Page 87

What if Isabella and Owen were one of those couples who regularly fought and sometimes even got physical?
My grandmother looked at me with pity. "The two of them own an apartment together. Donovan had it checked through a private investigator. The credit is in both their names and is quite in arrears. They urgently need money. The situation at the bank is precarious. If they don't pay soon, the apartment will be sold. It also fits that Owen asked Donovan for a job. The two of them would probably do just about anything to get money."
The two of them would probably do just about anything to get money.
My grandmother's last sentence echoed back and forth in my head.
Isabella needed money.
That's why she had accepted my offer.
But that she had someone else, that she...
"Why does Donovan hire a private investigator for this?" There was a last bit of hope in me. Maybe all of this wasn't true after all.
"I think he's looking for ways to bring you and Abigail back together. He seems to be willing to use almost any means." My grandmother looked at me.
"He can forget about that." I snorted.
"I know, Carter. That's not what this is about now. Why did you bring Isabella here as your fiancée if she's already taken? Is this another one of your games? Are you that desperate for my money?" Grandma Ruth now looked like she wanted to rip my head off.
But I could only think of one thing.
If she's already taken.
Isabella was taken.
I clenched my fists. In the end, all the passion had just been an act! Isabella belonged to someone else and didn't care about me in the slightest! She had only been after my money! At first, I might have been a nice flirt, a harmless pastime, someone who prevented another violent argument with her fiancé. And then I had become the long-awaited salvation for her debts. Possibly even for her relationship.
Isabella had accepted my offer and played her role as if it had been tailored specifically for her. Not for a moment had I doubted her passion. Her devotion. Her fervor.
And in the end... I had been nothing but a distraction for her. A welcome change of pace. Someone who paid her debts.
Perhaps...
Perhaps it hadn't even been about a change of pace. Maybe Isabella had simply slept with me to ensure she really got her 50,000. Or perhaps... perhaps she had even calculated for more! If she and her dear fiancé Owen had debts for an apartment, then 50,000 would only be a drop in the bucket. Real estate in New York cost a fortune! The two of them definitely needed more money than just 50,000.
Yes, Isabella had certainly counted on more.
Perhaps a bonus?
I laughed out loud.
She could forget about that now!
She wouldn't get anything.
Absolutely nothing.
I would even keep the 50,000 for myself.
After all, our contract contained a success clause.
"That..." I clenched my fists again. I gritted my teeth until they ground. My jaws worked. The vein at my temple swelled. I wanted to... "That damn liar," I forced out, barely holding myself back from shouting aloud. I didn't want to frighten my grandmother.
I had fallen for a money-hungry, greedy fraud who would stop at nothing to protect her own interests.
Bitterly, I thought about how I had just been considering that Isabella should never leave my life again. That I didn't want to let her go.