She Took the Money and Kissed Him—Then the Entire Party Went Silent When She Learned Who He Was

"A debt?" Diane repeated, her voice incredulous. "I don't have any money! I spent the five thousand dollars on rent and my sister’s medical bills! I have forty-two dollars in my checking account!"

"I don't want your forty-two dollars," Ravi said flatly.

He walked back to his desk—a massive slab of petrified wood mounted on dark steel—and picked up a bound leather folder. He threw it onto the table in front of her.

"Open it," he commanded.

Diane approached the desk with deep suspicion. She opened the folder.

Inside was a professionally drafted legal contract. At the top of the first page, in bold black lettering, were the words: EMPLOYMENT AND DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT.

"Read clause three," Ravi said, leaning against the edge of his desk.

Diane’s eyes scanned down the page.

“...The Employee (Diane Harper) agrees to enter into the exclusive personal service of the Employer (Ravi Greedy) for a period of no less than six months. Duties shall include personal assistance, event representation, and public companionship as directed by the Employer...”

Diane stopped reading, looking up at him in utter disbelief. "You want me to be your assistant? Your fake girlfriend?"

"I don't do 'fake girlfriends', Miss Harper," Ravi said, his voice dropping into a hard, uncompromising tone. "The entire city saw you kiss me on Tuesday night. The media is already speculating on who you are. The rival families in this city—the ones who watch my every move for signs of weakness—are wondering why a simple waitress was allowed to touch me and walk away alive."

He stepped closer to her, his shadow falling over her.

"If I do nothing, I look weak. If I kill you, I confirm Catherine Voss’s narrative that a simple girl managed to rattle me. But if you become my personal associate—if the public sees that your action was part of an established, controlled arrangement—the narrative shifts entirely back under my control."

Diane stared at him, her brain racing. "You want to use me as a shield."

"I want to use you as a correction," Ravi countered. "In exchange, I will clear all remaining debts associated with your family. I will secure the best private security team in the East Coast to guard your sister twenty-four hours a day. She will have access to the best schools, the best doctors, and a trust fund that will ensure she never has to worry about money for the rest of her life."

Diane’s heart pounded against her ribs.

It was everything she had ever dreamed of for Sadi. Safety. Security. A future free from the crushing weight of poverty that had claimed their parents.

"And what happens to me during these six months?" she asked softly.

Ravi looked at her, his amber eyes burning with an intensity that made her breath hitch.

"You will live here, in the penthouse. You will attend every public event at my side. You will obey every instruction I give you regarding your security. And when the six months are over, you walk away with five million dollars and a fresh identity anywhere in the world."

Diane looked down at the contract, then back up at the man standing before her.

"And if I refuse?"

Ravi’s expression didn't change. "Then you walk out that elevator right now. I won't harm you. But my protection ends the moment you step onto the street. And Catherine Voss’s associates... as well as my own rivals... will not be so forgiving when they realize you have no backing."

He was offering her a golden cage. But outside the cage, the wolves were waiting.

Diane picked up the heavy Montblanc pen resting on the desk. Her hand trembled for a fraction of a second, but then she thought of Sadi—safe, fed, protected by guards who couldn't be bought.

She pressed the pen to the paper and signed her name in clear, bold strokes.