Chapter 60
[ 496 words ]
Chapter 60:
As they zipped it up, Caroline realized the dress was heavy. The entire bodice and skirt were encrusted with thousands of microscopic, hand-sewn diamonds. They caught the light, creating a blinding, liquid shimmer.
The assistants fluffed the train and stepped back, gasping softly.
Caroline looked at herself in the three-way mirror.
She didn’t recognize the woman staring back. The exhausted, invisible nurse was gone. In her place stood a cold, breathtakingly elegant woman who looked like she owned the city.
The velvet curtain was pulled back.
Caroline stepped out into the VIP lounge. Her bare shoulders shivered slightly in the cool air.
Jarrod was sitting on the sofa, flipping through a military defense magazine.
𝖳𝗵𝗈𝗎ѕ𝗮𝘯ds o𝖿 𝘳𝗲a𝗱e𝗿𝘴 𝗼n g𝘢𝗅𝘯𝗈𝘃e𝗹s.𝖼о𝘮
He heard the rustle of the fabric and looked up.
The magazine slipped from his fingers and hit the carpet with a soft thud.
Jarrod froze. His chest stopped moving. His dark gray eyes swept over her, taking in the exposed line of her collarbone, the tight cinch of her waist, and the glittering diamonds cascading down her legs.
A dark, possessive fire ignited in his eyes. He stood up slowly.
He walked toward her, his gaze locked onto her face. He stopped inches away.
“Perfect,” Jarrod murmured. His voice was incredibly thick.
Linda immediately stepped forward, holding a velvet tray. “It is flawless. And I highly recommend this sapphire necklace to complete the look.”
Linda then glanced down at a sleek tablet in her other hand. “The insurance appraisal for the gown and necklace is confirmed, Mr. Romero. Shall I proceed with the final seven-figure invoice?”
Caroline overheard the number. Her blood ran cold. The casual mention of a price tag that could buy her parents’ entire neighborhood ten times over hit her like a physical blow.
She felt dizzy. The sheer opulence of it all was suffocating her.
She turned on her heel, her face a mask of pale shock. “Help me take this off,” she ordered the assistants, her voice trembling but sharp. “Now.”
The assistants looked nervously toward Linda, but Caroline’s tone was steel. They carefully unzipped her, and she stepped out of the glittering puddle of fabric as if escaping a fire, quickly pulling her scrubs back on.
When she walked back out, Jarrod was standing at the glass table. He was holding a heavy black fountain pen, preparing to sign the thick parchment receipt.
Caroline’s pride—the fierce, stubborn independence of a woman who had spent years scraping by on nothing—flared up.
She marched over to him.
“Jarrod, stop,” Caroline said, her voice sharp and urgent. “It’s too expensive. I can’t accept this.”
Jarrod didn’t even look up. He continued to review the document. “It is the required uniform for the battlefield you are entering. It is not up for debate.”
“I don’t want you to pay for me,” Caroline insisted, her chin jutting out stubbornly. “You’ve already done too much. There has to be a limit. You can’t just throw this kind of money at me like I’m another one of your military assets.”
The air in the room instantly turned to ice.
Jarrod’s hand stopped moving.
.
.
.
If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.