MY WAY TO THE BILLIONAIRE'S HEART.

CHAPTER10

"Yes." No apology in his voice. "But you'd also have real power. VP of Product Development isn't ceremonial. You'd have authority to implement safety protocols, order recalls, redesign faulty systems. You could actually save lives."

The offer was intoxicating. Power to fix things, money to save her family, a position that meant something.

All she had to do was marry a man she couldn't trust and pretend to love him for two years.

"What about Leo?" The question came out smaller than she intended.

Carter's expression hardened. "What about him?"

"The fidelity clause. I'm supposed to just, what? Break his heart? Pretend he never existed?"

"You're supposed to decide what you actually want." Carter stepped closer, and she could smell his cologne, feel the heat of him. "Be honest, Maeve. When you think about your future, really think about it, is Leo there? Or is he just comfortable? Safe? The easy choice?"

The words were cruel, but they hit a nerve she'd been trying to ignore.

Because the truth was, she and Leo had been coasting. She loved him, yes, but was it the kind of love that could survive this pressure? Or was it the love of habit, of shared history, of two people who'd settled for each other because the alternative was being alone?

"I need time," she whispered.

"You have until midnight." Carter pulled out his phone, tapped something, and hers buzzed. "I've sent you a reservation. Suite at the Peninsula. Think there, away from everyone trying to influence you. Make this decision for yourself, not for anyone else."

He turned to leave, then paused. "For what it's worth, I hope you say yes. Not because of the merger or the money or any of it. But because you're the first person in years who's looked at me like I'm human. Flawed and calculating and ruthless, yes, but human. I'd like to keep that feeling around for a while."

Then he was gone, leaving her alone with the weight of the decision.

Maeve didn't go to the Peninsula.

Instead, she went to Cedars-Sinai Hospital, to Room 412, where Jade Kensington sat propped up against pillows looking pale and furious.

"You came." Jade's voice was rough, like she'd been screaming. "Wasn't sure you would."

"What happened to you?" Maeve asked, closing the door behind her.

Jade's laugh was bitter. "Officially? Accidental overdose. I mixed my anxiety meds with champagne, got dizzy, hit my head. Very tragic, very embarrassing." She leaned forward, and Maeve saw the bandage at her temple. "Want to know what actually happened?"

Maeve's throat went dry. "Tell me."

"I left the gala, went to my car. Someone was waiting for me, didn't see their face, they came from behind. Next thing I knew, I was waking up here with doctors telling me I nearly died from a drug cocktail I definitely didn't take." Jade's hands shook as she gripped the blanket. "Someone wanted me out of the picture, Maeve. Someone who knew exactly what I was planning to do."

"Carter?"

"Who else?" Jade's eyes filled with tears, but her voice stayed hard. "He's done this before. Not, not attempted murder, maybe. But silencing people who threaten him? Making problems disappear? It's what he does. And you're about to sign your life away to him."

Maeve sank into the visitor's chair. "Cameron said you were an addict. That you probably…"

"Of course he did." Jade wiped her eyes angrily. "The Langstons protect each other. Cameron might seem nice, might make you feel special, but when it comes down to it, he'll choose family over you every single time." She reached for her phone on the bedside table, wincing with the movement. "I'm going to show you something. And after you see it, you need to decide if you can really marry into this family."

She pulled up a video file, handed the phone to Maeve.

The footage was grainy, clearly from a security camera. It showed a warehouse, dark except for emergency lighting. Two figures moved through the frame, Carter, unmistakable even in shadow, and another man Maeve didn't recognize.

They were arguing. Carter's body language was aggressive, threatening. Then the other man tried to leave, and Carter grabbed him, slammed him against a wall. The violence of it made Maeve flinch.

Then Carter pulled something from his jacket, a phone, maybe? No, smaller. He held it up to the man's face, said something, and the man crumpled, sliding down the wall. Carter walked away without looking back.

The timestamp was from three months ago.

"Who was that?" Maeve's voice barely worked.

"Marcus Webb. The factory supervisor who tried to blackmail Carter about the faulty products." Jade took her phone back. "Carter told you he paid him off, right? That's not quite the full story. He paid him off and then had him deported. Marcus was undocumented, Carter discovered that during his investigation and used it as leverage. Threatened to turn him over to ICE if he ever spoke up again."

"That's not…" Maeve started, then stopped. Because it was exactly the kind of thing Carter would do. Ruthless. Efficient. Legally gray but morally black.

"There's more," Jade continued quietly. "The Takahashi merger? It's not just about getting better components. It's about offloading liability. Once the merger completes, all those faulty products become a 'legacy issue' that can be pinned on the old management structure. Carter walks away clean, the Takahashis take the heat if lawsuits come, and he rebuilds the company's reputation on their backs."

Maeve felt sick. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you remind me of who I used to be." Jade's voice cracked. "Young, idealistic, thinking you could change him or at least survive him with your integrity intact. I was wrong. And you will be too." She reached out, grabbed Maeve's hand with surprising strength. "Don't sign that contract. Take the business card Hiroshi Tanaka gave you. Meet with him. Tell him everything. The merger will collapse, yes, but Carter will have to face real consequences for once in his privileged life. And you'll walk away with your soul intact."

"And the fifty thousand you offered?"

Jade smiled weakly. "Still yours. Consider it payment for saving yourself."

Maeve stood up, her head spinning. "I need to think."

"Don't think too long." Jade released her hand. "Carter's good at making people think they have choices when really, he's already decided everything. The hotel suite, the midnight deadline, it's all manipulation. He's backing you into a corner and making you think you're walking in freely."

Maeve left the hospital room without responding, her mind a war zone of conflicting information.

In the elevator, her phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number: I know you visited Jade. We need to talk. Meet me at the diner on 7th and Spring. One hour. Come alone or don't come at all.

No signature, but she knew that imperious tone.

Carter.

Of course he'd been tracking her. Probably had GPS on her phone, surveillance on his enemies, eyes everywhere. The control he exercised wasn't just over his company, it extended to everyone in his orbit.

She should run. Should get in her car, drive to Leo's apartment, confess everything, and beg him to help her escape this nightmare.

Instead, she found herself driving toward 7th and Spring.

The diner was the kind of place that existed in every city, worn booths, fluorescent lights, coffee that tasted like regret. Carter sat in the back corner, looking absurdly out of place in his expensive suit, two cups of coffee already waiting.

Maeve slid into the booth across from him. "How did you know where I was?"

"I told you. I know everything in my orbit." He pushed one coffee toward her. "You went to see Jade. What did she tell you?"

"That you're a monster who deports whistleblowers and frames business partners."

Carter's expression didn't change. "And you believe her?"

"Should I?"

He took a long sip of coffee, considering. "Marcus Webb wasn't deported. He was relocated, voluntarily, with a full settlement and a new identity. His family too. They're in Canada now, safe, with enough money to start over. I didn't threaten him. I gave him an out."

"The video Jade showed me…"

"Was edited." Carter pulled out his own phone, showed her a longer version of the same security footage. In this one, the context was clear: Marcus had come at Carter first, threatening him with a weapon. Carter had defended himself, disarmed him, then helped him up and they'd talked for another twenty minutes. The edited version Jade showed had cut all of that out, made it look like unprovoked violence.

"She lied to you," Carter said simply.

Maeve's hands shook around the coffee cup. "Why?”