Nora's POV
I threw up in the hospital bathroom for the third time that day.
My father owned Elias's company now. Which meant he owned Elias. Which meant everything we'd fought for in that parking lot was pointless.
I couldn't eat. Couldn't sleep. I'd spent the entire day in my tiny apartment staring at my phone, watching the news coverage of the merger. Watching my father's smug face as he announced the "historic partnership" between Chen Pharmaceuticals and Bennett Medical Technologies.
Now it was 11:00 PM, and I had to go to work. Had to face Elias knowing his mother had betrayed him. Knowing my father had won.
I walked into the hospital on shaky legs.
The nurse's station was empty. Maria had left me a note saying she'd be in the supply room. The night shift was just starting—that quiet hour before midnight when the hospital held its breath.
And there, on my desk, was an envelope.
My hands shook as I picked it up. Cream-colored paper. Elegant handwriting. But this letter was different. Thicker. Like there was more inside.
I opened it.
"Nora—
I've been writing to you for three months. Watching you be brave when the world was cruel. Watching you be kind when you had every reason to be bitter. Tonight, I saw you stand up to your father—the man who destroyed you—and you didn't break. You didn't run. You fought.
I've been hiding behind these letters because I'm a coward. Because it's easier to write poetry than to risk rejection. But after this morning, after watching you face your worst nightmare with your head high, I realize something.
You deserve someone brave enough to match you.
Meet me in the hospital chapel at midnight. I'll be the one finally brave enough to show my face and tell you everything. All the truths I've been too scared to say out loud.
I know this is insane. I know you have every reason to tell me no. But I'm asking anyway.
Please come.
—Elias"
I read it five times, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might break through my ribs.
Elias. All this time, I'd known it was him writing the letters. But seeing him admit it, seeing him ask me to meet him—it felt different. Real. Terrifying.
I looked at the clock. 11:47 PM.
Thirteen minutes.
I could ignore this. I could throw the letter away and pretend I never saw it. I could protect myself from whatever was about to happen.
But then I remembered his face in the parking lot when he'd lied to my father to protect me. The way he'd stepped between us like a shield. The way he'd looked at me like I mattered.
I walked to the chapel.
The hospital chapel was small and quiet. Stained glass windows caught the dim light from outside. Rows of empty wooden benches. A simple cross on the wall.
And Elias, standing by the window, his back to me.
"You came," he said without turning around. His voice was rough, like he hadn't slept either.
"Your letter didn't give me much choice," I said, trying to sound calm even though my pulse was racing. "It said 'everything.' That's a big promise."
He turned slowly, and what I saw in his face stole my breath. No cold mask. No surgeon's control. Just raw, painful honesty.
"I'm in love with you," he said.
The words hit me like a physical blow.
"What?"
"I'm in love with you," he repeated. "I have been since the night you sat with me on that floor and didn't ask me to be anything except broken and real. Maybe even before that. Maybe since the first time I saw you cry at the nurse's station and wanted to fix whatever hurt you."
I couldn't speak. Couldn't move.
"I know this is the worst possible timing," Elias continued, words tumbling out like he'd been holding them back too long. "My mother just sold my family's company to your father. Our families are at war. You have every reason to hate me because I knew who you were and I watched you anyway. I invaded your privacy. I should have told you from the beginning."
"You should have," I whispered.
"I know." He took a step closer. "But I was scared. Scared you'd run if you knew I'd been watching you. Scared you'd think I was just like everyone else—using you for some agenda. Scared that if I let myself care about someone again, I'd lose them like I lost Sarah."
My throat tightened. "Elias—"
"Let me finish. Please." His scarred hands clenched into fists. "This morning, your father said I couldn't save Sarah, so what makes me think I can save you. He's right. I can't save you. I couldn't even save my own company from my mother's manipulation." He laughed bitterly. "I'm not a hero, Nora. I'm just a broken surgeon who works night shifts because he can't sleep and writes letters to cope with loneliness."
"Then why are you telling me this?" My voice cracked. "Why now?"
"Because I'm done hiding," he said fiercely. "I'm done pretending I don't care. I'm done letting fear control my life." He closed the distance between us, and I could see the desperation in his eyes. "My mother sold my company to hurt me. To punish me for choosing you over family loyalty. And she succeeded—I'm trapped now in a business partnership with the man who destroyed you."
"I know," I breathed.
"But here's what she didn't count on." Elias's voice dropped to something dangerous. "I don't care. She can take my company. She can force me into business with your father. She can ruin my reputation. I don't care about any of it as long as I have you."
Tears spilled down my cheeks. "You don't have me. We barely know each other—"
"I know you better than anyone," he interrupted. "I know you hum when you're nervous. I know you give your lunch away to homeless people. I know you cry in the bathroom when you think no one's listening. I know you're terrified your father will find a way to destroy this job too, so you work twice as hard as everyone else to prove you deserve to be here." His voice softened. "I know you, Nora. The real you. Not the society princess or the scandal or the broken girl everyone pities. Just you."
"That's not fair," I whispered. "You don't get to say things like that—"
"Why not? Because it's true?" He cupped my face with his scarred hands, so gentle it made my heart ache. "I see you, Nora Chen. Every brave, stubborn, beautiful part of you. And I'm asking—no, I'm begging—give me a chance to prove I'm worth seeing too."
I wanted to say yes. God, I wanted to say yes so badly it hurt.
But then reality crashed back.
"Your mother merged with my father's company," I said. "That makes us enemies. We can't—there's no way this works—"
"Then we'll make a way." Elias's thumb brushed away my tears. "I have a plan. It's crazy and it might not work, but it's better than giving up."
"What plan?"
He took a deep breath. "We make them think they won. We play their game. But we play it together."
"I don't understand—"
"My mother forced this merger to control me. Your father accepted it to control you. They think they've trapped us." His eyes burned with intensity. "But what if we trap them instead? What if we pretend to be the perfect corporate couple—unite the families, make them drop their guard—and then we take everything they stole from us?"
My breath caught. "You're talking about revenge."
"I'm talking about justice," he corrected. "Your father destroyed your life. My mother betrayed me. They both think we're too broken to fight back. Let's prove them wrong."
"How?"
"Marry me."
The world stopped spinning.
"What?" I choked out.
"Not for real," Elias said quickly. "A fake engagement. Public. Strategic. Six months of playing the perfect couple while we gather evidence against both our families. Your father's company is under FBI investigation already—we just need to give them enough proof to make charges stick. My mother's been hiding financial crimes for years. Together, we can expose them both."
"That's insane—"
"Yes." He smiled, and it was the first real smile I'd seen from him. "Completely insane. But think about it, Nora. Right now, we're victims. Pawns in their games. But if we team up, if we become partners—we're players. We're threats."
"They'll see through it—"
"No, they won't. Because they think we're weak. They think we're broken." His hands tightened on my face. "They have no idea what we're capable of when we stop running and start fighting."
My mind raced. It was crazy. Absolutely crazy.
But it was also brilliant.
"A fake engagement," I said slowly. "For six months. We pretend to be in love, unite the families, and gather evidence to take them both down."
"Exactly."
"And then what? After six months, we just... go our separate ways?"
Something flickered in Elias's eyes. "If that's what you want."
"What do I get out of this?" I asked. "Besides revenge?"
"Besides revenge?" He smiled sadly. "You get your life back. Your trust fund, your reputation, your dignity. I have lawyers who can sue your father for everything he stole from you. You get justice, Nora. Real justice."
It was tempting. God, it was tempting.
But I couldn't ignore the part of me that whispered this was a terrible idea. That playing with fire meant getting burned.
"And what do you get?" I asked quietly.
Elias's eyes met mine, and what I saw there made my breath stop.
"I get you," he said simply. "Even if it's just pretend. Even if it's just for six months. I get to wake up every day knowing you're mine, even if it's a lie we're telling the world." His voice dropped to a whisper. "And maybe, if I'm very lucky, by the end of six months, you won't want it to be pretend anymore."
My heart hammered. "Elias—"
"Say yes," he breathed. "Take this leap with me. We've both lost everything already—what's one more risk?"
I should have said no. Should have run. Should have protected my already-broken heart from inevitable disaster.
Instead, I heard myself say: "Okay."
His eyes widened. "Okay?"
"Okay," I repeated, stronger this time. "I'll be your fake fiancée. For six months. We'll take down both our families and get our lives back."
Elias's smile could have lit up the entire hospital. He pulled me into his arms, holding me so tight I could barely breathe.
"Thank you," he whispered into my hair. "Thank you for trusting me."
I closed my eyes, breathing in his scent—coffee and antiseptic and something uniquely him.
This was either the bravest thing I'd ever done or the stupidest.
Probably both.
When he pulled back, his expression turned serious. "We should seal it with a kiss. Make it official."
My heart stopped. "What?"
"We're engaged now, even if it's fake. We should—" He hesitated, suddenly looking uncertain. "Unless you don't want to—"
I grabbed his collar and kissed him.
It was supposed to be quick. Professional. Just sealing the deal.
But the moment his lips touched mine, everything changed. The kiss deepened, became desperate, became real. His scarred hands tangled in my hair. My fingers gripped his shirt. Six months of watching each other, writing letters, dancing around this attraction—it all exploded at once.
When we finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Elias's eyes were dark with something that definitely wasn't fake.
"That was—" he started.
His phone buzzed. Then mine.
We pulled them out at the same time.
The same message on both screens, from unknown numbers.
Elias's message: "Saw you enter the chapel with her. Mother isn't going to like this. Better hurry up with whatever you're planning. —James"
My message: "Daddy knows you're with Dr. Bennett. He's on his way to the hospital. Run. —Anonymous"
I looked up at Elias, fear clawing at my throat. "Who's James?"
"My brother," Elias said, his face pale. "I didn't know he was watching—"
"My father's coming here," I interrupted. "Right now."
We stared at each other, the chapel suddenly feeling like a trap instead of a sanctuary.
"We have to tell them," Elias said. "Now. Before they find out on their own terms. We announce the engagement tonight, make it public, take control of the narrative."
"They'll try to stop us—"
"They can't stop an engagement that's already happened." He grabbed my hand, his grip fierce. "Trust me. One more time. Trust me."
I looked at our joined hands—his scarred, mine shaking—and made my choice.
"Let's go start a war," I said.