Page 69 of Falling for the Wrong Billionaire
I look around the house — my father’s house — and the familiarity of it. Everything is too big, too empty, too cold. The walls close in around me as I think about Liam.
The way he makes me feel seen, like I’m more than just the daughter of a wealthy businessman. The way Liam listens to me, really listens, without judgment. I want that. I crave that connection. I want to go back to the way things were before everything got so complicated.
But I can’t.
I shake my head to push the thought away, but it doesn’t leave.
I stand and grab my coat from the chair, heading out the door. I don’t know where I’m going, but I don’t care. I just need to be somewhere else, anywhere else. Somewhere I can think. Somewhere I can breathe without feeling like I’m suffocating.
I find myself walking through the park, the crisp autumn air cutting through my jacket. The wind stings my face, but I welcome the pain. Anything to numb the ache in my chest.
After a while, I find myself at the edge of the park, standing in front of my nanny’s grave.
She’s the only one I’ve ever truly been able to talk to after my mother died. The only one who really understood me.
Kneeling, I brush my fingers over the engraved words on the stone. The weather has worn them down, but I know them by heart.Beloved Nana. Forever in our hearts.
I swallow the lump in my throat and close my eyes, letting the tears fall freely now. I don’t have to hold them in anymore. I don’t have to pretend everything is okay. Not here, not with her.
“Nana,” I whisper, my voice breaking. “I don’t know what to do.”
My voice trembles as I continue. “I can’t stop thinking about him. About Liam. He’s everything I could ever ask for. And now... now I’ve lost him forever.”
The wind rustles the leaves around me, and I feel a cold shiver run through me. I curl my hands into fists, pressing them to my eyes to stop the tears from falling. But they don’t stop. They keep coming, each one more painful than the last.
I’ve never felt so helpless, so lost.
“I never wanted to hurt Liam.” I say aloud, my voice trembling. “But I have to do what my father wants. I don’t have a choice.”But a tiny voice inside my head keeps asking, “Don’t you, Lucy? Don’t you?”It’s as if my Nana is talking to me from the grave.
I can hear the wind whistling through the trees, a lonely sound that matches the emptiness I feel inside. The tears keep coming, but I don’t stop them. I let them fall freely, letting the grief and guilt pour out of me.
If I don’t marry Theo, my father will lose everything.... he won’t understand. I’ll disappoint him, maybe beyond repair. And Liam...I pause, choking on the thought.He deserves better than me. He deserves someone who isn’t as broken as I am.
I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself, but the ache in my chest won’t go away.
I want to be with Liam. I want to stay with him, to make him happy. But I can’t. I can’t let myself be selfish. I must do what’s expected of me.Just like always, right, Lucy?
But why does it feel like I’m giving up the only thing that ever made me feel alive?
I wipe my eyes, staring down at my hands. My thoughts are racing, spiralling out of control. I don’t know how much longer I can keep pretending that everything is okay when it’s not.
I don’t know how much longer I can keep pretending that I don’t feel this unbearable pain every time I think of Liam.
I can’t do this.
I can’t let him go.
But I have no choice. My father has made it clear.
I’ll keep my promises, even if it means breaking my own heart in the process.
***
The event planner’s voice drones on in the background, a blur of words that I can barely process. It’s all the same — flowers, music, seating arrangements, catering, guest lists. The list never ends.
But my mind? My mind is somewhere else entirely.
I try to focus, nodding along, smiling politely as she rattles off details I’ve heard a thousand times before. The weight of the engagement party preparations sits heavily on my chest. The more she talks, the more suffocating everything feels.
