthouse suite at the very top. The security guard recognized her, waved her through without question.

The elevator ride felt like ascending into a different reality. With each floor, she left more of her old life behind. By the time the doors opened onto Carter's private level, Maeve Wells the street vendor felt like a ghost.

Carter stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, still in his suit from this morning, looking out over the city lights. He didn't turn when she entered.

"Thirteen minutes to spare," he said quietly. "Cutting it close."

Maeve walked to stand beside him, looking out at Los Angeles sprawled below them like a glittering circuit board. From up here, the city looked manageable. Controllable. Beautiful, even.

"I need to tell you something," she said. "Before I sign."

Now he turned to look at her, grey eyes unreadable. "I'm listening."

"I don't love you. I don't even know if I like you most of the time. You're manipulative and ruthless and you've already proven you'll use every weakness I have against me." She met his gaze steadily. "But I'm going to marry you anyway. For the money, yes. For my family. But also because you're right, I do want the power to fix things. I want to matter. And I'm tired of pretending that's not important to me."

Carter's expression softened slightly. "Honesty. I appreciate that."

"I'm not finished." Maeve's hands clenched into fists. "If we do this, I need one promise from you. One thing that's not in the contract, that's just between us."

"Name it."

"Don't make me fall in love with you." The words came out raw. "I'll play the role, I'll be your wife in public, I'll work for your company and help with the merger. But don't, don't try to make it real. Don't be kind to me in private, don't share your vulnerabilities, don't give me glimpses of whoever you are underneath all this control. Because if you do…" her voice wavered, "...if you do, I'll fall. And when this ends in two years, it'll destroy me. So just, let this be a transaction. Clean. Professional. Let me keep that much of myself intact."

Carter studied her for a long moment, something complicated moving behind his eyes. Then, slowly, he nodded.

"Alright. I can promise you that." But his voice carried a note of sadness that made Maeve wonder if he'd wanted the opposite.

He walked to his desk, pulled out the contract and a pen. "Sign here, here, and here. Once you do, there's no going back. The announcement goes out tomorrow morning. The wedding is in six weeks."

Maeve took the pen, her hand trembling.

This was it. The moment that would change everything.

She thought of her mother, suffering through another round of chemo with expired insurance. Of Tommy, brilliant and kind, staring at a tuition bill he couldn't pay. Of Rita, sixty-three years old and working eighteen-hour days to keep her dream alive.

She thought of Leo, his heartbroken face as he opened the door to let her leave.

And she thought of herself, who she'd been, who she was becoming, who she might be if she made this choice.

Maeve signed.

Carter countersigned below her name, and just like that, it was done.

"Well then." He took the contract, placed it in a safe behind his desk. "Mrs. Langston. Welcome to the family."

The name sent a shiver down her spine. Mrs. Langston. In six weeks, that's who she'd be.

Carter poured two glasses of champagne, handed her one. "To a mutually beneficial arrangement."

Maeve clinked her glass against his, the sound crystalline and final. "To survival."

They drank, and she tried not to notice how his eyes lingered on her face, how something like regret flickered in their depths.

She'd asked him not to make her fall in love with him.

But as she stood in his tower, wearing his ring, when had he slipped that on her finger?, bound to him by contract and desperation, Maeve realized with creeping horror that she hadn't thought to protect herself from the opposite possibility.

What if she was the one who made him fall?

And what would a man like Carter Langston do with something as dangerous as real feelings?

The announcement went live at 8 AM.

Maeve woke up in the Peninsula suite Carter had insisted she spend the night somewhere secure to her phone exploding with notifications. News outlets, social media, texts from numbers she didn't recognize.

BILLIONAIRE CARTER LANGSTON ANNOUNCES ENGAGEMENT TO MYSTERY WOMAN

FROM STREET VENDOR TO HIGH SOCIETY: THE CINDERELLA STORY OF MAEVE WELLS

LANGSTON'S WIFE CHALLENGE CONCLUDES WITH SURPRISE WINNER

Her photo was everywhere, professional shots from the gala, but also candid ones someone had snapped of her at her tamale stall. The contrast was striking: Maeve in her food truck, hair in a messy ponytail, laughing at something off-camera, versus Maeve in midnight blue, polished and elegant, standing beside Carter at the event.

Two different people. Both her. Neither her.

Her phone rang. Tommy.

She answered, bracing herself. "Hey, T."

"MAEVE! Oh my god, what the hell? You're engaged? To Carter Langston? And you didn't tell me?" His voice was pure confusion, not anger. "Is this real? Please tell me this is real because they're saying, Maeve, they're saying he paid off my tuition. Stanford called this morning. My whole balance is cleared, and there's a fund for living expenses and, is this because of you?"

Maeve's throat tightened. "Yeah. It's real."

"Holy shit." Tommy laughed, the sound slightly manic. "You're marrying a billionaire. My sister is marrying a billionaire. I don't, I can't even process this. Are you okay? Do you love him? What about Leo?"

"It's complicated."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one I have right now." Maeve walked to the window, looking out at morning traffic crawling through Los Angeles. From up here, everything looked small and manageable. "Tommy, I need you to trust me, okay? This is, it's what needed to happen."

"That's a terrifying way to describe your engagement." But his voice softened. "If you're happy, I'm happy. And Maeve? Thank you. I don't know what you did or how you did it, but, thank you. You saved my life."

After he hung up, Maeve stood there for a long time, the weight of his gratitude pressing down on her.

More calls came. Rita, crying with relief and confusion. Her mother, weak but ecstatic, asking about wedding colors and venues. Friends from the neighborhood, suddenly interested in her life after years of casual distance.

Everyone wanted something from her now. Everyone had opinions.

Except Leo. He didn't call at all.

At noon, a security detail arrived to escort her to Langston Tower. Carter had arranged a press conference, she was expected to appear beside him, playing the radiant fiancée for the cameras.

The reality of what she'd agreed to hit her all at once.

In the car, her phone buzzed with a text from Cameron: I heard. I'm sorry. If you need anything, and I mean anything, I'm here.

Something about his message felt like mourning.