Chapter 3

LEO DRAKE

The ringing in my ears slowly faded, and my rapid breathing began to be calm as I looked into her brown eyes.

"Don't let them in yet," I whispered, hating how weak my voice sounded. "Please."

Outside the office door, my father slammed his fist on the door again. "Leo! Open this door right now! Stop acting like a coward!"

Clara did not flinch but instead, she kept her eyes fixed on mine, her thumbs gently stroking my cheekbones until my heart rate returned to normal.

"I'm right here, Leo," she said quietly. "Take one more deep breath."

I took a long breath, slowly letting go of her wrists as I stepped back. I smoothed down my white shirt, rolled my sleeves down to my wrists, and buttoned them back up. The vulnerable boy who had just panicked vanished, replaced by the impenetrable wall I built every single day to survive my family.

"I am fine now," I said, my voice turning flat and cold again. "Thank you, Clara."

She studied my face for a second, looking like she wanted to say something else, but she simply nodded and stepped aside. I walked over to the door, turned the lock, and pulled it open.

My father, Richard Drake, stood in the door with his arms crossed, his face twisted in anger. Right behind him stood my younger brother, Julian, wearing an arrogant smirk that made my fists clench in my pockets.

"It takes you five minutes to open your own office door?" Richard spat, pushing past me into the room without waiting for me to speak. "Who do you think you are, keeping me standing in the hallway like a stranger?"

"This is my company, Father," I said, turning to face him while keeping my body positioned between him and Clara. "You retired three years ago, and you do not have security clearance on this floor."

"I don't need clearance in a building that has my name on the wall!" Richard shouted, sweeping his arm around the room. His eyes finally landed on Clara, who was standing quietly near my desk. His gaze narrowed with pure disgust. "And who is this? Is this the little secretary you decided to marry in a tacky Las Vegas drive-thru?"

"She is my lead risk analyst, and her name is Clara," I said, stepping directly into his line of sight to block him from looking at her. "And my marriage is none of your business."

Julian let out a dry laugh, stepping up beside our father. "None of our business? Leo, the news is everywhere. The board is calling Father every five minutes asking if you have lost your mind. You married a nobody without a prenuptial agreement, right when we are trying to finalize the Sterling Group merger!"

"I know exactly what I am doing with the Sterling merger," I replied, staring Julian down until his smirk faded. "Marcus Sterling values family stability. A married man looks far more reliable to him than a bachelor."

"You didn't marry a socialite or an heiress, Leo!" Richard barked, taking a step toward me and poking a finger into my chest. "You married an employee with zero background and zero family connections! You ruined the arrangement I was setting up with the Vance family!"

My blood ran cold at his words, but I kept my face completely expressionless. "I will never marry a woman chosen by you, Father. Not after what you did to this family."

Richard's face flushed bright red, and for a second, I thought he was going to raise his hand to strike me just like he used to when I was a teenager. But then I guess he remembered we were in an office building, and he slowly lowered his arm, glaring at me with cold hatred.

"You think you're so smart, don't you?" Richard sneered. "You think because you run this company now, you can ignore my wishes? You have three days to announce that this marriage was a mistake and file for a complete annulment. If you don't, I will use my remaining board seats to call a vote of no confidence and strip you of your CEO title."

"Try it," I said, my voice dropping dangerously low. "You don't have the votes, Father, and if you try to cause a scene in front of Marcus Sterling, I will release the audit reports from your final year as CEO. We both know what the federal regulators would do with those files."

Richard froze, his jaw tightening as he realized I wasn't bluffing. He stared at me for a long moment before turning his glare back toward Clara.

"You picked a terrible side, girl," Richard said to her, his voice dripping with hatred. "He will discard you the second he doesn't need you anymore."

Without another word, Richard turned around and stormed out of the office, his footsteps echoing down the hallway. Julian stayed for a second, giving me a bitter look before following our father out and slamming the door shut behind them.

Silence settled over the room. I stood there, staring at the closed door as the tension slowly drained from my muscles.

"Are you okay?" Clara's voice came from behind me, soft and very cautious.

I turned around to look at her. She didn't look scared or intimidated by my father's outburst, which surprised me. Most people ran after meeting Richard Drake.

"I am fine," I said, walking over to my desk and picking up my suit jacket. "They are all just talking. They cannot touch your position or mine."

"He was talking about your past, wasn't he?" Clara asked, stepping closer to me. "When he mentioned what he did to the family?"

I froze with my arms halfway into my jacket sleeves. I looked up at her, seeing genuine concern in her eyes, and a strange sensation bloomed in my chest. For ten years, I had kept everyone at a distance, hiding the scars from my childhood behind money and power. But standing in front of Clara, I felt completely exposed.

"That is private, Clara," I said quietly, finishing putting on my jacket. "It has nothing to do with our arrangement.”

Clara looked at me for a long moment, as if she were deciding whether to push the issue or let it go. Finally, she let out a quiet sigh and picked up her folder from the desk.

"Okay," she said softly. "I'll go back to my desk and finish the NDA draft for our four-week agreement.”

"Clara, wait," I said before I could stop myself.

She stopped at the door and turned back to look at me, her eyebrows raised in question.

I reached into my inner jacket pocket, pulled out a small, worn notebook, and set it on the desk between us. It was a personal journal I had kept since I was sixteen years old, the only thing I had saved from the night I ran away from my father's house.

"If we are going to convince the press and the board that we are a real couple for the next month, you need to know who I really am," I said, looking straight into her eyes. "Read it tonight. It has everything you need to know."

Clara stared at the worn notebook, then looked up at me with wide, curious eyes.

She walked back to the desk, picked it up, and held it tightly to her chest.

"I'll read it," she whispered.

She turned and walked out of the office, closing the door quietly behind her. I stood by my desk, watching her go, and for the first time in ten years, I felt a strange flicker of hope in my chest.

My phone rang on the desk, interrupting my thoughts. I picked it up and saw the caller ID: Marcus Sterling.

I pressed the button and brought the phone to my ear. "Marcus. Good afternoon."

"Leo," the old billionaire's deep voice came through the speaker, sounding sharp. “I hear congratulations are in order. My team says you got married in Vegas over the weekend. Bring your new wife to my estate for dinner tomorrow night, or we can consider this merger off.”