My Ex-Girlfriend’s Older Sister Got Stood Up At An Art Gallery… So I Asked, “Can I Sit with You ?
Chapter 10
The wedding rumors started before we even announced our relationship.
The press called it a scandal.
Former sister’s boyfriend.
Billionaire family.
Corporate heirs.
Secret trust.
It sounded ridiculous.
So Amelia and I ignored it.
We took things slowly.
Dinner.
Walks.
Gallery visits.
Coffee.
No labels.
No promises.
One night, we returned to the gallery.
The same one where she’d been stood up.
She stood beneath the same painting.
“You still hate it?”
“Absolutely.”
I smiled.
“Then why come back?”
She looked at me.
“Because this is where you sat beside me.”
“I remember.”
“You asked one question.”
“Can I sit with you?”
She nodded.
“I’ve thought about that question ever since.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody had asked me what I wanted.”
I smiled.
“That seems hard to believe.”
She shook her head.
“People always assume they know.”
“Do you know what you want now?”
She took my hand.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“You.”
My heart stopped.
She smiled.
“Don’t make me say it twice.”
I laughed.
Then kissed her.
It was simple.
No cameras.
No reporters.
Just us beneath a painting we both hated.
Afterward, she rested her head against my shoulder.
“Do you ever feel guilty?”
“About what?”
“Sophie.”
I thought about it.
“Sometimes.”
“So do I.”
“But she’s okay.”
“Yes.”
“She deserves happiness too.”
Amelia nodded.
Then she said something that changed the mood.
“My father didn’t just leave us money.”
“What else?”
“He left me a condition.”
“What condition?”
“Before I could fully take control of the company, I had to prove I could trust someone outside the family.”
I smiled.
“That sounds like him.”
She shook her head.
“I already did.”
“With me?”
“Yes.”
She kissed my hand.
“That’s why the shares transferred.”
I looked at her.
“So this was part of the plan.”
“Maybe.”
“Your father wanted us together?”
She smiled.
“He wanted us to choose each other.”
That distinction mattered.
He hadn’t arranged love.
He had only created a situation where trust mattered more than money.
I thought about my own father.
He had done the same.
They had protected us with secrets.
But they had also left us the freedom to decide.
The next morning, I proposed.
Not because of the company.
Not because of the inheritance.
Because I couldn’t imagine my life without her.
She said yes.
Then came the hard part.
Telling Sophie.
We found her at her apartment.
Amelia spoke first.
“We’re engaged.”
Sophie stared.
Then smiled.
“I know.”
I laughed.
“How?”
“You two look at each other like idiots.”
Amelia hugged her.
Sophie cried.
Then she hugged me too.
“I’ve spent years thinking I ruined everything.”
I whispered,
“You didn’t.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
She smiled.
“I think I brought you together.”
