Chapter 3The Calculated Reunion

As ridiculous as it sounded, it somehow seemed more plausible than the first two options.

But I still turned her down. "Why are all of your plans about one of us marrying one of you?"

"To make us family, of course!" Izzy said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Besides, my family is loaded. We could pay off all your debts in a heartbeat!"

She had a point.

Then she suddenly gasped. "Wait! Don't you have a childhood fiancé or something?"

She meant Noah.

Our families had lived next door to each other when we were kids. Noah was my shadow, following me everywhere. Our parents used to joke that we should just have an arranged marriage when we grew up. It was just talk, of course, nothing official. I'd always thought of Noah as a good friend and never took it seriously.

Until my family went bankrupt.

Noah showed up at my door, looking frantic. "Chloe, I told my parents we have to honor our engagement, but they won't agree!"

"I'm still trying to convince them! Just wait for me!"

"Don't worry," he declared, puffing out his chest. "I won't break things off just because your family is broke!"

I stared at him, completely baffled.

Break things off? We weren't even together.

I tried to explain. "Noah, uh, I don't think we ever had a real engagement..."

"Of course we did! My dad said so himself when I was five! Our families were going to be joined!" He wouldn't listen, his eyes wide with conviction. "Chloe, wait for me! You just have to wait for me!"

He ran off, shouting "Wait for me!" over his shoulder, leaving me utterly confused.

I kept meaning to sit him down and explain things properly, but after the bankruptcy, life was a whirlwind of paperwork and phone calls.

Thankfully, most of it was sorted out now. After liquidating our assets, we were still in debt, but it was a manageable number, not an insurmountable mountain. Liam and I were both working overtime to pay it off, bit by bit. I was a freelance illustrator, and I had taken on a flood of private commissions. Liam was constantly working late or traveling for business.

Seeing how exhausted I was, Izzy insisted on dragging me away from my endless pile of sketches for a weekend getaway.

"Come on, please!" she begged. "It's my brother's new mountain villa! We can watch the sunset, it's gorgeous, I promise!"

I couldn't say no. "Okay, fine."

So that weekend, we drove up to the villa. It was perched on a mountaintop, lavishly decorated, with a breathtaking view.

"What do you think? Isn't it amazing?" Izzy said, pulling me along excitedly. "I begged my brother to let me throw a party here, but he always said no. This time, when I told him I wanted to bring you here for a vacation, he had a rare moment of mercy and actually agreed!"

On the second floor, there was a huge observation deck overlooking the lush, green mountains. Izzy and I lounged on recliners, and watching the scenery, I felt my stress begin to melt away. After a while, Izzy went downstairs to get the desserts she'd been baking.

I was lying there alone when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned my head.

And froze.

Izzy hadn't mentioned Sebastian would be here.

I fumbled for a moment, not knowing what to call him, and just stared up at him dumbly as he approached.

He stopped beside my chair and spoke first. "How have you been holding up?"

His voice snapped me out of my trance. "I'm... I'm okay."

A breeze swept across the deck, making the trees sway like a green ocean. It was so beautiful, I let out a soft sigh of admiration.

He caught it. "You like it here?"

"I love it," I nodded, then joked, "The view is so incredible, it's completely cleared my head. If only I could live here forever."

I was just making a casual remark, but Sebastian replied without a hint of hesitation. "You can."

I didn't understand. "What?"

"You can live here forever." He looked down at me, his usual intimidating aura softened by the serious look in his eyes.

"All you have to do is marry me."