Chapter 404
“Don’t,” he snapped. He looked up at her then, and his eyes were cold. Empty. “You think I want this? You think I want your pity? Your transactional charity?”
“I was trying to—”
“You were trying to buy your boyfriend’s life with your body,” Dallas sneered. “And frankly, Eliza — I’m not interested.”
The words were a lie. Eliza could see the agony behind them. But they cut deep.
“You’re not interested?” she repeated, her voice barely a whisper. “Or you can’t?”
Silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating.
𝗕𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺
Dallas gripped the armrests of his chair. “Get out. Before I have security throw you out.”
He turned his chair away from her, facing the window again — hiding his shame. Because admitting he physically couldn’t would destroy the last shred of dignity he had left in front of the woman he worshipped. He would rather she hate him for cruelty than pity him for being broken.
Eliza stood there, her blouse disheveled, her pride in ruins. She had offered herself to him, and he couldn’t — or wouldn’t — take her. It was the ultimate rejection.
She grabbed her coat from the floor. She felt dirty. She felt foolish. But beneath the humiliation, a terrifying clarity began to solidify. He was dying, and he was using his cruelty to push her away so she wouldn’t have to watch.
“Fine,” she said, her voice shaking. “You win. I’ll find another way.”
She ran out of the office and didn’t stop until she reached the lobby. She pulled out her phone, her hands trembling so badly she could barely type. She scrolled to a contact she hadn’t used in months.
Julian Harper.
She hit call.
“Mr. Harper,” she said when he answered, fighting to keep her voice steady. “This is Eliza Solomon. I have a business proposition for you. I need to see you. Now.”
The VIP room at The Onyx Club was dimly lit, smelling of leather and expensive scotch. Julian Harper sat on a velvet sofa, swirling an amber liquid in a crystal glass. He looked every bit the Wall Street shark — impeccably dressed, handsome in a predatory way, and completely at ease.
Eliza sat opposite him, her back rigid. She had fixed her makeup in the car, but she still felt raw and exposed.
“Two hundred million dollars,” Julian repeated, a smirk playing on his lips. “That’s a lot of money, Eliza. Even for me. And for what? To bail out the Luna family?”
“To buy a controlling interest in the Solomon patents,” Eliza corrected him. “And to stop Dallas Koch.”
Julian’s eyes glinted. “Ah. The husband. I heard rumors. Trouble in paradise?”
“We’re divorcing,” Eliza said curtly. “He’s trying to destroy Luna Corp. I need the capital to pay off the debt he bought.”
“And why should I help you?” Julian took a sip of his drink. “Solomon Industries is a sinking ship. The patents are valuable, sure, but two hundred million?”
.
.