That night, Julian’s bodyguard arrived. “We need to leave now,” he said. Julian promised Lena, “I won’t let them hurt this place.” Then he was gone, swept back into a world of glass towers and ruthless ambition. Lena’s grandmother fell ill. The hospital needed money. The men with clipboards returned, this time with threats and paperwork. Lena made a choice: she would go to the city, to Julian, for help.
The city was nothing like Rosewood Bend. Lena’s village dress and sandals made her invisible among the sharp suits and marble floors. Security turned her away from King Holdings. Carmen St. James, Julian’s socialite fiancée, appeared, all polished cruelty. “You must be the village girl,” she sneered. But Julian saw Lena through the glass, and everything changed. He brought her inside, ignoring Carmen’s icy words.
Lena refused Julian’s money for her grandmother’s care. “I won’t be bought,” she said. Julian offered another way: a public arrangement, a “fake” relationship to protect her from the city’s sharks and buy time for her village. Lena signed, not for love, but for protection.
The city turned on her instantly. Headlines screamed: “Village Girl Traps Billionaire!” “Was the River Rescue a Setup?” Carmen and Victor Hail, Julian’s rival, orchestrated a smear campaign. Lena endured charity luncheons, galas, and whispered insults. At a gala, Carmen engineered a public humiliation, spilling wine on Lena’s dress. Lena stood her ground. “It’s just a dress,” she said, refusing to leave. Julian watched, pride flickering in his eyes.
The attacks escalated. Victor filed motions to seize Rosewood Bend. Lena’s grandmother’s health worsened. Lena found evidence of illegal land grabs, buried documents, and her own mother’s past—her mother had been forced out of the city for resisting the same kind of development, her warnings erased in silence.
Continue reading…
