Chapter 2 The Proposal

The car was too quiet.

Too clean. Too expensive. Too him.

Tessy sat stiffly in the back seat of Harley Gabriel's black Maybach, surrounded by soft leather and the scent of something expensive she couldn't name. Every inch of the interior whispered you don't belong here.

He didn't look at her. Just tapped on his phone, calm and unreadable, like he hadn't just dragged a stranger off the courthouse steps.

She cleared her throat. "So... am I being kidnapped or..."

"Not unless you say something really annoying," he replied dryly.

She blinked. "Kidding, right?"

A ghost of a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Mostly."

Tessy folded her arms, defensive. "Look, I don't know what this is, but if this is about charity-"

"This isn't charity."

He finally turned to her, and just like before, his eyes pinned her in place. Cold grey. Calm. Calculated. Like a man who never said anything he didn't mean.

"I'm offering you a job," he said. "Of sorts."

She frowned. "You don't know anything about me."

"I know enough. Tessy Lane. Twenty-one Graduated two years ago with honors, major in communications. Worked in event planning until your fiancé drained your savings, forged your signature on three loans, and fled the country. You're now in debt by six figures, facing eviction, and considering taking a barista job you're wildly overqualified for."

Tessy stared at him, stunned. "Did you have me investigated?"

"I had five minutes. You'd be surprised what public records reveal."

Her heart pounded in her chest. She didn't know whether to be impressed or terrified.

"I need a wife," he said casually, like he was ordering coffee. "Just for six months."

Tessy blinked. "What?"

Harley's tone didn't change. "I need to appear married for a very specific legal purpose. Nothing romantic. Strictly business. You play the part, I pay off your debt and deposit half a million in your account at the end of the term."

Half a million.

The number echoed in her skull like a church bell.

"I-I don't understand. Why me?"

"I need someone with no ties to my world," he said. "No agenda. No family that will try to sell the story. No scandals. No skeletons in the closet I haven't already seen."

"And you think that's me?"

"You were crying on courthouse steps in borrowed heels," he said. "You're not exactly drowning in options."

Tessy flinched. The words hit too close. Too raw.

"You're an ass," she muttered.

Harley shrugged. "But an honest one. Look, Tessy, this isn't a fairytale. I'm not asking you to fall in love. I'm asking for a performance. Be my wife on paper. Be present at a few events. Stay out of my business. In six months, you walk away debt-free and rich."

She stared out the window, her thoughts racing. It sounded insane. Immoral. Cold.

But then she remembered the eviction notice. The bank calls. The pitying looks from people who used to call her talented. The weight of being twenty-two and already broken.

She looked back at him. "And if I say no?"

Harley didn't blink. "Then I drop you off at the nearest corner and wish you luck."

No begging. No persuasion. He meant it. The choice was hers.

Tessy took a shaky breath.

"Can I think about it?"

He nodded. "You have forty-eight hours. After that, the offer's off the table."

[Tessy's Apartment]

The door creaked as she stepped into the tiny studio she barely called home. The lights flickered as always. The sink dripped in the background. She kicked off her borrowed heels and sank onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

A wife.

To Harley Gabriel.

It sounded like a bad movie. Or a nightmare. But the more she thought about it... the more she couldn't find a reason to say no that didn't taste like pride.

She walked to her dresser, opened the top drawer, and pulled out an old photo-her and her mom, smiling on a beach. Back when life felt like something she could shape, not something she survived.

"I'm sorry, Mom," she whispered.

Then, she grabbed her phone and typed out a message.

To: Unknown Number

I'll do it.