Chapter 6 It's mine
CHAPTER 6: It's mine
Vera
I gaped blankly at him, certain I’d misheard. Or maybe I was hallucinating.
I want you to marry me.
Those words had to belong to someone else, because there was no way this man who was practically a stranger was asking me to marry him.
“Sir? Marry… you?” I whispered.
My throat felt tight, my tongue heavy. I shook my head slowly, once, then again, trying to dislodge the panic pressing against my ribs. “I…I don’t understand. What are you—” I swallowed hard. “You don’t even know me.”
Silas Rutherford didn’t look offended.
More than anything, he looked patient, calm. Almost like he had expected the confusion. As if this moment had already played out in his head long before I woke up.
He leaned further, and I unconsciously shrank back, my grip on the sheet tightening.
“You’re right,” he said calmly. “I don’t know you.”
The way he said it, plain and unbothered, sent a shiver down my spine.
Maybe this was a trap?
A way to drag me back to a life I had barely escaped.
Panic grew hotter inside me, cold sweat breaking out along my spine.
He noticed all this, but didn't react. He just calmly waited for my response.
My thoughts spiraled in places I didn’t dare let my voice go.
Men like him didn’t appear like this out of nowhere. Men like him didn’t offer marriage to women like me. Moreso, a pregnant woman.
At this thought my hand went to my belly.
A baby. An unplanned…unwanted baby.
How was I going to cope?
It was already difficult with just Lily and I. Now there was a child I neither wanted nor was prepared for.
“I meant every word I said, Vera. I’m not playing games.”
My head snapped in his direction at the sound of his deep voice. It was the first time he had called me by my name.
How did he know my name?
Could Cherry have told him?
Where was she?
My throat was dry and I swallowed heavily.
“I don’t understand,” I repeated, swallowing hard. “Why… why would you say something like that to me, sir?”
He leaned back slightly, fingers steepled, his expression unreadable.
“You're in the hospital,” he said evenly. “So is your sister. She needs urgent medical care. The doctors are already attending to her.”
My chest tightened. “Lily—”
“She’s in surgery,” he interrupted calmly. “And before you ask…yes, even as we speak, it has already begun.”
The words barely registered before relief crashed into me so hard it left me dizzy.
“What?” I breathed. “But the doctor—”
“I ordered him to begin the operation,” he stealthily got up from the chair, rising to his full height.
I blinked up at him, confusion mingling with hope.
“You…you mean…?” I pushed myself upright too quickly, emotion surging through me in a rush that made my vision blur. “They agreed? They didn’t ask for—”
He tilted his head, watching me intensely.
“This hospital is part of my foundation,” he said, sliding his hands into his pockets. “One of several medical facilities under my company’s charitable division.”
The room swayed.
For a split second, I forgot fear. Forgot caution. I forgot my current predicament and this man's shocking proposal.
I only saw that Lily was going to be alright.
Gratitude surged up violently, overwhelming and raw. I swung my legs off the bed, driven by instinct alone. I was about to kneel and thank him him,
“Sir…thank you, I—”
My legs felt like water, and the floor tilted.
Strong hands caught me before I fell.
The contact was brief but grounding, solid, controlled. One arm wrapped around my waist, steady and unyielding, the other bracing my back. The familiar scent of him filled my lungs again, grounding and overwhelming all at once.
“Easy,” he said, quietly.
I stiffened on instinct, my breath stuttering as reality snapped back into place. I recoiled instantly, retreating against the mattress as though his touch burned me.
He released me without comment and stepped back, giving me space.
“You should lay back down. You're not steady enough to stand,” he said calmly. “Your blood pressure is still unstable,” he frowned.
I nodded mutely, pulling the sheet up again. shame and relief tangling painfully in my chest.
With the weight of relief and gratitude I felt, it was almost like I would pass out. Finally Lily was going to be fine.
“If you agree to marry me, your sister will receive the best medical care available. Ongoing treatment, specialists, recovery support. She will receive the best care. You will never be billed. Not now. Not ever.”
He spoke with the certainty of someone who knew exactly what he was doing.
It all sounded unreal. Dangerous. Too perfect and easy.
My fingers curled into the sheets. “And if I refuse?” I asked quietly.
He studied for a moment, then replied, “I'm not finished.”
I swallowed.
“I suppose that you can decide to refuse my proposition. But I suggest that you think about this…practically, Vera,” he added. “You will never have to worry about money, ever again.”
The words were careful. Precise. Like a contract already written.
Anxiety rose again…quieter this time, more insidious. Yet beneath it, something else stirred.
Temptation.
The dangerous kind. The kind that whispered about everything I had only been dreaming and imagining for Lily and I. Safety, stability, and a future where my younger sister didn’t suffer as much as I did.
Even as I dared to consider this insane idea, I knew that it was a battle already won.
If he was able to solve a problem as huge as this for us in such a split second, then accepting this stranger's proposal was not even up for debate.
“I don’t even know you,” I said, my voice barely steady. “How can you ask something like this from a stranger?”
“You don’t need to know so much about me, just the basics, which we'll get to in due time,” he replied without hesitation. “I already know enough.”
My breath caught. “How? From the club?”
“Yes.”
The way he said it told me he’d been watching long before I noticed him. And he must have already done some digging.
My heart skipped a beat.
Did he also know about Damien?
It didn't look like it because he hadn't said anything.
I hesitated, then forced myself to ask the question clawing at my chest.
“Why… Why marry someone you don’t love, sir? Why not someone you love?”
He was a very dangerously attractive man, and he was wealthy too. Getting any woman of the same social standing as him to be his wife would never be an issue.
His gaze sharpened…just slightly.
Then he began to slowly advance towards me.
“First,” he said, stopping close to the bed, “I'm not marrying for love,” he replied, his voice gaining a hint of hardness. “This proposition has nothing to do with love.”
I blinked, and swallowed heavily, looking up at him.
The bluntness of his words startled me.
“Then why not marry someone you already know?” I asked, my voice barely steady. “Someone… suitable. Someone from your world. Why me?”
His lips curved faintly. Not a smile. Something colder.
“You’re perfect,” he said, “exactly what I need.”
“I'm pregnant,” I blurted. Just in case he had forgotten.
His gaze flicked to my stomach, then back to my face.
My heart pounded so loudly I was sure he could hear it.
“I know.”
I blinked. “Doesn't it bother you? What if people ask about the father and—”
“It's mine.”