From Heartbreak To CEO's Protected Bride

final notice,

evoid of any sympathy. It was a sterile, administrative so

reatment isn't settled by tomorrow, we'll have

h, twisting hard. She leaned against the wall of her tiny apartment, th

e click

hoed in her memory, a conversation from just last week-the weak, trembling words that had cut deeper than any doctor's diagnosis. "Julia, sweetheart, I need to know you'll be taken care of. I need to see you settled before... Please, promise me you won't wait. Find som

thumb hovering over the first name in her favorite

l button. It went s

ed Branson Burton

mail. A third time. Voicemail. The automated voice felt like

the number for his office. His secretary

tments, this

I need to speak with Bra

n, but Mr. Burton is unavailable. He's at a ve

f party?" Julia's voi

syrupy. "Well, I probably shouldn't say... but it's abou

was a proposal. The dread in her chest was instantly replaced by a wild, desperate hope. A p

ed, hanging up before M

ook as she pulled it on, the cool fabric doing nothing to calm her racing pulse. In the bathroom mirror, she looked pale and exhausted, dark circles under her eyes. She for

past the rain-streaked window. She twisted the worn strap of her purse,

She walked to the front desk, her cheap heels sinking int

d her a key card. "The presidential

st as the elevator ascended in silence. The hallway on the top floor was dimly lit, the th

arkness. The only light was the faint glow of the cit

unfamiliar, expensive cologne. It wasn't Branson's scen

she called

heavy, rhythmic breathing fro

sofa. She tripped on a piece of clothing left on the floor, stumbling forwa

nees weak with a cocktail of relief and exhaustion. As she reache

tly controlled emotions finally broke. All the fear for her mother, the stress of the past few months, the desperate hope of

nstead, a mouth cr

't gentle or familiar. It was the kiss of a stranger. A flicker of wrongness, a blaring alarm, w

ce of his presence was intoxicating. The alcohol on his breath, the exhaustion weighing down her limbs, the emotion

l, anonymous force become the anchor for her storm-tossed world. It was a release, a su

been fighting for weeks finally claimed h

h a gap in the curtains, waking her. Her head

e was

into her gut. She sat up, clutching the she

tstand. A single text message glowed

Chicago for an emergency meeting

around the empty, opulent suite. The discarded clothes on the floor. The indenta

in fragmented, horrifying flashes. The raw power

n't Br

ar ways. The evidence on the sheets confirmed her worst fears. A choked sob escaped her li