After my family abandoned me—I sold my emotions for 800,000 Chapter 08
In the tiny living room, I poured Lucien a
cup of instant coffee.
His long legs were crammed into the tiny
$80 sofa I’d bought, making him look thoroughly uncomfortable.
His expression was equally sullen, and he kept darting furtive glances at the door out
of the corner of his eye.
– The old lady was peeking around the doorframe, trying to catch a snippet of gossip to liven up the whole of Ashwood
Court.
As the atmosphere grew more and more. awkward, I said tactfully, “Grandma, he’s definitely too embarrassed to say anything with you hovering like this.
Why don’t you head home first? I’ll share every detail with you the second we have a result, I promise.”
Only then did the old lady look satisfied, and she headed downstairs with her grandson in
her arms.
I turned to Lucien, “Go ahead.”
Lucien’s face was dark.
The past 24 hours were a humiliating fiasco
he never wanted to revisit for as long as he
lived.
To put it simply, Lucien had originally been
betrothed to a woman selected by both
families as part of a strategic marriage
arrangement.
But that wealthy young miss had heard from
somewhere that Lucien was a ruthless,
irredeemable scumbag, and she had
straight–up run away from the wedding.
Lucien had never been so publicly
humiliated in his entire life.
So he had gotten drunk, which led to the whole incident back at Starlight Lounge.
“So you want to marry me now?” I asked.
Lucien nodded, then added awkwardly, “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have feelings for you or anything. It’s just that the press release announcing our marriage has
already gone out, if…”
I held up a hand to cut off his long–winded
explanation.
“How much are you paying?”
Lucien froze, clearly completely unprepared
for that turn in the conversation.
“…Name your price.”
I wasn’t about to do that.
In any negotiation, if you speak first without getting a clear read on the other party’s
bottom line, you’re almost guaranteed to
lose.
I said, “How about this? Show me the
balance on this black card first.”
My tone was polite, calm, and completely
unnegotiable.
Lucien felt like he was being pushed around for no reason, but he actually pulled up his online banking and showed me the screen.
Hiss.
Even I, someone who rarely feels strong emotions of any kind, couldn’t stop my heart from racing when I counted all the zeros,
and I sucked in a sharp breath.
I looked at Lucien and said calmly, “Here’s
the deal. Transfer 80 percent of the balance
on this card to me, and I’ll marry you.”
Before Lucien could say anything, I added
earnestly, “I’m doing this for your own
good, really. Marriage is a huge life event,
after all.
Paying too little is bad luck. If we get married and then divorce, it just gives the gossips
more to talk about, you lose face, and there’s
even a risk of tanking Vanderbilt Group’s
stock price.
Of course, you could go find another girl, but then at the wedding, who’s to say a greedy person like me won’t show up with a ring, clinging to you and insisting I’m your real fiancée?
Admittedly, that’s a pretty shameless move, but a smart man never leaves himself open to unnecessary risk.
A respectable, image–conscious young heir like you should make sure you never end up in a position where you’re being blackmailed by some shameless lowlife, right?”
I finished that entire speech without even pausing to catch my breath, staring at
Lucien with completely sincere eyes.
Lucien, “You son of a… Fine!”
