Billionaire Pretended to Be Poor to Test His Fiancée – What Happened Next Shocked Everyone!
Chapter 10
Victoria entered the boardroom dressed in white.
She looked calm.
Confident.
Prepared.
Ethan stood at the far end of the table.
“Why are you here?”
She smiled.
“To tell my side.”
“This isn’t a courtroom.”
“No,” Victoria said. “But apparently, you’re happy to let the public judge me.”
Ethan said nothing.
She placed a folder on the table.
“I’m willing to settle everything.”
Marcus laughed.
“Everything?”
Victoria looked at Ethan.
“You humiliated me.”
“You betrayed me.”
“You lied to me.”
“I tested you.”
“Exactly.”
The room became silent.
For the first time, Ethan understood something uncomfortable.
Victoria wasn’t entirely wrong.
He had lied.
He had manipulated reality.
Even if his reasons had been understandable, his methods had consequences.
Ethan looked at the board.
Then back at Victoria.
“You’re right.”
Victoria blinked.
“I am?”
“Yes.”
Everyone looked at Ethan.
“I lied to you.”
Victoria smiled slightly.
Ethan continued.
“And I was wrong to believe that deception would create truth.”
Her smile faded.
He turned toward the board.
“This situation started because I was afraid.”
No one spoke.
“I was afraid that without money, I had no value. I was afraid of being used. I was afraid of making the same mistake again.”
He looked at Victoria.
“But fear doesn’t give me permission to manipulate people.”
Victoria’s expression changed.
She hadn’t expected an apology.
Ethan continued.
“That doesn’t excuse what you did. The evidence against you and Richard will be handled legally.”
Victoria looked down.
“But personally?”
Ethan paused.
“I don’t hate you.”
She looked at him.
“I don’t want your money.”
Her face hardened.
“That’s convenient now.”
Ethan nodded.
“Maybe.”
Then he walked toward the door.
The board meeting continued without Victoria.
By noon, Richard was officially removed.
The company launched a formal investigation.
Victoria’s legal team began negotiating separately.
But Ethan’s greatest decision came that afternoon.
He canceled the lawsuit against Victoria for personal damages.
He pursued only the business-related wrongdoing.
Marcus was furious.
“You’re letting her walk away.”
“No.”
“She deserves—”
“Marcus.”
Ethan looked out the window.
“I spent too long trying to prove who people really were.”
Marcus fell silent.
Ethan continued.
“Now I want to prove who I am.”
That evening, he went to Maggie’s.
Lily was waiting.
She had watched the press conference.
“You apologized.”
“I did.”
“Even though she betrayed you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Ethan sat beside her.
“Because I was wrong too.”
Lily smiled faintly.
“That must have been painful.”
“Extremely.”
She laughed.
Then Ethan took her hand.
“I don’t want to test you.”
“Good.”
“I don’t want to hide from you.”
“Also good.”
“I don’t want to buy your trust.”
Lily looked at him.
“Then what do you want?”
Ethan smiled.
“A first date.”
She stared.
“We’ve known each other for months.”
“I know.”
“And you’ve been eating at my diner almost every day.”
“Technically, that was research.”
Lily laughed.
Then she stood.
“One date.”
Ethan smiled.
“One.”
And for the first time since the entire disaster began, his future didn’t feel like a business problem.
It felt like something worth discovering slowly.
