Selena blinked, her mind scrambling to process what Adrian Wolfe had just said. A fiancée?
She sat frozen in her chair, her fingers gripping the armrests. "You can't be serious."
Adrian smirked, his expression unreadable. "I never joke about business, Miss Carter."
Business. Of course. That was all this was to him. But why her?
"I came here to discuss an architectural contract, not… this." Her voice was sharp, edged with disbelief.
"And I'm offering you something better." Adrian walked back to his desk, leaning against it with the same effortless confidence he wore like a second skin. "A deal that benefits us both. You get the funding you need to save Carter & Co., and I get a fiancée to keep my board—and certain rivals—off my back."
Selena let out a shaky breath, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. "You can't just… buy a fake relationship. That's insane."
"Is it?" Adrian tilted his head. "Look around, Miss Carter. This city runs on deals, not emotions. Marriage, love—those are just transactions with different terms."
His cold logic sent a shiver down her spine. She had heard rumors about Adrian Wolfe, about how he saw people as assets or obstacles, never anything in between. But this?
"Why me?" she asked finally, her voice quieter now.
He crossed his arms. "You're not connected to my world. No hidden motives, no family with greedy hands waiting for a payout. You're smart, independent, and most importantly, desperate enough to consider this."
Her jaw clenched at the last part, but she couldn't deny the truth in his words.
Her company was weeks away from bankruptcy. Her father's legacy—everything he had worked for—was slipping through her fingers. And Adrian Wolfe was dangling salvation in front of her like a devil offering a poisoned apple.
"How long?" she asked, surprising herself.
Adrian's lips curled into the hint of a smile, like he had already known she'd ask. "Six months. Long enough to convince the world, but short enough to walk away cleanly."
"And then?"
"Then we go our separate ways. You keep Carter & Co., and I keep my empire intact."
Selena swallowed hard. It was reckless. Unthinkable. But so was losing everything.
She looked at him, trying to read past the icy exterior. "What do you get out of this, really?"
His expression darkened slightly. "Let's just say… there are people who would love to see me vulnerable. A fiancée complicates things for them."
There it was. A hint of something deeper, something beyond just boardroom politics. But she wasn't sure she wanted to know more.
She exhaled slowly. "I need time to think."
Adrian's eyes locked onto hers. "You have twenty-four hours."
Her stomach twisted. Of course, he wouldn't give her time to hesitate, to second-guess. That wasn't how men like him operated.
She stood, feeling unsteady. "I'll let you know my decision."
As she walked toward the elevator, she could feel Adrian's gaze on her back, as if he already knew what her answer would be.
And that terrified her more than anything.