“Send the Poor, Ugly Girl—He’ll Reject Her!” They Laughed… Until the Millionaire Stood Up
Chapter 3
Claire nearly threw the card away.
Instead, she kept it.
The next afternoon, she arrived at Adrian’s address expecting another mansion.
She found a small neighborhood café.
He was sitting at a corner table wearing jeans and a white shirt.
No bodyguards.
No expensive watch.
No display of wealth.
Claire stopped.
“You chose this place?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“The food is good.”
She sat across from him.
He pushed a menu toward her.
“Order whatever you want.”
“You always say that.”
“I mean it.”
She looked at him carefully.
“You’re different outside the mansion.”
“So are you.”
“How?”
“You’re relaxed.”
“I am?”
“A little.”
She smiled.
They ate.
They talked for almost two hours.
Claire learned that Adrian had a younger sister who lived abroad.
That his mother had died when he was fourteen.
That his father had expected him to become a lawyer.
Instead, he repaired old machines in his father’s warehouse.
Claire laughed when he admitted he still knew how to rebuild an engine.
“You?”
“What?”
“Fix engines?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t look like someone who gets dirty.”
“I own three mechanics.”
“That doesn’t count.”
He smiled.
“It counts when one of them is me.”
She laughed.
It was the first genuine laugh he’d heard from her.
And Adrian remembered it.
After lunch, he drove her home.
When they stopped outside her apartment building, she looked embarrassed.
“It’s not much.”
Adrian glanced at the building.
“It’s a place.”
“Yes.”
“Do you like it?”
Claire thought.
“I like the kitchen window.”
He looked up.
“Why?”
“I can see the sunrise.”
He nodded.
“Then I like it too.”
She smiled.
Before she opened the door, Adrian said:
“Claire.”
“Yes?”
“I need to tell you something.”
She waited.
“The arrangement your family made was real.”
Her smile disappeared.
“What arrangement?”
“They intended to send you to me so I’d reject you.”
“I know.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“But there was something else.”
“What?”
“Your cousin Vanessa asked me to sign a contract connected to her family company.”
Claire frowned.
“What kind of contract?”
“One that would make our marriage beneficial to both families.”
Her stomach dropped.
“So that’s why they wanted me there.”
“Yes.”
“And they thought I’d be desperate enough to agree?”
“Yes.”
She looked away.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m embarrassed.”
Adrian reached across the space between them.
“You shouldn’t be.”
She looked at him.
“You didn’t create their cruelty.”
He paused.
“But I did come into this with an agenda.”
“What agenda?”
“To find out who was using me.”
Claire stiffened.
“And now?”
“Now I’m starting to think they underestimated both of us.”
Before she could answer, his phone rang.
Adrian answered.
His expression changed.
“What happened?”
A pause.
“Are you sure?”
He listened again.
Then looked at Claire.
“Someone broke into your apartment.”
Her face went pale.
“What?”
Adrian got out of the car immediately.
Claire followed.
Her apartment door was damaged.
Inside, drawers had been opened.
Clothes were everywhere.
Nothing valuable was missing.
Except one thing.
An old photograph of Claire’s father.
Adrian picked up the empty frame.
“Why would someone steal this?”
Claire didn’t answer.
She was staring at the wall.
A note had been left behind.
Four words.
Ask about your father’s company.
