Chapter 2

Andrew finally broke the silence, and his voice was laced with disbelief. "What did you say? Make it official?"

"You heard me," I said. "It's mutual, so let's make it a clean break. You come here, I'll sign, and we can both move on. You can have your life, and I'll have mine.

"And you won't have to worry about me bothering your precious little wallflower ever again."

He sounded completely thrown.

After a long moment, he finally bit out, "Fine. I'm on my way."

Then the line went dead.

Alice pointed a trembling finger at me, snapping, "Charlotte, did that fall scramble your brains? Do you have any idea how catastrophic this will be for our family?"

Levi strode toward the bed with a livid face. "This is absurd! You will call Andrew back and apologize this instant!" he yelled.

I looked at them, and a bitter laugh almost escaped my lips.

"Catastrophic? Because of the Grant family's investment in the southside project? Don't be so dramatic. The Quinn family isn't going to collapse without them."

Levi was stunned into silence.

"Apologize?" I pressed on. "For what? For him to protect another woman while I got knocked down a flight of stairs? Dad, Mom, let me get this straight. I'm your daughter, remember?"

They both just stared, utterly dumbfounded.

I guess they weren't used to me talking back.

I was done with them. I leaned back against the pillows and closed my eyes.

The post-concussion headache was starting to feel like a jackhammer in my skull.

But my mind had never been clearer.

I decided to hell with the toxic hero, his saintly heroine, and the tired script that cast me as the bitter villainess.

As a drop-dead gorgeous billionaire heiress with a body built for sin, I felt the very idea of chasing a man was laughable when his only contribution would be to slow down the rate at which I burned through my fortune.

Andrew showed up in no time.

And, of course, he wasn't alone. Trailing behind him was Lily, the so-called "helpless" heroine herself.

She was the picture of fragile innocence in a white dress, and her eyes were red and puffy. The moment she saw me, she flinched and ducked behind Andrew as if I were some kind of monster.

Her performance was so convincing that she deserved an award.

Andrew shielded her behind him, like some knight protecting his princess. He shot me a glare when his brow was so deeply furrowed that you could lose a coin in it.

He yelled, "Charlotte, what are you trying to pull now?"

The second my parents saw him, their faces were plastered with sickeningly sweet smiles.

"Andrew, darling, you're here! Charlotte is just being emotional. Don't pay her any mind," Alice cooed, practically bowing.

"Exactly," Levi added. "Just a childish tantrum. It means nothing."

I ignored their pathetic groveling, grabbed a file from the nightstand, and tossed it onto the bed in front of Andrew.

I stated, "Here. The termination agreement. My lawyer already drafted it. Look it over. If there are no issues, sign it."

Andrew glanced down, and his expression was priceless.

Shock washed over him first, quickly followed by confusion, which then hardened into a glare of insulted fury.

He was so used to me chasing him like a lost puppy that he couldn't process this sudden rejection.

Lily peeked out from behind him, whispering, "Charlotte, please don't do this. I know you hate me. It's all my fault. Don't take it out on Andrew. I'll... I'll just leave."

As if on cue, fresh tears began to stream down her cheeks.

I looked her dead in the eye and asked sincerely, "You'll leave? Where to? Out of the city? Do you need me to book you a flight? One-way or round-trip?"

Her sob caught in her throat.

Andrew's face darkened as he shouted, "Charlotte, that's enough! Lily is a kind person. Don't you dare project your own twisted thoughts onto her!"

"Kind?" I repeated the word, dripping with sarcasm. "So that's your definition of 'kind'? Mooching off my family, living in my house, and trying to steal my fiancé? That's a pretty low bar for sainthood, don't you think?"

"That's not true!" Lily cried out, her voice cracking with desperation. "Andrew and I are in love!"

"Oh, true love," I echoed and nodded, feigning an epiphany. "Well, that's perfect then. I'm setting you free. Sign the papers, and he's all yours. You two can run off into the sunset together. No one's stopping you."

Andrew stared at me, his eyes searching my face for any crack in my composure.

"What the hell do you really want?" he demanded.

"I want you to sign the papers and get out of my life. Is that so hard to understand?" I said, feigning boredom. "Or is it that you can't bear to part with the benefits of our alliance?"

That hit a nerve.

His jaw tightened.

"Charlotte, you're going to regret this," he snarled, grabbing a pen and slashing his name across the signature line, pressing so hard he nearly tore the paper.

When he was done, he threw the document back at me. "There. You got what you wanted."

I picked it up, scanned his signature, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Perfect. As of this moment, we're done."

My parents looked like they were about to spontaneously combust.

"Charlotte!"

"This is ridiculous!"

I ignored them and turned to my assistant, Linda Gill, who had been standing by quietly. "Linda, please show our guests out."

Andrew grabbed Lily's arm and started for the door, but he stopped and looked back with a tangled mess of confusion and anger in his eyes.

He snapped, "Don't think this little stunt is going to get my attention, Charlotte. It won't work."

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, Mr. Grant, you're giving yourself way too much credit. The truth is, I've simply realized you're not good enough for me."

His face instantly turned livid.

Without giving him another glance, I pulled out my checkbook, wrote out a number with several zeros, and tore it out. I held it out to Lily, who was still standing there crying.

"Here. Take this."

She just stared at me, bewildered.

Andrew frowned, yelling, "What are you doing now?"

"Consider it a parting gift," I said with a thin smile.

The entire room went silent.