The Billionaire’s Seven-Day Fiancée

Elena Hayes's phone was still glowing in her hand. Logan's message from three days ago sat at the top of the screen. The last line cut through everything else. Wear something decent. Outside the staff changing room, the banquet supervisor knocked twice. "Elena, hurry up. Lock your locker before the room closes." "Coming." Elena opened her locker and saw the red dress inside the garment bag. The waist still showed the tiny stitches she had redone the night before. The dress had been one size too big. She had bought it from the clearance rack of a luxury brand and nearly put it back when her phone flashed a low-balance warning. Noah's treatment bill still sat in her inbox, and Cross Foundation needed another round of review materials confirmed by eight tomorrow morning. But Logan had said his family would be at Cross Hotel tonight. After two years of back-door meetings and ten-minute waits in service corridors, this was the first time he had asked her to come to the banquet floor, where his family could see her. Elena checked the straps and waistline. She had resewn the straps so they sat neatly on her shoulders and taken in the waist until the fabric followed her body instead of puffing out in cheap folds. At night, she took alteration work and anonymous fashion sketch jobs. She knew a dress gave itself away first at the shoulder line and waist darts. One loose end still scratched, so she pinned the stubborn seam flat. Her phone buzzed again. Under the treatment center's unpaid notice, the foundation system reminded her to confirm Noah's review materials before eight tomorrow. She took off her staff badge, meant to leave it in the locker, then slipped it into her clutch. The people upstairs would not see the trays she had carried all day, but the badge reminded her of the truth. Tonight's entrance did not belong to her. If Logan changed his mind, she would not even make it past the guest corridor. Elena zipped her clutch and looked into the mirror before shutting the locker. The light was harsh and white. She fixed the concealer under her eyes, straightened her back, and forced Logan's message out of her head. Two servers rode the staff elevator with her. They noticed the red dress and looked away. When the elevator opened on the banquet floor, Elena stepped out through the staff passage and turned toward the guest hall. Her feet almost carried her back toward the service corridor by habit. At the entrance, a staff member stopped her. "Invitation, please." Elena showed him Logan's message. The Cross name changed his tone, but his gaze still moved over her dress and caught on the staff badge peeking from her clutch. "Mr. Cross is in the family side room," he said at last. "Left at the end. Someone will guide you." Then she reached the side-room door and heard Vivian Hayes inside. "The child matters most right now. Nothing can go wrong tonight." The door was not fully closed. Two PR assistants and a security guard stood outside. They could hear every word, but none of them looked at her. Serena spoke next, soft and trembling. "I really didn't mean to hurt Elena. The baby came so suddenly. I don't know what to do." Baby. Elena looked down at the ring on her left hand. It was not large. Logan had told her he would replace it with a proper one after the Christmas Summit. He had told her that once his family met her, everything would settle. The door opened from inside. Logan stood there in a neat suit, his hair carefully styled. When he saw her, there was no surprise on his face. Only quick, ugly irritation, as if she had walked in too early. "Elena," he said. "Calm down first." Serena sat on the edge of the sofa with one hand over her lower stomach. Vivian stood beside her, shielding her. Richard Hayes stood near the window, his whiskey glass clenched tight. Across from them sat Camila Cross, Logan's mother, while an assistant waited with a tablet. PR stood outside the door, yet no one asked why Elena had been called here. Serena lifted her red eyes. "Sister, I really didn't want you to find out like this. I thought Logan had already spoken to you. I don't want you to lose your job at Cross Hotel because of me." Elena looked at Logan. "What does she mean?" Logan tugged at his tie and looked away from her ring. "Things are already like this." "Serena is pregnant," Vivian said for him. Her voice was gentle in the way Elena hated most, polished enough to sound kind to anyone listening. "Elena, this is not the time to decide who is right or wrong. The child is innocent. Serena can't be upset." Elena heard herself laugh once. It came out dry. "So you asked me here to hear this?" Logan frowned. "I asked you here because I didn't want to hide it from you." "Did you also not want to hide it when you slept with her?" Camila's assistant looked up, then lowered her head and tapped on her tablet. The PR assistant outside shifted closer, ready to turn the mess into a statement. Richard finally spoke. "Elena, get through tonight first. Noah still has foundation materials due tomorrow morning. If Cross is in chaos, it won't help him either." Elena turned toward her father. He knew about Noah's bills and why she could not afford to lose her job. But he looked at Serena, not at her. Serena lowered her head. Tears fell at exactly the right time. "Sister, don't blame Dad. This is my fault. But the baby is already here." Vivian added, "You're the older sister. Just take one step back tonight. Camila has already called PR. Don't let everyone laugh at us before the Summit." Elena gripped the seam of her dress. The safety pin pressed through the fabric and stung her skin. It kept her awake. Serena had a baby. Richard had Noah. Cross had PR. Everyone had arranged Elena's exit before she even entered the room. Logan came closer and softened his voice. "Elena, be mature. This isn't just about the two of us anymore." "Then when did something between the two of us have to wait until she got pregnant before I was told?" Logan's expression darkened. He glanced toward the door, clearly afraid the people outside had heard, then reached for Elena's wrist. She stepped back. His hand closed on air. "Don't embarrass everyone," he said. "I'm the one being embarrassed." "No one wants to embarrass you." He lowered his voice. "But you need to face reality. Serena is carrying a Cross child. If you make a scene now, you will only make yourself look worse." Elena's fingers found the stitches in her dress, dense and even from a night that had lasted until two in the morning. She had thought that if the dress fit, Logan would finally bring her before these people like she belonged. His gaze swept over the red dress and settled on her clenched hand. Then he laughed. It was small, almost quiet, and worse than all the words before it. "Who else do you think would want you?" he said. "A woman with no money, no background, and a temp wage barely keeping her bills paid. Elena, I've already tried to give you dignity." Outside the door, the PR assistant heard the word temp and glanced down at the tablet. Security looked over. Elena stood in the half-open doorway, the red dress bright in a room where no one meant to make space for her. She let go of the seam and raised her head. "Are you finished?" "Elena." "I asked if you were finished." The room went still. Serena lifted her wet eyes, as if she could not understand why Elena had not collapsed. Richard opened his mouth, then closed it again. Elena turned toward the door. Logan followed and blocked the corridor. He did not touch her this time. "If you leave like this, everyone tomorrow will know you were thrown out." "Move." "Don't make a scene." His voice became reasonable again, which was always the worst part of him. "The lawyer will give you a statement. It won't look bad. I'll have someone take care of your job. As for Noah's materials, you know stability matters right now." Elena stared at his mouth. He never said threat. He only placed her job, the statement, and Noah's name in front of her one by one and waited for her to lower her head. Then the other end of the corridor went silent. Security straightened first. Family assistants stepped aside. A man came from the elevator in a black suit with no decoration, followed by two assistants. Everyone who saw him made room. Logan's face changed before anyone spoke. Elena saw it. She did not know if this man would help her. She only knew Logan was afraid. As he came closer, she recognized the face from Cross Hospitality's internal materials. Julian Cross. Logan's half brother. The man who could make PR, security, and the family office go quiet. Elena had no time to think. She stepped around Logan and grabbed Julian's sleeve as he passed. The fabric was cold and expensive. Her hand shook, and her fingertips pressed into it until they went pale. Julian stopped. He looked down at her hand, then at the red mark on her wrist where Logan had almost caught her. He did not shake her off. Logan's face had already changed. "Julian, this is between Elena and me." Elena nearly laughed. When so many people had watched her be pushed out, Logan had not called it private. Now that she had caught a man who could make him look bad, he wanted the door closed. She tightened her grip and looked straight at Logan. "I am not unwanted," she said. "I already have someone." Silence fell inside and outside the room. Logan stared at her hand, then at Julian. "Do you know what you're saying?" Elena did not. She did not know Julian. She did not know if security would remove her in the next breath. But if she let go, Logan's words would pin her back into place as the woman with no money, no background, and only a neat exit to accept. Julian's gaze moved from her face to the red dress. He did not look at her the way a man looked at a woman. He looked at the straps, the waistline, the tiny silver point of the safety pin, and the needle marks on her fingers. "Do you know whose sleeve you're holding?" he asked. Elena's throat went dry. "Yes." Because she did know, she could not step back. "A man he doesn't dare throw out." Logan moved forward. "She's emotionally unstable. Don't let her drag you into this." Elena did not wait for Julian. "When I was unstable, you had a statement, PR, and compensation ready. Now I have only changed who is standing beside me, and suddenly I'm dragging someone down?" Logan had no answer. Vivian hurried to hold Serena. Serena whispered, "Logan..." Elena still gripped Julian's sleeve. She expected him to tell her to let go or say this had nothing to do with him. She was already bracing for the humiliation. Julian only lifted one hand, stopping his assistant. Then he stepped between Elena and Logan. He did not hide her behind him or make her smaller. He simply stood where Logan could no longer reach her. Then he looked at the PR assistant by the door. "Add her name to tonight's family side-room list." The PR assistant froze. "Mr. Cross, under whose name?" Elena's fingers tightened sharply. Julian did not look back. He looked at Logan. "Mine."