Grace
Grace dropped the trash bag and it split open, spilling coffee grounds everywhere.
Perfect. Just perfect.
Three days since Ryan Brooks showed up at her apartment like some kind of nightmare. Three days of barely sleeping, constantly looking over her shoulder, jumping every time someone knocked on her door.
Sophie kept asking what was wrong. Grace couldn't explain without sounding crazy.
Oh nothing, just some billionaire accused me of stealing his father's money and threatened to destroy my life. Normal Tuesday stuff.
Grace grabbed the broom from inside and started sweeping up the mess in the alley behind Rosie's Diner. It was almost 8pm and her feet hurt from a double shift. Her burned hand still throbbed from the coffee pot incident. Everything hurt.
"You can't avoid me forever."
Grace spun around so fast she almost dropped the broom.
Ryan Brooks stood at the alley entrance, blocking her path back inside. He looked different than he had at her apartment. More tired. Less angry. But still dangerous in his expensive suit that probably cost more than her yearly rent.
"How did you find me?" Grace's heart pounded.
"You work here. It's not exactly a secret." He stepped closer. "We need to talk."
"I have nothing to say to you. Sophie told you to leave me alone."
"Sophie's not here. It's just us." Ryan glanced at the dumpster and wrinkled his nose. "Can we go somewhere that doesn't smell like rotting food?"
"No. Say what you want and leave."
Grace gripped the broom handle like a weapon. She'd learned to defend herself in foster care. Rich boy in a suit didn't scare her.
Except he kind of did. Not physically. But the way he looked at her, like she was some puzzle he couldn't solve, made her nervous.
"My father is dying," Ryan said quietly.
The words hit Grace like cold water. She already knew but hearing it said out loud made it real.
"Mr. Brooks is sick?" Her voice cracked. "How bad?"
"Stage four cancer. The doctors give him two months, maybe three." Ryan's jaw tightened. "He's been going to this diner for two years. Every Tuesday and Thursday. Talking to you."
"He's my friend."
"He's a billionaire who built a tech empire from nothing. And you had no idea?"
Grace's mind spun. Mr. Brooks, the kind old man who tipped well and listened to her dreams, was a billionaire?
"I didn't know," she whispered. "He never said anything."
"Of course he didn't. Because then you would've asked for money."
Anger flared hot in Grace's chest. "I never asked him for anything! He came to the diner, I served him breakfast, we talked. That's it!"
"Really? You just happened to share all your problems with a dying old man? Your money troubles, your bakery dreams, your sad foster care story?"
"He asked about my life! I was being nice!"
"And he was dying and lonely and you saw an opportunity."
Grace threw the broom down. It clattered against the concrete. "You don't know anything about me."
"I know you're in his will now." Ryan pulled out his phone and showed her a document. "See this? My father changed his entire estate plan. Twelve billion dollars, Grace. That's billion with a B."
The number was so big Grace couldn't even picture it. She stared at the phone screen trying to make sense of the words.
"I don't understand. Why would he put me in his will?"
"Great question. I asked him the same thing." Ryan's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Want to know what he said? He said you reminded him what matters. That you're kind and real and exactly what I need."
"What you need?"
"To inherit, I have to marry you." Ryan said it flat, like he was reading a grocery list. "Within thirty days. Stay married for one year. If I don't, everything goes to my cousin Derek who'll destroy the company my father spent his life building."
Grace's legs felt weak. She leaned against the brick wall. "This is insane."
"Finally something we agree on."
"Why me? I'm nobody!"
"Apparently you're somebody to my father. He thinks marrying you will fix me somehow. Make me less of a cold workaholic or whatever."
Rain started falling. Light at first, then harder. Grace didn't move. Neither did Ryan.
"I can't marry you," Grace said. "I don't even know you."
"I don't want to marry you either. But I'm not letting Derek destroy my father's legacy." Ryan stepped closer until they were almost touching. "So here's the deal. We get married. Paper only. You live in my penthouse for a year, we show up to events together, act like a couple in public. In private we're strangers. Separate bedrooms, separate lives."
"That's fraud."
"It's a business arrangement. When the year ends, we divorce and you walk away with five million dollars."
Five million dollars. The words echoed in Grace's head.
Five million dollars meant culinary school. A bakery. Security for the rest of her life. Everything she'd ever dreamed about.
But marrying a man who hated her? Living a lie for a year?
"I need to think," Grace said.
"You have until tomorrow night. After that the offer disappears."
"What happens if I say no?"
Ryan's eyes went cold. "Then I lose everything my father built. And I make sure you never work in this city again. I'll tell every restaurant, every diner, every coffee shop that you're a con artist who preys on sick old men. Your name will be poison."
Fear and fury mixed in Grace's stomach. "You'd destroy my life because I won't help you?"
"You already destroyed mine by manipulating my father. This is just evening the score."
"I didn't manipulate anyone!"
"Then prove it. Marry me. Help me save my father's company. Take your five million dollars and disappear."
The rain was pouring now, soaking through Grace's uniform. Ryan's expensive suit was getting ruined but he didn't seem to care.
"Why should I trust you?" Grace asked. "You've called me a liar and a thief. Why would you want to marry someone you hate?"
"I don't have to like you. I just have to tolerate you for twelve months." Ryan pulled out a business card and held it out. "Think about it Grace. Five million dollars. One year. You'd be set for life."
Grace took the card. Her hands were shaking.
"If I say yes, I want conditions. My own bedroom. You don't control what I do or where I go. And when the year ends, we never see each other again."
Something flickered in Ryan's eyes. Surprise maybe. "Agreed."
"I haven't said yes yet."
"But you're considering it. That's progress." Ryan turned to leave, then stopped. "One more thing. My father wants to meet you. Actually meet you, not just serve him breakfast. He knows about the marriage arrangement. He's happy about it."
"He's happy you're blackmailing me?"
"He thinks I'm giving you an opportunity. Apparently he has a very different view of you than I do." Ryan's voice softened just slightly. "He's dying Grace. This might be his last wish. Are you really going to say no?"
The question hit harder than any threat. Mr. Brooks, her friend, was dying. And his last wish was for her to marry his son.
"I'll think about it," Grace whispered.
Ryan nodded and walked out of the alley. Grace stood in the rain watching him disappear around the corner.
Her phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number: My father wants to see you tomorrow at 2pm. Seattle Grace Hospital, room 407. He asked me to tell you he misses your smile. -Ryan
Grace stared at the message until rain blurred the screen.
Mr. Brooks was dying. Ryan would destroy her career if she refused. Five million dollars could change her entire life.
But marrying a stranger who thought she was a criminal?
How was that even a choice?
Her phone buzzed again. Different number this time. Sophie: Grace where are you? Your shift ended 20 minutes ago and Marcy is worried
Grace looked down. She was still standing in the rain, completely soaked, holding a business card and a broom.
Tomorrow she had to decide. Marry Ryan Brooks and become a millionaire, or refuse and lose everything.
She walked back inside the diner. Sophie took one look at her and gasped.
"What happened to you?"
Grace opened her mouth to answer but her phone rang. Unknown number again.
She answered without thinking. "Hello?"
A woman's voice, elegant and cold: "Is this Grace Parker? The waitress who's trying to trap Ryan Brooks?"
"Who is this?"
"Victoria Sterling. Ryan's girlfriend. Stay away from him or I'll make you regret it."
The line went dead.
Grace stood there dripping water on the diner floor, phone in hand, while Sophie stared at her with wide eyes.
"Grace, what is going on?"
Before she could answer, the diner door opened. A man in a suit walked in, looked around, then headed straight for Grace.
"Grace Parker? I'm Derek Brooks, Ryan's cousin. We need to talk about that will."