Chapter 3

The moment I stepped out of the club, my daughter's call came through.

"Mom, Liam has already humbled himself, practically begged you and explained everything! Do you really have to tear us apart?"

"I don't care what tricks you're pulling, I'm marrying him, and that's final!"

Her sharp accusations and furious shouts rang in my ear. All about how good Liam was to her – he'd stayed up all night comforting her through her period cramps, he'd wake up at 6:30 AM to make her favorite seafood stew, making her feel the warmth of a true home. While I, the "robot," only offered cold, hard cash.

Finally, she pleaded with me to just let her have her true love.

Hearing her tearful accusations, my heart ached with a sharp, wrenching pain. My whole body trembled. For a man, she'd forgotten every parent-teacher conference I'd attended despite my packed schedule, forgotten how I'd abandoned lucrative deals just to be with her on her eighteenth birthday trip.

The privileged life I'd worked so hard to give her, in her eyes, had become a cold, sterile cage.

But she hadn't seen the greed in Liam's eyes the first time he entered our home, staring at the antique artwork. The expensive liquor cabinet wasn't something he admired; it sparked pure jealousy and resentment.

And that snide remark he'd blurted out, "Eleanor, maybe a woman like you shouldn't drink so much." It sounded like concern, but his tone dripped with unspoken disapproval, as if I were squandering his money.

I knew I was wrong. I'd raised her in a bubble, leaving her utterly clueless about the depravity of human nature. I'd fostered a naive, innocent, and spoiled personality.

That's why a few cheap compliments and a pitiful 'woe-is-me' act about his unrecognized talents were all it took to completely win her over.

By then, my mind was made up. I simply spoke calmly, "Scarlett, I've already informed your cousin to come back and take over the company. If you break up with Liam now, you'll still be the heir. But if you persist in this folly, I will formally hand the company over to him."

"My business, which I built from the ground up over twenty years, isn't a charity project, and I'm certainly not going to hand it over to an ungrateful parasite."

My daughter was furious. "Mom, let's be real. You just look down on Liam because he's not rich. You're a snob, and you just want to use me for some arranged marriage to boost your business and make even more money!"

"Liam said those videos were all staged by you, hired people to set him up! How could you be so evil?!"

"Don't worry," she continued, her voice trembling with anger, "I'll make sure you see that Liam can succeed even without you. You'll realize how despicable you are for trying to destroy true love!"

Then she slammed the phone down. My heart seized, and I almost couldn't catch my breath.

Once I recovered, I started calling a few old friends, moving ahead with my original plan.

Liam was smarter than I'd given him credit for; he understood the importance of leverage.

He sold Scarlett's Cartier bracelet, her ruby necklace, and some designer bags. He cleared his payday loans, cashed out a couple hundred thousand dollars, and then decisively rented a small office building and registered his own company.

I heard the grand opening was quite a spectacle. He held a grand bouquet of a thousand roses, knelt before Scarlett for the cameras and social media influencers, and proposed.

"Scarlett, you are the most understanding woman I've ever known, the woman willing to build an empire with me from nothing. I, Liam, swear that from this day forward, you are my life. I will live every day for you."

Supposedly, Scarlett was so moved she burst into tears, clinging to him and sobbing, vowing never to leave his side.

I stood calmly by the wide floor-to-ceiling windows on the twenty-fourth floor, listening to my secretary report on Liam's latest moves.