I Married a Billionaire Hotter Than My Ex

Nora's POV

Julian had me pinned against the edge of his desk when he kissed me.

Not everyone had left the office yet. Through the half-closed blinds, I could still see people passing in the hallway.

"Someone might see us," I whispered.

But my hands stayed fisted in his shirt.

"Then why are you holding on so tight?"

He gave a low laugh, tightened his arm around my waist, and kissed me again.

We'd been together for four years.

At Mercer Real Estate, though, we were nothing more than boss and assistant.

Only when his office door was locked, or when we were back at the apartment he'd rented for me, could I hold him like this without having to let go the moment someone came near.

His phone rang.

Julian released me, brushed his thumb across the corner of my mouth, and turned to answer it.

I was still leaning against his desk, straightening the shirt he'd wrinkled, when I heard him say, "I'm taking a week off starting tomorrow. Book two tickets to St. Barts."

Two tickets.

My heart gave a little jump.

I'd suggested taking a vacation last year, but Julian had said he was too busy with work.

Four years together, and we'd never taken a proper vacation.

"You're taking me with you?"

Julian was already looking through the documents on his desk.

"I'm going with Claire."

I froze.

The warmth from his kiss slowly drained from my face.

"Claire?"

"Yeah." He didn't seem to notice my expression. "We're going to announce our engagement when we get back."

I stared at him.

"You're getting engaged?"

"Our families have already agreed on it."

His hand had been around my waist just moments ago.

Now, without so much as a change in his voice, he was telling me he was going to marry another woman.

"What about me?"

"Nora, I never promised I'd marry you."

My chest tightened.

He was right.

He'd never promised.

But every time I'd brought up marriage, he'd told me to wait a little longer.

And I had.

For four years.

I'd waited for him to finish his projects. Waited for him to stop introducing me as his assistant.

Waited for the day he'd finally be willing to hold my hand in public.

"Then what were these past four years?"

"Don't start." He frowned. "My marriage affects the entire Mercer family. Claire and I have known each other since we were kids. Our companies need this marriage, too."

"I'm not asking about the companies."

I fought to keep the tears out of my voice.

"Julian, did you ever, even once, think about marrying me?"

He went silent.

I knew better than to expect anything.

Still, I waited.

"Nora, don't be so naive. I can't marry you."

"Because I grew up in foster care?"

He looked away.

That was answer enough.

"Fine."

I picked up my bag.

"Then we're breaking up."

"What are you making a fuss about now?"

He reached over and ruffled my hair as though I were a child throwing a tantrum.

"Just because I'm getting married doesn't mean I can't keep taking care of you."

He placed a credit card on the desk.

"Buy yourself whatever you want. I'll bring you some jewelry when I get back."

I stared at the card.

Somehow, it was even more humiliating than hearing about his engagement.

Last night, I'd still been helping him organize his meeting documents.

Today, he was treating our four years together like an expense he needed to settle.

"Did you hear me say we're breaking up?"

"Isn't that why I'm offering to compensate you?"

"I didn't spend four years with you so you could put a price on me."

His expression hardened.

"Don't push your luck. You don't get to decide on your own whether we're over."

He grabbed his jacket and walked out.

The office door closed behind him.

When I was nineteen, Mia had locked me inside a wooden chest in a storage room.

Julian had been the one who found me.

He'd held me in his arms and said, You've got me now.

I'd spent four years loving him because of that promise.

The next day, I went to Mercer Real Estate as usual.

Claire was already in Julian's office, looking through photographs of hotels.

She accepted the coffee I brought in and smiled.

"Julian wants you to drive us to the airport at eleven. The driver's busy today."

I wanted to refuse.

But I still needed to collect my internship certificate.

One last job.

Then I'd resign.

As I left the office, I saw Julian adjusting Claire's scarf.

He used to straighten my collar like that.

The difference was that whenever our car got close to the office, he'd always let go of my hand first.

"Darling," Claire called.

He smiled at her.

I stood on the other side of the glass wall, watching him straighten her scarf.

She could stand beside him for everyone to see.

I never could.

Back at my desk, an email from the university appeared on my phone, reminding me to submit my documents for the Milan study program.

I stared at it for a moment.

Then I found Adrian Vale's number.

A few months ago, at a business reception, he'd proposed a marriage of convenience.

I'd turned him down on the spot.

Back then, I was still convinced Julian would marry me someday.

I didn't know whether calling Adrian now would be another mistake.

But I couldn't keep living in the apartment Julian had arranged for me.

I stared at Adrian's number for a long time before finally pressing Call.

"Nora?"

"Mr. Vale. That offer you made me before... does it still stand?"

"Have you thought it through?"

Beyond the glass wall, Julian was walking out of his office, holding Claire's hand.

"I just want to discuss the terms."

"Seven tonight. My place in Manhattan. I'll send you the address."

At eleven, I drove Julian and Claire toward JFK.

"Hurry up. I don't want to miss the flight."

Julian glanced at his watch.

In the rearview mirror, I could see him leaning toward Claire, listening to something she was saying.

I forced myself to focus on the road.

The light had just turned green when a little boy chasing a ball suddenly ran off the sidewalk.

I slammed on the brakes and jerked the steering wheel to the left.

CRASH!

The car slammed into the median barrier.

The airbag burst open.

The crumpled driver's seat had trapped my left leg.

Pain shot through me so violently that my vision went black for a second.

"Claire!"

Julian shielded her as they climbed out of the back seat.

"Julian, help me! I can't get out!"

He called 911, then glanced back at me.

"Help's coming. Just wait."

Relief washed over me.

But a second later, he was helping Claire toward the side of the road.

"Don't go! I can't move my leg!"

Julian stopped.

For a moment, I thought he was finally coming back.

Then he looked down at his watch.

"The rescue team will be here soon. Just hang in there."

"Julian, Nora's still inside," Claire reminded him quietly.

"I know. But if we don't leave now, we'll miss the flight."

He hailed a taxi.

"Julian!"

I screamed his name.

"You promised you'd never leave me!"

The taxi disappeared around the corner.

One car passed.

Then another.

He didn't come back.

When I was nineteen, he'd held me and promised I'd always have him.

Apparently, that promise meant nothing.

Not even when my life was in danger.

A sharp, burning smell reached me.

Smoke began rising from the front of the car.

Suddenly, the cramped space around me felt exactly like the wooden chest Mia had locked me in four years ago.

I knew I wasn't back in that storage room.

I knew that.

But my chest tightened anyway, and my breaths came faster and shallower.

"Let me out..."

I pulled desperately at the door.

It wouldn't budge.

My leg was still trapped.

I could almost hear Mia laughing as she locked the chest.

Before I knew it, I was counting.

I'd done the same thing back then.

If I kept counting, I could almost convince myself that someone would open the lid any second.

"One... two... three..."

My phone had fallen beneath the front passenger seat.

I reached for it.

My fingertips came so close.

But no matter how far I stretched, I couldn't grab it.

The smoke was getting thicker.

Someone on the roadside finally shouted for me to stay still.

Then I heard the screech of brakes.

A black sedan pulled over.

A tall man got out and hurried toward me.

His dark suit accentuated his broad shoulders.

I'd seen that stern face in business magazines more times than I could count.

Adrian?

He stopped for a split second when he recognized me.

"Nora?"

Then he was moving again.

He told his driver to keep calling for emergency assistance, grabbed a fire extinguisher, and brought the flames at the front of the car under control.

"Can you hear me? Don't move."

"I can't get out..."

"I know."

He looked at me through the window.

"Look at me."

There were people shouting outside.

I could barely make sense of any of it.

But I kept my eyes locked on Adrian's face.

At least he hadn't left.

The fire truck arrived soon afterward.

Adrian stepped aside to make room for the rescue crew.

The moment strangers crowded around the car, my chest tightened again.

"Don't go!"

He stopped.

Then he moved to a spot where I could see him the second I lifted my eyes.

"I'm here."

The firefighters cut through the crushed door and lifted me onto a stretcher.

Only when my back hit the mattress did I realize I was drenched in cold sweat.

Beside us, Adrian's driver spoke.

"Mr. Vale, your flight..."

"Cancel it."

I turned toward Adrian.

The tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over.

He walked to the stretcher and took my hand.

"Nora, you still owe me a seven o'clock meeting."

I blinked.

Only then did I remember the appointment we'd made a few hours earlier.

He hadn't forgotten.

Adrian didn't rush me.

He waited until I looked at him again.

"Get better first," he said quietly.

"Don't stand me up."